Going green has become very important to the world, so much so that we have a day in the year dedicated to celebrating it.
While you might not be able to halt the process of climate change all by yourself at once, you can significantly contribute to its energy usage by adopting some eco-friendly business practices and thereby reducing the carbon footprint on the Earth.
Below are some sustainable business practices you can employ to reduce climate change, negative environmental impact and save money.
8 Things Your Business Can Do to Be More Eco-Friendly and Reduce Carbon Footprint
1. Offer your workers remote jobs
Before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, only a few businesses have looked into offering their workers the opportunity to work from home. But after the pandemic, we realized it was possible to achieve.
As workers do not have to commute to work every day, less carbon dioxide is produced.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau and an investigation from the Washington Post, the average one-way commute time for an average American worker was calculated to be about 27 minutes. This gives about nine days of vehicle drive each year.
Apart from being energy-efficient and subtle eco-friendly practices, Considering the number of workers we have globally, we are increasing the carbon footprint in our environment.
2. Give out what you don’t need
Instead of disposing of electronics, furniture, or appliances you don’t need any more at work, you can increase your business’s environmental impact by giving out items like these to a small business that you think might need them.
Or better still, you can give them to charitable organizations or exchange them for something else with these small businesses. For example, you could give them to local suppliers or probably a direct mail to the manufacturer.
Giving them out in good condition builds you as a green business but can also help you cut down on tax reductions.
Unfortunately, these alternatives are better than just dumping them in waste sites, which will increase metal and plastic toxins present in the Earth.
3. Lower your energy consumption.
Reducing energy consumption can help make your business environmentally sustainable and environmentally friendly and contribute to making the world eco-friendly. Here are some changes your business can adopt.
You can use natural lights or even adopt renewable energy, e.g., solar energy, say for overhead lighting.
If you can’t use natural light in place of incandescent light bulbs, which consume far higher energies, you can introduce LED lights, which consume less energy, are brighter, and are more energy saving.
They last longer and also reduce energy consumption by up to 30%.
Another option is to unplug unused electronics and appliances, especially when you are not at home. Since recent devices are always built to remain in standby mode when they are powered off, which can cause an increase in power consumption over time, you can always switch unplug them when they are not going to be in use for a long time.
And for your lights, you can install timers on them if they aren’t contributing to safety or security purposes to limit energy use.
4. Use Reusable supplies in your office
Stationeries and office supplies like paper, pen, sticky notes, and pencils can significantly increase carbon emissions.
A good measure is to use eco-friendly products that can be re-used, for instance, re-fillable ink for pens.
You can reduce paper waste by using digital notes and encourage your workers to do the same. You may even begin to collect and store unused supplies.
Apart from contributing to environmental impact and supporting local vendors, small businesses will significantly impact climate change and waste reduction by purchasing these office supplies.
5. Replace outdated appliances with their eco-friendly counterparts
According to the U.S. Natural Resources Defense Council, single-use products contribute to over 140 million tons of carbon emission per year.
An excellent remedy to this is to replace as many potential ozone-depleting substances in your business as you can with their eco-friendly counterparts.
For example, developing good buying habits includes purchasing energy-efficient appliances that are energy efficient and reduce energy usage.
If you work in an office, buy eco-friendly and recycle-able paper. For example, if you work in a café or restaurant, get recyclable products for your cutleries and wares.
Retailers can also consider using recyclable bags instead of plastic bags and excessive packaging.
For instance, in your office, you can encourage your workers or team members to bring in their mugs instead of having to use paper cups every time they head to the coffee machine.
6. Reduce Water Usage
Reducing water usage is a great way to make your business environment more eco-friendly and save money. Statistics show that businesses and organizations are contributors to more than 25% of the water used in urban regions.
You can begin by sourcing out water areas leaking around your business workplace. A simple faulty tap, if left unattended to can cause a significant water leak. This can destroy appliances near you and increase utility bills costs.
While your business might largely depend on water usage, you can conserve the amount of water you use by installing water valves or by using smart thermostats.
7. Foster Sustainable Partnerships
The welfare of your community is as important as that of your business because they both depend on each other.
As a business owner, you can contribute to the health of your local economy by partnering with other local businesses near you to make your environment safer and conducive for your 0rganizations.
Things you can partner to achieve include the provision of funds to sponsor events, green web hosting, publicizing green ideas, introducing sustainable fashion, and creating awareness in the community, providing services when community clean-up efforts are put in place.
You can also support investments like solar panels, green web hosting, the use of recycling bins, sending of direct mails, sustainable advertising products, climate change, and its environmental impact, and the use of energy-efficient light bulbs.
All these help your environment become more eco-friendly and can even boost your business by attracting new clients who support your work.
8. Encourage employees and customers to use public transit.
If your business workers cannot skip presence at work, you can enlighten them to see public transit benefits whenever they can.
You can employ subsidized transportation costs for your business if your city offers one. Alternatively, you can provide your employees with public transit benefits.
You can also install a bicycle rack outside your business environment. Use and encourage your customers and workers to do the same whenever possible.
Conclusion
No matter how big or small, every business has an essential environmental impact to play in reducing carbon footprint, making the Earth more environmentally friendly, and eventually securing a more sustainable future.
The earlier we realize this and continuously contribute to making a huge difference, the better for us.