To the eco-minded entrepreneurs, there’s really nothing more important than the carbon footprint of their business. In the past, there was a belief that going green meant giving up some of your productivity, yet, this is clearly not the case any longer. Keep in mind that the greener your business goes, the less power and supplies it spends in order to achieve the same thing. With that in mind, being eco-friendly also implies achieving a higher level of cost-effectiveness. Either that or a scenario where you achieve a better ROI in the future. With that in mind, here are several tricks to help you reduce the carbon footprint of your business.
1. Consider going paperless
The first thing you need to understand is the fact that an average office worker prints about 10,000 sheets of paper every year. Now, consider how many people you have in your employ and you’ll get an idea of the full scale of this ecological disaster. Paper (along with deforestation), however, isn’t the only problem. Other than this, you have the ink wasted on printing, the waste caused by empty ink cartridges and the power spent by these printers. Fortunately, in the digital era, it would be quite easy for your operations to go fully paperless (or, at the very least, as paperless as possible).
2. Encouraging a greener commute
The next thing you need to figure out is a way to encourage your staff to take a greener commute to work. You can set some fitness goals and competition (with a suitable reward) in the office to encourage those who live nearby to walk or cycle to work. You can also install some bicycle racks in front of the office or in the lobby in order to make this type of commute more convenient for them. Other than this, you can encourage people to carpool or use public transportation, both of which are greener than traveling to work by a personal vehicle. Sure, incentivizing this financially may not be the most cost-effective course of action but it does tend to make your business substantially greener.
3. A more efficient delivery system
When it comes to the issue of delivery, there are two things worth mentioning. First, you can choose to outsource and, when doing so, look for a business that labels itself as green. Other than this, you can start investing in better fleet management. Here, efficiency and eco-friendliness are one and the same. You see, fewer trips and more efficient routes improve your average fuel-efficiency and reduce emissions. This is why an investment in fleet management software and a capable fleet manager is an investment in a reduced carbon footprint. Also, when browsing platforms specializing in trucks for sale, you should also look at their engine specifications for emissions.
4. Green hosting
You also need to think about the way in which your online brand raises the carbon footprint of your office. The simplest way to handle this issue is to look for a host that provides green web hosting options. What this means is that their servers either run on a renewable source of energy or that they’re using low-power devices to run them. Either way, by opting for this you’re not only actively reducing your carbon footprint but also supporting this industry in development. This way, you get to be a part of the solution instead of being a part of the problem.
5. The power efficiency of the office
There are so many little things that you can do in order to raise the overall power efficiency of the office. First of all, you can replace all the bulbs with low-power ones. Second, you can replace all the appliances with low-power ones or automate them to shut down whenever not used. Every single one of these office improvements makes a difference but when put together, they can make your office self-sustainable.
6. Raising awareness
The last thing worth bearing in mind is the fact that your eco-friendly work is not done once your staff leaves the office floor. The effect of your eco-friendly efforts, therefore, depends entirely on them and their willingness to change their own habits. This, nonetheless, requires some education and you need to consider seriously investing in raising their awareness.
Conclusion
The very last thing worth keeping in mind is the fact that reducing your carbon footprint may require you to make some initial investments. These investments, nonetheless, will definitely pay off in time. In other words, instead of just providing you with the moral and ethical satisfaction of doing the right thing, these trends also help you generate a positive net worth while doing so.
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