No matter what kind of business you have, making it eco-friendly and sustainable is important. The world needs steps to prevent the depletion of natural resources, now more than ever.
Even customers today prefer to shop from transparent brands that contribute to the prevention of global warming and other environmental problems.
In fact, 75% of consumers say that sustainability is the most important thing they look for in a brand. So if you also want to show your love for our beloved earth, here are a few tips!
Perform an audit
An audit might seem terribly boring, but it’s essential to every business. If you don’t understand the areas in your company where things are going wrong, you won’t be able to address the issues.
So ask your team to thoroughly audit all the different branches and check the carbon footprint levels in the company.
For example, you can check the cleaning and maintenance products used and ensure none contain harmful chemicals. Or recycle the tons of paper that are being thrown away or wasted unnecessarily.
Try out digital business cards
Even though paper-based business cards are popularly used, they contribute to much deforestation. Moreover, it takes gallons of water to make just one stack of these cards, which again causes a negative impact on the environment.
A smarter choice would be to switch over to virtual business cards. For example, you can try out near-field communication (NFC) cards with an electronic chip embedded in a metal card.
The receiver will be able to view your company’s profile and information just by tapping the chip on their smartphones, thereby saving your printing costs and the environment.
Encourage remote work
During the covid pandemic, most offices asked their employees to work from home, and the results that they received were far more positive than anyone would have thought.
So even if the pandemic is over, you can still encourage your employees to work at least two or three times a week remotely.
The more remote work there is, the less the need to come to the office will be. In addition, if fewer cars are on the road, the air will be much less polluted, and people will consume fewer non-renewable energy resources like petrol or diesel.
Introduce eco-friendly products
Our world faces many dangers associated with harsh chemicals and pesticides. Even though we may not be aware of these things all the time, it’s a fact that people hardly use eco-friendly products.
Non-green products not only deplete the environment but also cause a lot of diseases like cancer and chronic illnesses.
Make a conscious change in your office by urging all your employees to throw away plastic and use cloth or paper bags instead. Or tell them to reduce using paper and keep all their files and folders stored on their laptops.
Make use of second-hand things
If you discover that your office space lacks something, you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of money and then buy or construct a brand-new one.
Many things can be bought from a thrift store or a second-hand shop, and the quality will still be great.
For example, you can easily buy some trendy pieces of furniture from a second-hand shop. However, it takes a lot of raw materials, money, and time to make a complete office furniture set, so buying used items is actually a great investment.
You can also do the same for other items like carpets and decorative pieces.
Use green-friendly services
You might be surprised to hear that most websites are not eco-friendly, even on the internet. This is because they constantly have to store large amounts of data that require much power to run.
You can choose the websites where you wish to store your data. Some big companies that have already taken steps to decarbonize their data centers are Google and Amazon.
You can also implement a strategy where your company will only do business with companies that take responsible steps to create a sustainable environment.
Over to you…
It’s no longer “just a choice” to take care of the planet. Nowadays, it has become an urgent necessity. So, improve your company and make your brand appeal to your customers with unique changes.
