All businesses, large or small, should be making important steps towards being more environmentally-friendly –and this should continue to your personal life, too. Anything you can do to make a difference should be done, especially within business premises where there are a lot of people and power within one place. Being greener is also a great way to connect the people in your business under one important agenda.
Here are some tips to get you started on your eco journey:
- Install Smart Technology
Smart devices such as an updated thermostat can really make a difference when it comes to saving money on your energy bills – and helping the environment by reducing your energy output. Smart technology will help you and your employees to better manage the energy usage within your building.
For further guidance, you can use a business utility comparison from Utility Bidder to help you better manage your utilities and preserve energy.
- Change the Commute Arrangements
Long commutes are sometimes inevitable when it comes to traveling to work. However, if there is anything your business can do in terms of reducing its carbon footprint when it comes to traveling, then you should do it. This could be anything from encouraging employees to cycle to work instead of driving (including yourself) or supporting a car-share scheme to limit the amount of traffic on the road.
- Reuse Ink Cartridges
If your company uses a lot of ink and printing systems, consider having your ink cartridges re-filled instead of buying completely new ones. This will reduce the amount of plastic and packaging wastage, and will also save your business money.
- Arrange a Recycling Program
You should ensure that your business has all in needs in terms of recycling stations, bins and information for its employees regarding where to throw away their plastics, paper, and cardboard, or any other recyclable goods. This can be as simple as putting a designated recycling bin in the main office or by the main entrance doors to the building.
- Arrange a Work Garden
This can be a fun endeavor if you have large premises with a lot of outside space potential. Or if you are part of a tall office block, you could consider a rooftop or small balcony garden. Anything which involves growing plants and flowers to help the environment is a step in the right direction, and this can also provide a great team-building exercise or respite spot for your workers to relax during breaks.
- Consider Shorter Weeks
Depending on your business, if you can minimize the number of hours spent traveling to work and using the power within the office –for example, 5 days down to 4 days– then you can significantly decrease your energy usage and carbon footprint.
Alternatively, you could suggest the extra day being spent working from home instead to limit the commute and energy bills within your business building.
Your employees definitely will not complain, either!