There are five quick ways that any small business can create a greener workplace and greener small business.
Small business owners in nearly every industry have started to move towards more environmentally friendly practices. Businesses that take steps to reduce waste, energy usage, and harmful emissions are connecting with consumers while also lowering operating costs.
Recycle, recycle, recycle to More Greener Small Business
One of the most effective ways to create a greener small business is to purchase recycled office supplies. Many office items like paper products, ink cartridges, binders, and even electronics can be recycled.
Recycling allows part of the energy and resources that were used to produce an item initially to be reintroduced into the supply chain. Producing items from recycled materials saves energy and resources since they do not have to be harvested and refined again. This has a noticeable impact on air quality and water quality over time.
Invest in clean technologies for Your Greener Small Business
Using clean technologies will reduce the environmental footprint of a company in a dramatic way. Everything from point of sale hardware to image editing software has a greener Cloud counterpart. In addition, Cloud-based services reduce the need for you to maintain a power-hungry infrastructure just to host your business applications, thereby allowing you to produce less carbon than businesses running the same applications on in-house infrastructure.
Turn off unused equipment
A trend that remains in place at many small businesses is to leave office equipment on after the office or store closes for the day. This means placing computers into standby mode or leaving copiers idling. Even though the systems are not fully active, they are still drawing power. This wastes a large amount of electricity over the course of a year.
A better policy is to shut down all equipment and to turn off any power switches attached to outlets or surge protectors. Unplugging unnecessary or rarely used devices will help as well.
Walk the paperless path to a Greener Small Business
As a small business owner, you can help the environment considerably by reducing or eliminating the amount of paper you use each month. With an online fax application, your small business will become a greener small business. Online fax applications make it possible to receive faxes straight to your computer instead of having to print them out.
Any record keeping can also be done digitally. Instead of wasting paper to print out invoices or customer information, you can choose one of the many paperless options. This will also make accessing business files a lot more convenient and streamline your business to be more productive and efficient overall.
Change Cleaning Supplies
In some small businesses, the responsibility for cleaning the break room is placed on the employees. Others have a dedicated cleaning staff to do the job. Either way, the cleaning supplies used can have a dramatic impact on the air quality inside of the office.
Traditional cleaning supplies contain volatile compounds and can generate harmful fumes. These compounds can trigger respiratory problems in workers susceptible to them. They are also harmful to the environment when mixed with dust and moisture in the air. It is possible to switch to or make your own natural cleaners that do not harm the environment and improve air quality in the office.
