Embracing social responsibility is more than just a passing trend. It is a practice every business should be implementing today and carrying on well into the future. Here are five changes you can make to help the environment, regardless of how big or small your enterprise is.
1. Switch To A Virtual Office
Reduce your running costs and your emissions by having a virtual office rather than owning or renting a space. This is one of the best things you can do for your budget and the environment. You can even tailor your package to include a professional address for mailing and add on services like a local phone number, call forwarding, and a virtual receptionist, as needed. If most of your activity is online, on-call, travel-related, or visitation-based, why pay rent and utility bills for a physical office?
2. Real Plants
You don’t need to grow a forest or garden to purify and improve the air quality of your workplace. Simply swapping artificial plants for real ones will make a significant difference. Go for evergreen indoor plants that require minimal attention and flower all-year long if you’re a small business or can’t afford to pay someone to handle your plant maintenance.
Studies have shown that having indoor plants can help boost the mood of employees and encourage a more calm, positive atmosphere. It’s certainly a much more cost-effective initiative than wasting time on team meetings to figure out how to boost morale!
3. A Toilet-Top Sink
This one may seem a bit funny, but it’s growing in popularity for a reason. These modern toilets have a sink attached to the top of the basin so that the water used for washing your hands is recycled and used for the next flush. Investing in one of these is a great way to reduce your water usage and your bills as well. It can also make a surprisingly positive impression on clients and visitors as it shows that you are open to modern changes and are conscious about conserving water.
4. Switching lightbulbs
If your workplace is a little bit older and you’re still using incandescent bulbs or even compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), you should prioritize making the switch to LED lightbulbs today. These older lighting options are quite outdated in the current market as they don’t meet energy efficiency standards. On the other hand, LED products use 75% less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs, and they last longer too. So, it’s a relatively inexpensive swap that saves energy and saves you money in the long term – what’s not to like about it?
5. Assorted Bins For Recycling
Having both a trash bin and recycling bin is a decent start, but if you accumulate a fair amount of organic waste in your kitchen, or use up a lot of stationery and resources, why not expand on this to include more appropriate waste services? If you have a larger team or a frequently-used kitchen, a green waste bin or compost unit is an easy initiative to implement – all you need is the bin and a quick check of your local waste disposal services. Separating your bins to include both paper and mixed recyclables is another simple way to better facilitate recycling.
Now you’re familiar with how easy it is to have a more eco-friendly business, how many of these changes can you make a start on today?
