4 Ways You Can Make Your Business More Green in 2021

Environmental consciousness has become more important to consumers. The number of potential customers who want their products and companies to be eco-friendly continues to grow. At the start of 2020, over two-thirds of individuals surveyed in North America believed environmental safety was at the top of their lists when they made purchases.

Reducing your carbon footprint doesn’t take thousands of dollars and a team of environmentalists to complete. In fact, you may get money back in the long run.

For suggestions, here are 4 ways you can make your business greener in 2021.

Go Mobile

Many companies decided to forego their brick-and-mortar operations and move into the mobile world of eCommerce during 2020. At first, it was due to shutdowns related to the COVID pandemic. Later, they realized that they were saving money and could easily do the same jobs remotely instead of in a cubicle.

If possible, you must do the same. Of course, there are some items you can’t move to the internet. Manufacturing, for example, or payroll and accounts payable. However, they still represent a smaller carbon footprint than what you once had.

If you go this route, then it’s critical you build a slate of mobile apps to help maintain your productivity. There are numerous platforms that describe how to launch an app. Even if you don’t use companies like Buildfire to create your own, you at least have the knowledge when you deal with program developers.

eCycle

If you don’t have the option to go mobile, then work within the office confines to make your business more green in 2021. One way to accomplish this is eCycle.

This is more than putting glass and plastic into a separate container. It’s ensuring your old and broken electronic equipment is properly disposed of. Not doing so results in great harm to the environment.

Computers, peripherals, and smart devices run via integrated circuit boards. When these boards go bad they release toxic chemicals. If stuck in a landfill, these chemicals accumulate and seep into the local water table.

This is avoided through an eCycle process. Numerous organizations are available to take your used machinery and bring it back to their location. From there, they run through a concise checklist to deconstruct the items for proper disposal. In many cases, they refurbish the electronics for resale or donations. When the process is complete you receive a detailed log of how they disposed of or reused the items.

Go Paperless

This can be the hardest thing to do for a business. Despite earnest projects to minimize paper from the office, you still use reams of it for reports and charts. In fact, there are certain departments that require paper copies for record-keeping.

Nevertheless, going paperless in the office can be done. It simply has to be broken down. For instance, create a mandate that moves all customer invoices and billing to digital formats. If a consumer or a vendor needs a paper copy they can print it out at their location. That alone saves thousands of dollars in paper and envelopes and reduces the emission of toxic fumes from printers.

Once that’s done you can focus your attention on internal paper use. First, digitize what you can, especially if the paperwork is old and starting to decompose. Next, phase in the use of digital memos and other items from management and departments like human resources. Stop making copies of presentations for meeting participants. Instead, provide a link where they can download a copy for themselves.

Suggest Alternate Means Of Transportation

Start promoting days and weeks where people don’t get to the office by their own vehicle. One promotion might involve carpools. Another could ask employees to bike to work or take public transportation.

Look to incentivize these events. Provide free meals for those who bike into work. Another suggestion is to give away something like electric bikes. That way, the winners can get some extra speed to get to work without their vehicle.

In the end, have fun with these initiatives. Also, make sure you promote them to consumers so they know you’re making every effort to increase the green in 2021.