Guest post by Matt Casadona

Your clients, customers, and your employees are calling for more sustainability within your business. While developing a sustainability plan will require both time and money, it’s well worth the effort to meet the ever-changing demands of your customer base and your employees. Many types of businesses can benefit from sustainable business practices, and they can sometimes even help save businesses money. Here are a few simple steps that can help make your business greener.

Reduce Energy Consumption

By simply reducing the electricity in your office, you will not only reduce global greenhouse gas emissions but save money on utilities. You can reduce energy consumption by turning off electronics when they’re not in use. For example, instead of letting a computer sit idly, you can ask your employees to save their work on the desktop and leave them off at the end of the day. Also, you can ask the final person out the door each day to turn off electronics, including lights, computers, and air conditioners. You can further reduce your energy consumption by changing your light bulbs to LEDs, which use up less energy than the average light bulb and can last much longer.

Reduce Paper Consumption

Take a look around your office. How much paper do you see? According to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA), on average, each office worker uses 10,000 sheets of paper annually. If you take a look in your office waste bins, you shouldn’t be surprised if you see tons of paper. You can reduce your company’s carbon footprint by transitioning some of your paper and print materials to digital formats. These are things that can be turned digital:

• Invoices

• Service agreements

• Internal newsletters and memos

• Meeting agendas

• Employee documents for HR

  
  

There are better ways to communicate with your staff than printed memos. Instead, you can try making announcements through Google Meet or Slack.

You can also replace some of your print marketing materials with digital versions. However, not all things can be replaced digitally. If you still prefer to use print marketing materials, you can make them more environmentally friendly by swapping out your average office supplies for more eco-friendly paper and ink. Here are a few alternatives:

• Hemp paper

• Recycled paper

• Soy ink

• Recycled ink cartridges

   

Promote Recycling

If you don’t have a recycling bin in your office, add one as soon as possible. Recycling bins can include organic waste, electronics, and other recycling materials your employees typically throw in the trash because there are no other solutions in-office.

Create Incentives for Sustainable Commutes

Driving is one of the worst things for the environment; it contributes heavily to air pollution. Instead of asking your employees to drive to work each day, create incentives for sustainable versions of commutes. These can include carpooling, biking, walking and using public transportation.

Did you know that according to SmartMove, “[...] bicycling is becoming more popular, with the number of riders increasing from 51 million to 66 million between 2012 and 2017 in the United States.” That’s because many people, especially millennials and younger generations, care more about the environment than any other generation.

Your incentives for sustainable commutes can be as simple as you want them to be, such as giving the person with the smallest commute their own plaque or providing a gift card. If it’s financially possible, help subsidize their carpooling or public transportation costs.

Shift to Remote Work

Why not cut out the commute altogether? In recent years, more and more Americans and businesses are discovering the benefits of a completely remote workforce. If this is something your business can do, it’s best to weigh the pros and cons. A major benefit of having a remote workforce is saving thousands of dollars on rent while promoting sustainable practices because your employees will no longer be contributing to air pollution every day by driving their cars to work. Not only will your employees thank you for a better work-life balance, but they’ll be saving money on gas and car maintenance every year.

Move Your Business Online

If you already have a remote workforce, you can take it a step further by moving your entire business online. Given recent advancement in technology, there’s no longer any reason why your business needs a physical office. Your customers and clients understand that many businesses are becoming remote, and many people have stopped having in-person meetings altogether.

We recognize that not every business can be moved online. For example, a car repair shop can never move its business online, but a company specializing in estate planning can allow a client to create an online will without ever having to meet in person.

Invest in Your Community

Your local community invests in your business by buying your products and services, so why not invest more in your local community? This is the place where your employees live and work. A sustainable business can become involved and give back in a variety of ways. You can have an employee bonding workshop, where instead of a pizza party, you take your employees to clean up litter in the local park and then spend some time having fun in the sun afterwards.

You can also bring students into your business to be mentored by your top performers or do work for non-profit organizations. Your business can choose causes that align with its values to promote sustainability at work and in the community.

Source Products Differently

No matter what industry you’re in, you will have expenses for supplies and services. Instead of buying products from anywhere, do research on who you’re buying your products from. You can look into a business within your local community, especially those businesses that have the same sustainability goals.

When it comes to your purchases, consider what you can buy that might be better for the environment as an alternative to what you currently use. There might be sustainable alternatives you don’t know about until you do some research.

Assign a Sustainability Rep

Becoming a more sustainable business takes time, which means that a small business owner may not have enough time to implement as many sustainable solutions as they would like. Instead, you can choose one person in your organization to become the point person on your sustainability project.

This person will come up with ideas that promote sustainability in your business. You can ask them to present their ideas with descriptions, plans of action, and cost-benefit analyses. From there, you can decide what eco-friendly decisions make sense for your company.

Matt Casadona has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Psychology. Matt is passionate about marketing and business strategy and enjoys San Diego life, traveling, and music.

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