How To Make Your Business More Environmentally Friendly

Now more than ever, taking steps to reduce our environmental footprint is vital. With global warming becoming a bigger issue, all of us need to do our part to make a change. For businesses of all sizes, making small switches can go a long way, changing basic practices to have less of an environmental impact. We discuss how to make your business more environmentally friendly by making some simple changes that can make a huge difference.

Support local suppliers

It is easy to forget how many emissions the transport process produces, increasing gas emissions and using energy sources. Reducing the amount of produce or goods ordered from overseas can go a long way, minimising the amount of mileage required. As well as being much better for the environment, you may also notice efficiency pick up when you use more local suppliers as you receive orders quicker and face less risk of delays.

Encourage a greener commute

Getting employees involved is a great way to come together as a business to minimise your carbon footprint. Knowing how to make your business more environmentally friendly should start within, encourage a greener commute by implementing some new incentives:

• A free pickup service from the local train station.
• A carpool platform so employees living near each other can share the commute.
• Implement bicycle shelters to offer secure bike storage.

Create team projects

The more hands on deck, the better! Encourage employees to join you on your mission by creating dedicated project days which can consist of community work, charity projects or fundraising activities. Including environmentally friendly projects into the working day does not only show your ethical human side as a business, but it’s a great team building incentive.

Reconsider conveniences

Single use coffee sachets? Plastic cups by the water dispenser? A lack of recycling facilities? As a nation, we rely so much on convenience but in many cases, switching these habits out for more sustainable solutions will hardly make a difference. Buying in bulk, using reusable crockery and mugs and introducing office recycling bins are just a handful examples of how easy it can be to make a difference.

Reduce single use plastic

Whether you run a boutique, takeaway, local café or market stall, the printed bags you offer customers can be contributing to the tonnes of single use plastic that makes its way to our landfill sites. Knowing how to make your business more environmentally friendly when it comes to carrier bags is easy, with so many alternatives to choose from:

• Custom printed twisted handle paper bags which are 100% recyclable.
• Low cost printed plastic bags created using fully recyclable materials.
• Printed cotton bags which can be washed and reused over and over again.

If you would like any advice on how to make your business more environmentally friendly without having to make large investments or change your processes completely, feel free to get in touch for our top recommendations for your business.