Do you run a small or commercial business and want to take some steps to go green? In this blog, we’ll cover a variety of things you can do to start an eco-friendly initiative for your business. We will discuss helpful tips like purchasing reusable office supplies, how to reduce your energy consumption, proper recycling methods, renewable energy options, and more. With this guide, you will be able to learn more about eco-friendly business ideas and best practices and how to implement them in your office.
1. Reusable Supplies
There are countless amounts of single-use plastic office supplies that businesses around the world use every day. The average worker generates around 2 pounds of paper and product waste per day and around 10,000 sheets of paper waste per year. There are also more than 4 million pens thrown away worldwide every day. To help cut down on some of this waste, your office can switch to reusable supplies. For example, purchase pens that have refillable ink, dry erase boards instead of sticky notes, and go as digital as possible to eliminate paper waste. These are all good strategies to help cut down on the plastic and paper that ends up in landfills for generations to come.
2. Reduce Energy Usage
Reducing energy usage is another great strategy to help your business become more environmentally friendly. Switching from traditional light bulbs to LEDs can help the environment and save your company money too. LED lights can last for up to 25,000 hours and can save your office, on average, about $1.25 per light bulb. Switching to solar or wind energy can also help your company minimize operating costs and be a more eco-friendly business. Sometimes, businesses can even purchase greener energy options at a reduced cost, saving even more money.
3. Recycling
Recycling is one of the most common practices for going green in offices and at home. It’s easy enough for everyone to do and doesn’t cost very much to implement. There are also a variety of programs that can help with zero waste by sending you specific instructions for how to separate your trash and make it recyclable. Paper, cardboard, and plastic bottles are all very common office supplies that can easily be recycled. However, there are some other items like printer cartridges and old computer parts that can be recycled too. There are more than 350 million ink cartridges that end up in landfills every year and companies like Dell, HP, and Best Buy offer programs to buy back and recycle old electronics.
4. Renewable Energy Options
Renewable energy technology has come a long way since its beginning. There are now a variety of different types of renewable energy to choose from. Solar, wind, and natural gas are all great options for renewable energy. If your business is unable to install solar panels or wind turbines, however, natural gas may be the best green option for you. Natural gas comes from plants and animals, burns cleaner, and produces less carbon dioxide than other types of fossil fuels – making it a great choice for businesses that are looking to be more environmentally friendly.
Bonus Tip: What many people don’t know is that many of the U.S. states give you a choice of energy supplier and you can switch your energy provider to best suit your needs. This is a great place to start if you’re looking to improve your green initiative at work.
5. Reducing Unnecessary Waste
While switching to reusable supplies and recycling is extremely important, there are also other places in your office that can be greener. Restrooms are often overlooked when companies consider where to cut back on excess paper and energy usage. Water, paper, and energy is wasted in restrooms and this can be reduced by adding motion-activated lights and faucets and switching from paper towels to hand dryers.
6. Green Website Hosting
Did you know you can even help your business to be more eco-friendly by changing your website hosting? Keeping internet servers running takes a lot of energy, the equivalent of 5 nuclear power plants just to power the servers in the United States. You can help eliminate this by choosing to power your site with renewable energy.
Is your business ready to go green? Starion Energy is a provider of renewable energy. We supply both residential homes and businesses and we offer reliable and renewable energy at competitive prices. Contact our team today to talk with our brokers about how you can make the switch to renewable energy and save your company money while also helping the plan