Eco-friendly – Photo by Anna Oliinyk on Unsplash
From individuals to small businesses, every contribution towards fixing global warming counts. In addition to using serviced and virtual offices, there are many other solutions you can adopt to make your business more eco-friendly. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:
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Recycle and Reuse
Using biodegradable or reusable packaging for your products is one of the easiest ways to go green. If you’re in the food and grocery business, you can opt for recyclable cups and bottles. It’s also worth upgrading to reusable shopping bags instead of their plastic counterparts.
Regardless of your industry, you can incorporate recycling bins into your office or shop to encourage employees and customers to recycle and reuse wherever possible.
Save Energy
Even the smallest business can have energy needs that contribute to pollution in some way, especially if you run a brick-and-mortar location. One way to reduce the energy you use is to open up the windows instead of cranking up the air conditioner.
If you have access to natural light, make the most of it to maximize the amount of sunlight you get each day. For example, design your business layout in a way that doesn’t obstruct light, and use energy-saver bulbs and motion-sensing lights that only come on when needed.
Encourage your employees to carpool or even cycle to work when possible. Consider working from serviced or virtual offices to limit the work commute and save on overhead costs. Better yet, find one of the many serviced offices worldwide that have been designed from the ground up to be eco-friendly.
Eco-friendly Shop – Photo by Jason Briscoe on Unsplash
Conserve Water
Apart from putting up signs around the office reminding everyone to be careful with water, there are many ways to conserve water in a business. For instance, you could encourage employees to wash their dishes at the same time instead of doing it separately. It can even help to opt for a dishwasher instead of the hand washing method.
You may also upgrade to water-saving dual flush toilets and collect rainwater for flushing. Any rainwater you collect can also be used to water your office plants.
Use Less Paper
As we all know, the number of trees that are cut down to make paper every year is devastating. In fact, the paper industry accounts for 0.6% of all annual greenhouse gas emissions.
Be a part of eco-friendly solutions by going digital. Everything from memos to invoices and order fulfillment can be done online now. Another benefit of going digital is that you won’t have to spend money on new filing cabinets each year, and you can run your business from anywhere.
Plant Trees
Trees are the lungs of our planet and an essential part of our fragile ecosystem. They convert the carbon dioxide released by cars, humans, and industrial activity into the oxygen we humans breathe. They also provide shade and shelter while beautifying the environment.
Despite all this, ancient forests are being decimated at an alarming rate each year, displacing animals and threatening habitats all around the world.
What can you do about this as a business owner? Aside from sponsoring local tree-planting initiatives, you could regularly donate to a reforestation non-profit as part of your company’s corporate social responsibility strategy.
As we continue to face the accelerating effects of global warming, it’s important to remember that we all have the power to help reverse the damage being done to the planet. Get started today by applying one or more of the solutions shared above to make your business that much more eco-friendly.
