There are a few social cues that seem to never go away. Some of these can be annoying, but many of them are necessary. One of the most important social responsibilities you have as a business owner is doing your part to help preserve the environment. This is great for not only fulfilling an important social role, but it can also serve as a winning factor when it comes to securing new clients that are particularly invested in environmental causes.
“Going green” as a business owner is pretty simple—it just takes some discipline. If you go about it right, you really won’t even have to change very much about the way you currently do business.
For example…
Start Printing Less
This is a step that can also decrease all of that clutter on your desk. Besides, do you really need to print out every single e-mail you get? Sure, some companies have to print out documents that are several pages long, but make sure you’re only printing out the necessary pages. And for those things you do have to print, be sure you recycle the paper when you are done with the documents.
Conserve
If you have kids, you’ve probably scolded them about leaving lights on. You should keep this mindset at work, too. When you leave work for the day, make sure your lights are off and those your computers are either shut down or in energy-saving mode. In fact, placing your computers in energy-saving mode all of the time will conserve energy when you aren’t behind your desk during the workday. Also, before leaving for the day, cutting your thermostat down a bit more will also help save energy (and, as with the rest of these tips, money).
Recycle Your Electronics
In a day and age when we are all becoming dependent on electronics, our landfills are seeing more and more electronics waste piling up. As a general rule of thumb, see if you can upgrade any existing equipment or systems before making the decision to get brand new equipment. (This obviously saves you a lot of money, too). With computers and phones, you can always look around your local area for places in need for those devices or factories that might recycle them.
What are some ways your business does its part to help the environment? Any tips to share?
