Owning a business doesn’t have to cost the Earth – both in a metaphorical and a literal way. Metaphorically, owning a business doesn’t have to be as expensive as you think. And literally – you can run your company in as eco-friendly a way as possible, and not contribute to global warming. Fortunately going green can also save you a lot of money, making the two self-supporting and as vital as each other. A green office is a much nicer environment to work in, as everyone feels like they are contributing to helping the environment.
‘Going-green’ doesn’t mean that you have to add solar panels to the roof of your office, or to site a wind-turbine next to your business. Although if you did want to, the return on free energy would be immense. There are many simple changes you can make in your work environment that will ensure you are greener in the end.
Go Paperless
How much paper do you see being thrown away every day in your office? Memos being thrown around, handed out at every meeting and just discarded? You can go paperless by just emailing over the memos and meeting notes. You might think it takes more time, but when you sit at your computer most of the day, how much time does it actually take to write a quick note or two?
Recycling
You’ve heard it a million times, and you probably already do this to a certain extent. But recycling can be the easiest way of going green. Everyone knows how to recycle, and you just have to enforce the idea. Make sure there are plenty of waste paper bins, plastic bins and general waste bins around and the issue will solve itself.
Alternative Fuel
If you run a factory, or anywhere that burns materials for fuel, consider using something other than logs and coal. You can use things like briquettes which are made from recycled materials like wood chips, sawdust, and charcoal. Using a briquetting routine can really help your business. The material burns cleaner – making the process from making it to using it as clean as it can be.
Energy-saving
Save energy by switching out your light bulbs to energy-saving bulbs. You could even use motion detectors so that the lights get turned off when no one is using them – just in case you don’t trust everyone to turn the lights off as they leave the room. Energy saving bulbs are around the same price as regular bulbs yet normally last much longer – it’s a no-brainer from every angle.
Compost
In your office kitchen use a compost bin for people’s food waste. You can then donate this to local gardeners or allotment owners. Even coffee grounds can go on a garden to benefit plants. Recycling food this way stops the rotting food building up in dumps.