Simple Ways to be GREEN in Business

Fri, 4 Mar 11

With just a small amount of effort, businesses can make a BIG difference in reducing pollution and saving our natural resources. Here are some quick tips provided by SmartCompany to immediately improve your business' green radar:

1. Use mugs instead of disposable coffee cups: there are 400 million disposable cups still used across the country.
2. Choose recycled paper.
3. Set the printer to double sided.
4. Bring your lunch in recyclable containers.
5. Unplug your phone charger from the wall when not in use, and receive communications electronically instead of by paper.
6. Turn down the office thermostat and wear appropriate clothing to work.
7. Turn off the lights at night.
8. Turn off all computers when you leave.
9. Maximise natural light and air.
10. Travel on public transport or car pool.

Already have these activities in place? Excellent! For the serious green entrepreneur there are plenty more ways you can contribute. For example have you considered...

1. Telecommunication - can you or your team conduct business from home? Why not try a weekly/monthly work from home day! You'll be saving energy used in the office, carbon emissions used in transit and you'll save money! You can collect stats and scores, and you can teleconference during the day to ensure efficiency of work is still managed. Plus, being one of very few businesses willing to make this change for the environment will win you some serious green business points that you can market as a differentiation strategy!
2. Go Digital - Use programs such as del.icio.us and Google (docs, calendar, reader, etc) to organise your internal communications and business instead of wasting paper and room printing and filing your information.
3. Buy Green - Next time you are due for a computer or tech upgrade in the office, think long term efficiency over short term costs. Go for products that are environmentally friendly and use less energy to run. These are usually better quality machinery and will last you longer, saving money in the long term.

With Clean Up Australia Day and Earth Hour coming up this month, there is extra incentive to set up a green strategy now. Use these days as motivation to get your team and your clients on board in your environmentally friendly vision. Promote your new strategies in line with the promotion of these successful and popular events to create some buzz.

We'd love to hear some other great easy ways for businesses to go green, so please let the NCB know how your business is contributing or how we can all contribute to a greener world!

Adapted from SmartCompany and Sparkplug

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