Human behaviour is having a detrimental impact on the planet. This is something that we’re all aware of. Fortunately, more and more of us are taking action against the extensive damage that we are creating on both personal and societal levels. We’re taking steps in our day to day lives to reduce harm and live more green lifestyles. What we really need, though, is for businesses to follow suit. If you run a business of any sort, it’s absolutely essential that you do what you can to run things in a more eco-friendly manner and reduce the amount of waste you are producing. Here are just a few ideas that can help you to get started with this.
Use Paper Bags and Packaging
Where possible, swap plastic for recycled paper or cardboard products. If you’re a commercial store and sell products to customers, give them paper bags to carry their goods in, as opposed to plastic bags. If you ship items, use paper and cardboard packaging. There are many alternatives to plastic, so there’s no need to include it at all in your parcels. Rather than bubble wrap, use packing made from natural and biodegradable materials. This will all help to reduce your impact on the planet!
Try Green Energy
Every business needs energy to operate. Whether you work from home and simply require your laptop and the basics, or whether you’re running an entire brick and mortar store or factory and need lighting, heating and electricity for machinery and other equipment, you should seriously consider drawing the energy you use from a renewable energy source. There are plenty of green energy companies out there offering commercial contracts. Switching to one of these suppliers is generally simple and straightforward. Often, you will even find that green energy companies are actually even cheaper than your existing provider. If possible, you may want to try generating your own energy using commercial solar panels. This will allow you to draw green energy of your own making. The panels usually pay for themselves pretty quickly. You may even find that you generate more than you use and can sell this to the national grid.
Recycle
Recycling is another great practice that your business should implement. Many of us already recycle at home, but it’s important to bear in mind that recycling should be carried out wherever possible, not just from home. Recycling in your office is pretty straightforward. The average business gets through a whole lot of waste and this waste could be put to good use once it’s thrown away. Whether that’s paper waste, waste from workers’ lunches or anything else, make sure to provide recycling bins in your office space. This will encourage staff to sort their waste appropriately. You can then have this waste collected and recycled!
Of course, there are many more steps you can take to turn your office into a greener environment. But for now, the steps above should help you to get your eco-friendly venture off to the best start possible!
