Businesses have an important role to play if proper sustainability measures are to be implemented. If we put these measures into practice then it can help a business make more profits, get attention of new customers, attract new talented employees, lower overall business costs and most importantly save the environment. Your business can also take the initiative. Let us see how
Electricity Usage:
It may sound a very basic thing to do but you can save a great amount of electricity by switching off the lights and appliances when they are not in use. Ask employees to take this initiative themselves, so that they could implement the task in a much better way. The other benefit for the company would be that the electricity bills would become less if electricity were used efficiently.
Increase Energy Efficiency:
All small steps you take will help the goal of making your work place more eco-friendly. As for example, by moving over to light bulbs, which are more energy efficient you will be able to reduce electricity consumption, which in turn will mean that the power grids will have to produce less electricity and thereby less damage to the environment from carbon emissions. Additionally, you will be to cut back on your utility bills. Before implementing such measure on a large scale try to test them on some sections in the office and then only go ahead with making the change in all parts of the office. You can also try out lighting solutions based on motion sensors, which automatically turn off the lights when nobody is in the room.
Preserve Water:
As we all know, water is very scarce and we need to use it in a proper manner. You can take one simple step to reduce water consumption, which is also quite cost effective and involves installation of water aerators inside the sinks. The benefit is that they lower the volume of water while at the same time sustains water pressure.
Use of paper:
You could save many trees by properly using paper and stop its wastage. The first thing you will have to do is tell employees print only the documents, which are necessary. In case you have received an email then it need not be printed and should be viewed online. Another thing is to change the setting in the printer to print double page to let both sides of the page to be used for printing draft copies of any document.
Business Travel:
You can reduce your carbon footprint by reducing business travels. Instead, make best use of technologies such as video conferencing and Skype to interact with clients and perform business meetings whenever possible. This way you will save time, reduce expenditure and reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
Select Local Vendors:
By selecting local vendors, you will be helping the local economy as well as benefit the environment. As for example, if you are getting supplies from companies in the region then distance in transportation will be reduced and lower your carbon footprint. Even if slightly more expensive, it will be beneficial for you, as you will not have to incur the transportation cost.
Digital filing:
In case of large organization, it is important to implement digital filing, so that dependence on paper documents can be reduced, which would be easily accessible to everyone in the organization and employees can work on them from any location in the world.
Waste management:
The waste produced within the company such as food scraps need to be disposed properly. Best option would be to use compost bin in which all the scrap goes to create humus, which can then be used in the office garden.
Summary:
Companies can take many sustainability steps, which help to reduce their expenditures as well as help to reduce damage to the environment.
