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Across the world, the green revolution is progressing steadily. In the US alone, 48 percent of consumers say they are ready to change their consumption habits if presented with a more eco-friendly alternative, according to Eco-Friendly Habits.
As a business, it’s in your best interest to ensure that you are that eco-friendly alternative. Companies big and small are hitting their environmental objectives in order to ascertain that they would continue to be the consumer’s choice because they know that green credentials are a major driving factor to succeed in the modern-day. The simple fact is that to give your business the best chance to flourish, you must ensure it is doing enough to preserve the Earth.
Diagnose your business’s green performance
The first step to finding out what more you could be doing for the environment is to find out how you’re already doing on that front. For this purpose, auditing will be your primary tool. Professional auditing will also show you your resource inefficiencies, such as power-hungry appliances or leaky pipes.
It may seem more economical to just measure your usage yourself, but commercial audits can give you a detailed breakdown of how much power and water each segment of your business consumes. This will highlight the most resource-intensive parts, and detect energy and water leaks that you may not be able to find yourself.
By pinpointing these losses, you can mark out areas that can use some improvement. From there, you can create a roadmap of sorts to make your business greener bit by bit.
While the auditors are measuring your consumption, it would also be prudent to take stock of how much waste your business generates. Tracking trash can be tedious, but it’s another vital part of making a workplace greener. This will help you find out which elements of your operation throws out the most garbage, and thus where to focus your waste reduction and recycling efforts.
Sort out any inefficiencies
After finding out where your business is bleeding energy and water, you should then take steps to eliminate these leaks, and eventually minimize resource consumption for good. Aside from patching up pipes and rewiring, you should also consider investing in resource-saving devices and appliances. This includes things such as energy-efficient printers, industrial machinery, and even microwaves or fans.
Saving on energy can be as simple as buying more efficient appliances and lights. But if you really want to save, you should invest in automatic thermostats and smart, schedulable light switches. Similarly, when it comes to water, there’s a lot of different ways to ensure that you’re using just enough. For example, you can install low-flow water restrictors, and make use of appliances and equipment that are designed to use less water.
Foster an eco-friendly culture
Despite your efforts, you or your employees might still fall into the same wasteful habits. This is why it’s important to see which resource inefficiencies and excessive wastage stem from human error. Once you’ve found out these liabilities, eliminate them with encouragement and positive reinforcement.
This can range from encouraging your employees to make use of reusable or biodegradable materials, to implementing good disposal habits in the workplace. Keep an eye out for ways to make it easier for your employees to adopt these habits, such as coffee shops that offer discounts to those who bring their own reusable cups.
Transport is another piece of your carbon footprint that’s dependent on individual employee activity. Be creative to minimize the environmental impact of your employees’ commute. You can provide benefits for those who use public transport or ride-share, or you can take the fun route and arrange a bike race to work with a free coffee waiting at the end.
If you’re a company that isn’t used to eco-friendly activities like these, it can be hard to adapt. But even if you do so bit by bit, it would massively benefit your business and the environment in the long run.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash