Photo by Karsten Würth (@inf1783) on Unsplash
A Guest Post by Craig Middleton
The environment has been under attack for the past few decades and people are starting to notice more and more the effects that businesses have had. The UN released a report stating that we have 12 years to reverse the impact that we have had on the environment before the effects become serious, even catastrophic. Businesses around the world have been taking action into their hands and have created environmentally-friendly businesses. They are changing the way that they’re approaching their business and are being eco-minded in their decisions. The results have been amazing.
Not only have businesses found that being eco-minded has reduced their energy and product bills significantly, but their efforts have also attracted hundreds of new customers who admire have admired their efforts. For your own business, here’s what you can do to create an environmentally-friendly business and reap the benefits for both you and the environment.
1. Go Solar
The very first thing that you should consider doing is going solar with your business. Solar panels are becoming increasingly popular as they are being made more affordable and easier to get your hands on. The great thing about them is that you can lease or buy solar panels so that they can fit into almost any business budget.
Being new to the business world, you might want to just lease the panels to still get the same benefits as buying them. This way you can support the environment and cut your electric bill in half every month. If you do want to invest in it and purchase the solar panels, there are also companies that will install the panels for free and take over the electric bills–then you pay ? of your monthly electric bill to the company and that’s it. Solar companies are trying to make the transition to renewable energy easy and painless for you, so take advantage of that for your business.
2. Recycle
Another amazing thing that you can do for your business is recycling. It’s surprising every year how many businesses do not recycle and are adding waste to landfills. This happens because employees will feel detached from the business and don’t feel directly responsible for the waste that is produced which means that they are often careless during the workday. They don’t feel the need to ask for a recycling bin, and if there was a bin, they might not use it. This is where the managers need to step in to encourage recycling business-wide. Stress the fact that the waste goes directly into landfills and that is doesn’t just disappear.
3. Reduce and Reuse
On the same train of thought as recycling, you should also try to reduce and to reuse. To reduce in your business, try to manage the number of supplies that are produced. Try not to wildly overestimate how much of one thing that you’re going to need because the extras often end up going to the trash. Don’t print something out when you can just email it to the employees. And never throw something away until both the front and the back and been written on and used. Try to get as much use out of something as you can. You should also make sure that employees are encouraged to bring their own reusable water bottles to work. You could even consider supplying them with reusable water bottles to make sure that no one is bringing plastic bottles into the workplace.
Conclusion
Feel free to brag about how eco-friendly your business is. Tell customers about the efforts of the company and how much of a change you’re making in the community. This will help customers to rely on you more and to place their trust in you. They will appreciate your efforts and show their support by buying your eco-friendly products. Remember that a lot of the effort within a company starts with the employees. They need to be trained and talked to about the importance of keeping the environment in mind. Then, you can change the world together.
