Can You Turn Your Business Green?

by | Blog, Contributed Post

With climate change and helping to preserve the environment becoming the most important issues of the day, it’s more vital than ever that your business can jump on the bandwagon. Consumers are becoming more and more savvy and picky when it comes to the companies that they choose to do business with. If you don’t have the eco credentials, your niche market may move elsewhere. It doesn’t matter whether you import ball bearings, or whether you create custom made tee shirts from home, there are some simple ways to turn your business a more palatable shade of green. 

You may think that morphing into a sustainable startup is expensive. While costs will be incurred, the possibility to pass this onto the customer can end up making your venture more profitable. People actively seek out companies that have a policy of being sustainable and are willing to pay a higher price for this luxury.

Lighting 

Office blocks around the globe are full of inefficient strip lighting that causes a ridiculous amount of light pollution and costs a small fortune to keep on. Strip lighting isn’t natural and doesn’t create a pleasant ambience for offices. While they are cheap to install, they don’t last long and will regularly need replacing. More energy saving LED lighting will create a more comfortable light for your workplace. The bulbs themselves may be more expensive to buy but they can last five times longer than other bulbs. They also don’t contain the toxic mercury that is present in incandescent light bulbs. 

The culture of your workplace also needs to be refreshed. Have an away day with your staff team and explain the new emphasis that you are going to place on saving energy. Whereas you may have had a policy of keeping your office lit overnight in the past, this wasteful act now needs to be banished. If your team leaves lights on when they aren’t using a meeting room, this needs to change. This will save energy as well as money for your startup. 

Recycle As Much As You Can 

When you are trying to be green, you need to think back to your school days of reusing, reducing and recycling. You might wonder what on Earth you can recycle. After all, you are a business, not a charity. Only ever consider recycling something when it is no longer of use to you. If you were going to throw it away anyway, you may as well give it to somebody who can use it. 

Laptop computers that are obsolete to you could be great for a local school or hospital. As you are a startup with plenty of confidential and sensitive data on your hard drives, you need to simplify erasing computers with WipeDrive. Using this simple program, you can ensure that your assets remain secure, are fully wiped and don’t slip into the wrong hands. 

Recycling doesn’t end with laptops and hardware. If you are refurbishing your office space and replacing the desktop booths with collaborative meeting pods, give the obsolete versions to somebody new to utilize. If you are keen on swapping the dull artwork with some local photography, give the framed pictures that you no longer want to a charity shop. One person’s junk is another person’s treasure.

Plastic

If you have seen a nature documentary recently, the chances are that it will have shown the shocking effects of disposable plastic in the world’s oceans. While everyone loves a bottle of cold water, you don’t have to succumb to the single use plastic variety, and you should place a ban on these in your office. Instead, fork out some cash and make an effort to install a water filtration system. This way, you no longer have to rely on the water cooler tanks, and your staff can enjoy freshly filtered water direct from the tap. Again, this can be costly, but it is a clear example of your commitment to help the environment that you can plaster all across your website for your potential customer base to see. 

Being green doesn’t mean losing money, becoming less productive or forgetting about your other business priorities. You need to consider what really matters to you personally and professionally. With the emergence of public figures like Greta Thunberg, it’s time to get in on the eco conscious action and play your part in trying to save the planet. With some simple tweaks and a re-evaluation of your company ethos, you can turn your business the perfect hue of green.

This is a contributed post

A Wild Paper Chase… Do We Still Need Paper In The Business World?

A Wild Paper Chase… Do We Still Need Paper In The Business World?

by | Blog, Contributed Post

***Contributed Post

 

While the modern industry is all about pushing forward, whether this is about the Internet of Things, automating specific processes, and generally, getting an industry to self-sustain itself, we may be forgiven for thinking that paper isn’t so essential anymore. For many industries, this is neither here nor there, but for others, paper is still a vital blueprint for communication, competing for work, and generally, getting businesses out there. But with the wind blowing firmly in the opposite direction, such as with various green initiatives, the use of paper is steadily declining. But do we still need paper in the business world? 

It Depends On The Specific Industry

Yes, the environment needs to be at the forefront of our minds, as that little note at the end of most emails will tell you, think about the environment. But, when we are working in a specific industry, where many of the key components are not up to date in terms of how computers work, such as the agricultural industry, it’s important that we rely on paper communication. It’s easy to take it for granted that everybody has a computer now, but this isn’t the case. And you need to think about this in terms of your customers too. While an email is most definitely cheaper and more environmentally friendly, many customers still prefer the paper counterpart. 

Practicality And Process

Each process brings into account so many different areas of a business, and while we can certainly save money by going online, there are going to be aspects where we need paper for ease of practicality. The fact is, a printer in the corner of an office doesn’t gather dust, and the printing industry is still in rude health in many ways, especially as there are so many products, from the basic HP 62 ink cartridges to the complex 3D printers on sale. In many ways, getting a piece of paper is actually quicker for the business than it is to click here, click there, open this file, wait…, etc. 

Is Paper A “Classic” Way To Do Business?

Now, everybody goes online to promote themselves, and in some ways, paper is a relatively alternative method to present information. This does depend on the industry they’re in, while there are so many startups hell-bent on carrying their tablets everywhere with them, there are classic business people who are more responsive to a piece of paper than the screen they can barely see. In this respect, paper is a classic way to do business. And yes, it may be detrimental to the environment, but there are processes you can implement in an office environment to minimize paper, as so many businesses do now. But, when you are working at establishing a relationship with a client, sometimes they just want something they can take away and study. 

Paper is a very tangible way to present something. It’s right there, in front of you, and in many ways, it’s a similar debate as to whether you prefer to read a book in paper form, or on a Kindle. And everybody has their own opinion, but when it comes to the business world, there are still some people out there that prefer the classic approach.

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