It’s difficult today to avoid being aware that our home planet isn’t in the best shape. While there isn’t universal agreement about how responsible humans are for the changes, there’s little doubt that the more we can reduce our negative effect on the environment, the better.
If you own a business, though, it’s not just your own personal behaviour you need to think of. How can you make your business environmentally friendly?
Go Paperless
There’s very little need these days for physical records or communication, and that’s a good thing for the environment. Although paper can be produced sustainably and then recycled, it’s best to use less of it, while large quantities of physical records require space that needs to be heated and lit, using up energy.
While emails and electronic storage aren’t entirely carbon neutral, they have far less of a footprint than their physical counterparts. Sending an email with files attached, for instance, cuts out the need for not only a considerable amount of paper, but also for the fuel needed to transport it — besides being quicker and cheaper.
Use Your Electronic Equipment in a Greener Way
Most businesses today require a variety of electronic equipment such as computers. This takes up power, of course, but you can reduce this by looking at how you use your equipment.
For one thing, how energy efficient is your equipment? Older appliances may leave a lot to be desired in this respect, partly because older designs might be less efficient, and partly because efficiency declines as the appliance grows older.
You might want to look at whether you can reduce both your costs and your carbon footprint by replacing your equipment with more energy efficient models. And don’t just throw the old ones away. Many elements of electronic equipment can be recycled.
Use Your Phone Intelligently
Sometimes an email isn’t enough, and you need to speak directly to clients or prospects. A face-to-face meeting might seem like a great idea, but it can come with a high carbon price, as well as being time consuming, if you’re constantly driving all over the place for meetings.
Sometimes you do need to be face to face, although even then a video conference might do just as well. But, if you’re trying to speak to a whole list of prospects, there’s a simpler way — use your phone. Besides being quicker and easier, it’s an option with a very low environmental cost.
Feel free to get in touch with the Resource Centre if you need help with your telephone campaign — and doing a little to save the planet.