As time goes on, businesses continue to feel more and more pressure to go green. This can seem like a daunting prospect, particularly if you are a business owner that wants to go green, but does not know where to start. Well, you're in luck! Here are three easy ways that you can help your business become more eco-friendly.
Go paperless
This is a great tip not only for businesses looking to go green, but for any business looking to modernize. There are plenty of opportunities for you to switch from archaic paper to a much more effective digital setup.
- Stop printing. You don't need to quit cold turkey, but think carefully. Instead of printing out stacks of employee manuals, try going digital. This not only saves trees, but makes it infinitely easier to update employee resources.
- Rethink faxes. While faxing is still an important part of many offices, it has recently seen an important upgrade. By purchasing a fax modem instead of a traditional fax machine, all of your faxes will be viewable via email.
- Create a digital office. Instead of communicating via paper memos, try holding all business communications digitally. This makes it much harder for information to be lost and is a great way to de-clutter an office.
Clean green
Did you know that the secret to creating a greener workplace is in the custodial closet? If not, then you may want to take a closer look at green cleaning products. These are non-toxic cleaning products, and they can offer a lot of advantages to your business.
- Air quality. Traditional cleaners are often filled with toxins that, while effective against germs, are awful for office air quality. Try green cleaners that will leave the floors spotless without putting extra stress on your lungs.
- Customer appeal. It can be disconcerting for a customer to walk down an aisle only to find their senses assaulted by a harsh cleaner. Nobody wants to smell bleach next to the produce, after all. Green cleaning products will keep the business clean without making customers feel like they're in a chemical facility.
Get some sleep
While employees may not be welcome to sleep on the job, there is no reason that their computers should not. You can do your business a world of good by encouraging employees to turn their computers to sleep mode when they are not being used. But how exactly does this work?
- Save money. A study found that by turning office computers to sleep mode when they are not being used, a business can save $10-$50 per computer per year. That is the definition of easy money.
- Improve productivity. If an employee is not actively working on their computer, it should be in sleep mode. The Internet is a wonderful thing, but the reality is that it places a serious strain on productivity. By putting a computer to sleep, the employee is no longer tempted to do anything other than their work.
Be creative
You have to be a creative individual to be a business owner, so why not use that creativity to help the environment? Use these ideas as a starting point, but look at your own office or business and see what you can do to help. With just a little bit of thought and effort, you can become a leader in setting the new standard for green businesses.