6 Tip to Reduce Your Business’ Carbon Footprint

It’s now more important than ever before to be conscious of our impact on the environment. Businesses all across the world are taking the necessary steps to reduce their carbon footprint and make a conscious effort to preserve our scarce resources. Have you taken steps to make the shift over to a more environmentally-friendly office? If not, here are a few tips to get you started.

 

carbon footprint

 

Encourage online payments

It may not seem like a big deal, but the paper used to send out cheques, envelopes and (late) payment notices adds up at the end of the day, especially when you are business with 100+ employees and 1000+ customers . You can make a small but highly impactful difference by making it easy for your customers to make payments online through a secure online portal and for your employees to receive direct deposits instead of printed cheques.

 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

It’s time for us to put our education to good use. Schools all across the world are encouraging eNewsletters, litterless lunches, the reuse of paper, proper recycling etiquettes, and the like. So why shouldn’t this trend continue into the workplace? Recycling produces less landfill and lowers the cost of waste disposal.

Here’s a quest for you and your employees: place a used (clean it) coffee cup in the lunch room beside the microwave or vending machine. Every time someone drinks a pop have them take the tab off before chugging it into the recycling bin. Those tabs can be used to create a wheelchair for someone that needs it.

 

Create electronic versions of important documents

Need to invoice customers or send out reports? Why not create electronic versions and email them or make them accessible via the web, rather than printing and mailing them? You’ll conserve paper as well as economize on things like ink and postage. As well, your customers will appreciate the convenience, in case they lose the important document. Check out this document management software tool for more information.

 

Communicate via email

If you’re still using papermail for all client and employee correspondences then its time to upgrade to emails, messengers (i.e. Skype) and CRM software systems with reliable after sales support. That will cut down your stationery consumption by more than 40%. If you’re still hung up with CRT monitors, replacing them with LCD and LED screens will bring in some major savings on your energy bills. Traveling isn’t always needed for attending meetings, so economize by communicating through email, Skype, and GoTo meetings.

 

Take a tablet or netbook to meetings

Rather than using notepads for taking notes during meetings, take notes on your tablet or laptop. When you need to access it, you can do so at the click of a button, without having to flip through the papers.

 

Unplug/Turn Off Office Equipment When Not in Use

Turn off and/or unplug office equipment, lights and electronic devices when they are not being used by employees. As well, encourage all employees and customers to take the stairs instead of the elevator. Make sure that the last one out of the office turns off the lights-just like they do at home.

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