One sector of society that has certainly contributed to the destruction of the environment and the increasing threat of global warming is business. To turn around this trend, it is going to require some action from the business community. Below are five tips for improving your business’s environmental consciousness.
1. Move Away from Paper
One of the largest consumers of paper on the planet is the business office. To change this, you need to make it a goal to move away from paper as your primary means of performing business and communicating with employees. Paper free fax machines are now available. Electronic memos work just as well as paper ones.
2. Recycle
Still, you may end up using some paper. If this is the case, it should absolutely be recycled. However, you should not stop there. For example, if you run a factory, your production process may produce left over plastic scraps. Either re-use these somehow in your production chain or have them picked up by a recycling company. Companies such as Edmonton recycle service General Recycling Industries Ltd. may be able to help you sort out your plans for implementing more recycling.
3. Make Efficiency a Priority
Inefficient production processes tend to waste a lot of electricity and fuel. They are also quite expensive in addition to greatly adding to your company’s carbon footprint. Research and experiment with ways to improve your production processes so you can produce the same products with less power.
4. Move Away from Gas
You may also be contributing to pollution in regards to the amount of gas your employees burn to get to and from work and while at work. If your employees, for example, have to travel long distances at a work site, you may want to provide them with karts that run on bio-fuels. You may also want to consider starting a shuttle system or car pool to help employees get to the job site.
5. Take Local Environmental Impact Seriously
The environment is not only a macro issue. It can also be very local. If you plan on starting operations in a new location, take environmental impact studies extremely seriously. Whatever you do there, you should not be causing any harm to the animals, plants or people that live in that area. If you do have to remove trees to build structures, consider donating the same number of trees back to that community.
Overall, becoming an environmentally conscious business takes some strategy and hard work. However, a healthy environment benefits everybody including consumers, businesses, employees and their families. It is something you should absolutely make important.