Business Tips
Save your business money by going green
Many business owners are under the impression that it costs a lot to run an environmentally-friendly company, but when you break down the numbers, it can actually help cut back on costs if done correctly. Not only would it benefit your business to adopt green policies from a financial perspective, but it will actually soon be a requirement for all companies to report their energy use and carbon dioxide emissions to the government. In other words, the more energy your business consumes, the more likely it is that it will face some kind of penalisation in the near future, as there is a concerted attempt to reduce the UK’s carbon footprint by 2030, which currently stands at a staggering 466 million tonnes of emission per year. Here’s how you can do your bit to help out, and save some money in the process:
Green Energy
According to Neeeco’s Mass Save Home Energy Audit, One very effective way to lower emissions at your company is to switch over to energy suppliers that use only 100% renewable sources. Solar and wind energy are just two examples, and can both be used to replace fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil. Using renewable energy can seriously help to cut back on utility bills and costs, and it also provides great optics to customers and other businesses that interact with yours. You can also choose to partner up with suppliers that specialise in sustainable goods and services, which can lead to special deals and discounts because of your shared values.
Responsible Recycling
Recycling may seem like one of the more obvious things that you can do to cut back on carbon emissions, but sometimes it’s easily overlooked. You should always place recycling bins where they are needed most, so that your workers will have no excuse to ignore them. Another good trick is to encourage employees to bring in silverware or reusable containers at lunch time, in order to minimise the amount of waste. Instead of throwing out old electronics and computers, you can find a number of e-waste recyclers who will be willing to buy the parts from you.
Go Digital
In this day and age, it makes so much sense for your business to go paperless. Choosing to go the digital route could drastically lower your expenses, as the average office worker gets through around £380 of paper each year. With cloud systems such as Google Drive, you’ll always be safe in the knowledge that your important files will be stored securely, and can be accessed easily on multiple devices.
Second-Hand Furniture
While it may be tempting to fork out the money on some new furniture for the office, you’ll be able to save considerably if you choose to go for something second-hand. There are so many listings for furniture on websites such as Gumtree, Office Resale and eBay, and many of them will be almost as good as new. Every day there are perfectly good pieces of furniture being sent over to landfills where carbon emissions are worryingly high, so this is another sustainable step your business can take to help.
Fernando Raymond
