Celebrate Earth Day, Green Your Business

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There are so many reasons to go green! Increasingly, people are recognizing we have a shared responsibility to lighten our collective environmental impact—for our children, and future generations of all living things. More and more business and nonprofit leaders see the potential their sectors have for pushing our culture and economy toward sustainability, and are stepping up to do the good work.

In addition to being the right thing to do, did you know that taking steps to become more environmentally conscious can also be good for business? Studies show customers want greener choices, they view green businesses as innovative and progressive, and are willing to pay a premium for responsibly and sustainably produced goods and services. This is especially true of Millennials, who represent an increasing share of the adult population.

Here is a list of ideas, both small and large, for making your business more environmentally friendly:

  • Create a company or organizational Environmental Policy Statement. There are many good templates available.

  • Assess your organization’s Carbon Footprint.

  • Energy conservation: turn off and unplug at the end of the day. Even sleeping machines can draw energy through the evenings and weekends.

  • Convert to natural & biodegradable cleaning products and equipment. Besides, who wants to work among toxic chemicals anyway?

  • Get rid of your single use coffee pods. Sure, it’s a convenient way to brew coffee—but remember, K-pods are non-recyclable, and plastic doesn’t biodegrade. Every plastic coffee pod you use will be around FOREVER.

  • Start a workplace recycling program. Here is a link to what’s recyclable in Jefferson County.

  • Get a water cooler and a set of reusable glasses.

  • Begin an office walk/bike/bus challenge. Consider providing employees with transit passes as a non-traditional benefit.

  • Give your staff the ability to flex-work from home. This cuts down on CO2 emissions from car travel.

  • Consider going paperless (or nearly).

  • Cloud-based computing. Move your server to the cloud, and implement a file storage system that reduces the need to print hard copies. Google Docs, Office 365, Dropbox, and other cloud-based systems can help.

  • Considering upgrading your office equipment? With your next upgrade, purchase energy saving office equipment. And be sure to recycle your old e-waste.

  • Practice Green Procurement—take care to source locally and sustainably, when possible.

  • Include an environmental impact analysis when adding new products, programs, or services.

Remember, small steps can lead to big impacts over time. If you’re starting from scratch, choose one or two things that seem doable and implement them this year. Sustainable business practices will mean healthier, happier lives for all people today and in the future—and they might just lead to a healthier bottom line.