Issues like climate change, pollution, and more are serious challenges that must be overcome if humanity wishes to preserve the planet for future generations. To solve these problems, businesses will have to do their part. In a harsh economic climate, however, many business owners may be hesitant when it comes to giving environmental concerns a high priority. However, this does not need to be the case. Below are six eco-friendly tips that can help your business save money.
Switch to LED Light Bulbs
In certain cases, switching to more environmentally friendly alternatives is rather easy. This is certainly the case for light bulbs.
When newer designs for light bulbs were created in recent decades, the engineers made an effort to ensure that the newer and more energy-efficient bulbs would be backward compatible with the existing light fixtures used in businesses, homes, and other buildings.
Making the change is as easy as unscrewing your old bulbs and screwing in newer LED bulbs that use 75 percent less energy than traditional incandescent light bulbs.
Program Your Thermostat
One of the biggest uses for energy in any building is heating and cooling. These, of course, are necessary to keep a building safe and comfortable for workers. Unfortunately, utility costs can quickly pile up during the colder and hotter months of the year.
If you are looking to lessen your company’s carbon footprint as well as slash some overhead, do a better job programming thermostats in your offices, factories, or other buildings. Doing so can lessen the amount of energy used for heating and cooling when those buildings are empty after work hours.
Partner with Energy Efficiency Professionals
Overall, your goal should be obtaining a higher level of energy efficiency to both slash overhead expenses as well as your company’s carbon footprint. Thankfully, you do not have to tackle this challenge all on your own.
There are, in fact, companies that provide energy efficient solutions as a service. The services provided can include things like energy metering, asset monitoring, energy optimization, and energy analytics.
Working with such a company can allow you to craft a custom solution that meets your business’s specific needs while giving you access to data and tools you would not have if you went at it alone regarding your green initiatives.
Convert to a Paperless Office
In many ways, technology provides the solution for how to lessen a business’s impact on the environment. This is true in regards to converting an office workspace into a paperless office.
Every year, entire forests worth of trees are cleared to provide businesses with the paper their office workers use. However, the truth of the matter is this paper’s use is completely unnecessary in the modern business world. Everything that can be printed in an office can be replicated via digital files and communication tools in a far superior way.
Start a Company Car Pool Program
Some of these economic benefits of greener business processes can be transferred to your workforce as well. One great option every company should consider is instituting a carpool program. As you should well know, the use of oil to fuel motor vehicles is a big contributor to issues like pollution and global warming.
One way to combat this problem is to lessen the number of vehicles needed to transport people from place to place. A carpool program can accomplish this for your firm. This will also greatly benefit your employees since they will be spending far less money on gas for their daily commutes.
Expand Work From Home Initiatives
During the pandemic, many more people were forced to work from home than ever before. While this was done to stem the transmission of disease, many employers realized that allowing workers to perform their work from their own homes had strong advantages. Namely, it helped to slash overhead expenses and, in many cases, actually increased efficiency.
The truth is that not all employees have to be in the same physical location to contribute to a shared work product. In fact, not forcing all of your workers to commute to your offices can give you access to talent you would not have access to otherwise.
Bottom Line
Overall, you should be aware of the fact that many of the things you can do to lessen your negative impact on the environment can help to lower costs and increase efficiency for your company. The list of six items above is only a starting point. Try to reassess all of your business processes to find ways to lower your carbon footprint and your costs simultaneously. Doing so can give you a great advantage over your competitors.
