Being in business is about more than simply selling and making a profit. You should care about how you’re impacting the environment each and every day.

Stop making excuses for why you can’t do anything about it and learn about all the ways you can start making changes in how you operate today. Your business can and will be more environmentally friendly when you pay attention to your daily habits and how what you’re doing is affecting those around you.

Have A Plan

You’re never going to reach your goals without a plan in place for what you want to accomplish. Being more environmentally friendly requires the same attention to detail as any other initiative you’re trying to achieve at your company. Put a program and people in place who are in charge of making sure sustainability is at the top of your priority list. You need a point person leading the charge who’s going to convey the message about your business wanting to do more to help the environment. This way your employees understand the importance of it and can pitch in and help. Be specific and always reminding them about ways they can make a difference each day while at work and in their homes.

Finances

The reality is that you may need to save and spend more money upfront to make this all work and it could make you nervous. However, think about these changes as an investment that will put more money in your pocket in the long-term. Learn more about being fiscally responsible and working through your financial situation from a resource like Bonsai Finance.
You need to plan ahead and budget for these changes if you’re serious about being and living a more sustainable existence at work. It’s important to think about the bigger picture and how what you do now is going to positively impact your company’s future and all the benefits that will come from you being more environmentally friendly.

Work from Home

Strongly consider implementing a work from home policy and allowing your employees to do their jobs remotely. This will save on having a lot of people needing to drive to work each day and adding to the carbon footprint. This flexibility will not only make your company more attractive to potential candidates you want to hire, but you’ll also be saving the planet all at the same time. Fewer people in the office means you won’t need to use as much energy or turn on as many lights on a daily basis as well. It also helps out your employees and causes them less stress while trying to work a full-time job and have a family and personal life.

Food

It’s likely you order out food often for meetings and other celebrations in the office. Pay attention to where you’re purchasing your meals from going forward. Try to use businesses that are also going green and support local farmers and get their food from in the area. You can do your part by getting behind other businesses that are also trying to accomplish what you are too. It’s likely the food will taste better, and you’ll feel healthier overall when you eat this way and don’t order as much processed food at work.

Equipment & Supplies

Pay attention to your procurement process and what supplies and equipment you’re ordering on a regular basis. Not only purchase items that are more environmentally friendly but do so from companies that also care about the planet. You’ll feel better knowing you’re stocking the office with supplies that are not adding to damaging the environment. Take a good look at how you’re currently operating and start switching out equipment that’s harmful and not sustainable. This way you can pride yourselves on being more careful and cautious when it comes to how your business impacts others and the environment.

Less Paper

Turning to more technology solutions is a great way to be more environmentally friendly because you’ll be using less paper. Consistently remind your employees to think twice before hitting the print button. Not only order less paper in the office but also start taking away some of the printers, so your staff starts to use their computers more for work projects and taking notes. It’ll make people think twice before they automatically choose to print and use additional paper that’s not necessary. Assign each member of your team their own laptop, so they have the ability to complete their assignments and write down important tasks right on their computer versus a notepad.

Energy

Start thinking about how you can use less energy a work. This may require you to look into installing automatic lights and upgrading what you currently have in your building. This will help to ensure that offices and rooms that aren’t being used don’t have the lights turned on around the clock.
Also, come to an agreement with the thermostat so everyone’s comfortable but that you aren’t constantly running the heat and air. You also don’t want to be wasting energy on nights and weekends when no one’s even at the office. Also, replace old equipment that’s having a difficult time running and is noisy with energy efficient pieces.

Conclusion

It’s not as difficult as you may have initially thought to be more environmentally friendly at work. Set goals for this new initiative so you can make sure change is made and remember to track your progress along the way. Know that what you’re doing may seem small, but it’s making a big impact on the plant, and you’re setting the tone for others to follow your lead.
Let this be known to your customers, so they’re aware of all you’re doing to help the environment too. Have fun challenging yourselves to see just how many different ways you can help save the planet on a daily basis.