Greening Your Business
Tips on how to start making your business operations easier on the planet -- and on your bottom line.
When you start to green your business operations, you're helping to reduce global warming pollution, preserve forests and biodiversity, and keep our air and water clean. And you can also help protect your bottom line because environmentally responsible businesses are efficient businesses. This guide provides a few simple tips on how your business can start to go green.
Use Better Paper, and Less of It
The average office tosses out about 350 pounds of paper per employee, per year.
- Encourage a paperless workplace, using electronic communication over paper whenever possible.
- Buy copier paper with a minimum 30 percent post-consumer recycled content (100 percent is best).
- Set your printers to print double-sided, or designate a draft tray and fill it with paper that's blank on one side.
- Collect used paper separately for recycling. If you can, also recycle other materials, like aluminum, glass and plastic.
- Reuse shipping materials.
- Stock bathrooms with post-consumer recycled tissue products. Tissue manufacturers destroy forests when they turn virgin wood into disposable paper products.
Get Energy Efficient
Using less energy reduces the demand on power plants, the nation's leading contributors to global warming pollution. And it saves a bundle on your energy bills.
Contact your utility company to arrange for a free (or inexpensive) energy audit. An engineer will examine your operations and provide you with a detailed report about how your organization can save on energy costs.
- Turn off lights and unplug electronics after hours -- electronics use energy while they're plugged in, even when they're switched off. (Plug all your electronics into power strips for ease of turning on and off.)
- Set computers to sleep when inactive, and turn off screen savers and slide shows which can use up $50 of electricity in a year.
- Use Energy Star office equipment -- most major brands carry energy-saving models marked with the Energy Star label.
Cut Water Waste
One billion people on our planet can't get safe drinking water. In the United States, some rivers are being drawn down faster than nature can fill them up. Using water efficiently today will help ensure that future generations have access to the water they need.
- Install faucet aerators and low-flow toilets.
- Check for and fix leaks.
- Recycle water.
- Landscape for maximum water efficiency.
Create a Greener Working Environment
Employees are on the front lines of any sustainability initiatives your company chooses to make. Participation from all levels of your staff is a crucial part of any greening effort.
- Create a green team with members from all levels of your organization to help implement plans and bring new ideas to the table.
- Buy less toxic cleaners to improve indoor air quality and reduce risks to employee health.
Consider the Commute & Travel
Travel by car and air adds significant greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
- Provide preferred parking for carpoolers.
- Offer transit passes to employees who take the bus.
- Provide bike racks or rooms for cyclists.
- Let workers telecommute.
- Curb business travel.
Buy Green
Tell suppliers that you're interested in sustainable products and set specific goals for buying recycled, refurbished, or used. Make the environment, and not just price, a factor when purchasing.
Educate Yourself and Your Employees
Read the latest on the many ways to introduce green initiatives into your business.