One of the things that lots of businesses are trying to do better at today is being more sustainable and operating in a greener way. If that’s something that you want to do and you’re not sure of the best way in which you can take your business in a more sustainable direction, you’re in the right place.
There are lots of benefits that come with being more sustainable. It’s good for the planet, it’s what your customers want and expect, and it can save your business a lot of money as well.
We’re going to take a look at some of the changes you can start to make to your business in order to take it in a slightly more sustainable direction. So read on and find out more.
Ensure Kitchenware is Reusable
If your workplace has a staff canteen or even just a lunch area, you should make sure that any kitchenware, including cutlery, is completely reusable. Having durable, reusable cutlery that you can wash each day is much better for the environment than using disposable cutlery. There are still many workplaces that get this wrong and cling to single-use plastic cutlery, but the world is quickly coming to understand why that’s not such a good idea. And it’s also something that’s so easy to change.
Travel Less
Traveling a little less is something that’s become the norm in the world of business over the last couple of years, mostly due to the pandemic. But as the world returns to normality, you shouldn’t necessarily go back to your old travel habits. We now know that a lot of the business meetings that need to take place don’t really need to take place in person. Conducting online video calls and simply discussing things with partners and clients that way is more efficient and more sustainable than constantly traveling to meet with people.
Choose a Location with Good Transport Links
Choosing the right location for your business’s workplace is another thing to give some thought to. If you want to run a green business, you’ll also need to pay attention to the ways in which your staff are making their way to and from your workplace. You might not see this as your responsibility, but in some regard it is. If you have a workplace that employees can only reach by car, they’ll have to drive. But if it’s near a train station or bus stop or located somewhere with a good cycle network, they might make greener commuting decisions.
Use Renewable Energy to Power the Workplace
The way in which you power your workplace also matters, of course. These days, it’s increasingly common for homes and workplaces to run on renewables. It’s something that wasn’t really possible until relatively recently. Renewable energy can be generated with solar panels or wind turbines. And as long as you have a battery to store that power, you should be able to cover a lot or even all of your business’s energy requirements from day to day.
Heat and Cool the Workplace Carefully
The way in which you regulate the temperature of your workplace will also have a significant impact on how much energy you use and how sustainable your business is. Heating and cooling the workplace is something that you should do very carefully. Many businesses end up heating or cooling spaces that aren’t even in use, and that’s a complete waste of energy, even if it if is being sourced via renewables. It’s much better to take a targeted approach and use the heating and cooling systems conservatively.
Make Your Packaging Greener
One of the things you definitely need to think about is the way in which you package your products. If your packaging currently uses a lot of plastic, that’s something you should try to remedy if you can. Lots of businesses are now banishing plastics and looking for greener and more environmentally-friendly materials for their packaging. If you want help with reorienting your approach to packaging, you should look for a company that can help you with finding the right retail packaging solutions. You don’t have to go it alone when making these kinds of changes.
Make Recycling the Norm
Recycling should be the norm for a business such as yours. It doesn’t matter how big or small a business is, it’s reasonable to expect most businesses to be able to recycle the paper and other materials that they’re done with. Simply throwing them in the trash and having them fill up landfills is no longer justifiable. So make clear rules for recycling in your workplace and ensure all employees know what’s expected of them.
Demand Sustainable Practices from the Suppliers You Choose
Demanding sustainable practices from your suppliers is something that you should definitely look into as well. It’s up to you who your business works with and sources its supplies from. And that means you have some degree of leverage over your suppliers. If you want to make sure that your business functions in a sustainable way, you need to make sure your suppliers are doing the same. Put pressure on them to make changes if you feel they’re currently falling short in that regard.
Go 100% Paperless
If your business hasn’t yet gone entirely paperless, now is most certainly the time to change that. These days, there are simply no excuses for not going paperless and banishing waste from your workplace. With all of the digital platforms and programs that you and your team have access to, there’s simply no reason why you should be continuing to waste paper and ink. So think about how you can take that final step and make your workplace fully paperless. You won’t miss that paper, and you’ll find that your business probably starts to function more efficiently as well, which can only be a good thing.
Make the Most of Natural Light in the Office
Making the most of the natural light that you have in your office is certainly something to think about. If you’re looking to use a little less electricity from day to day, you might be trying to cut down on the amount of time you have the lights on inside the workplace. That’s something that’s much easier to do when you have plenty of natural light flooding into the space through the windows. So think about how you can do more to make the most of that natural light and use it to replace the use of electrical lights during the daytime hours.
Recycle Unwanted Electronics
Recycling unwanted electronics is something more businesses should be doing. Lots of companies upgrade their computers and other important equipment after a certain period of time. But what happens to those old electronics isn’t always clear. You should try to make sure that the electronics that you are getting rid of get recycled, rather than ending up in landfill somewhere. There are lots of ways in which you can recycle electronic devices, as well as organizations that’ll be more than happy to take them off you and make use of them, so that’s something you might want to explore.
These days, customers expect businesses to be doing their part to go green and take it in a more sustainable direction. There are lots of things you can do to make your business more sustainable and green, and each of the ideas discussed above will help you get started on that path.
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