How closely does your business adhere to green practices? It’s not too much of a stretch to claim that the fate of the world depends on it.
The current state of global waste management is not in an ideal place, with American corporations and businesses leading as some of the biggest worldwide contributors. As recent as 2021, the world’s population produces approximately 2 billion tons of waste each year. Although initiatives to improve recycling efforts have been seen success in countries such as Germany and Australia, the U.S. continues to lag behind other developed nations in terms of sustainable practices. This trend could lead to global waste production increasing 70% by 2050.
So how can businesses (especially in the health and wellness space) do their part to ensure a bright and clean future for the generations of tomorrow? Here are some tips for helping your company go green this year.
- Transition to Recyclable Packaging
When deciding on the first place to begin your company’s environmentally friendly crusade, why not start with your biggest sell: your physical products. Do your goods come tucked away in packaging that is easily recyclable, or are they better suited for the trash bin? Plastic is a bit of an addiction for most companies these days.
Making the swap to green packaging can make a huge impact on your company’s sustainability. Product packaging is also one of the elements of your business your customers directly interact with. Encouraging them to recycle not only boosts the reputation of your brand, but it also involves the buyer in the company mission, to say nothing of doing Earth a favor. Moreover, converting the essentials in your own office to recyclable variants (think cups, spoons, and coffee filters) can help lower the waste bill to save money in the long run.
What sorts of packaging are ideal to be recycled? Corrugated boxes, compostable material, and cellulose are all great alternatives to traditional packaging options and can significantly reduce the waste footprint your team leaves behind.
- Enlist an Energy Consulting Company
Between manufacturing, storage, and daily office operations, businesses tend to wrack up a hefty electricity bill each month. Aside from a heavy dent in company finances, the issue of energy usage is often indicative of unhealthy reliance on unclean means of generating power. Gas, oil, and power plants tend to produce damaging emissions into the environment.
Thankfully, solutions exist that can help make recommendations of ways your business might benefit from swapping to green sources of energy, in addition to providing detailed information on energy usage. These energy consulting companies are especially useful for companies who rely on massive amounts of energy for optimal function.
Through the aid of an energy consulting company, you can discover new ways to run your business efficiently by conserving the most amount of energy possible. Solar arrays, geothermal solutions, and wind farms are just a few of the options steadily gaining traction that serve to keep the environment clean while fulfilling the power requirements for your assets. To fully optimize your energy usage, searching for a good energy consulting partner is often the best first step to take. Like many other green practices, focusing on energy conservation can also lead to big savings down the line.
- Switch to Green Cleaning Products
Cleanliness should be a staple within the walls of any business, but did you know that most of the common solutions are riddled with chemicals that are harmful to both your employees and the planet?
Cleaning products that use safe serums (and no-waste packaging) are starting to gain traction after the coronavirus pandemic. Besides protecting your workspaces from land- and air-dwelling chemicals that can be hazardous to breathe, these special eco-friendly products are safer for the environment thanks to being crafted with natural ingredients.
Examples of environmentally responsible cleaning solutions include more than just surface cleaners: towels, laundry detergent, disinfecting spray, wipes, and hand sanitizer can all be made into much safer alternatives for widespread use across your business.
- Decorate the Office with Plants
Poor ventilation in your team’s place of work? Both you and your employees are more susceptible to office-related diseases when work conditions don’t permit adequate airflow. Additionally, dangerous toxins in the air can harm workers and lower productivity, giving rise to the use of more sick days.
For the aspiring green company, incorporating plants throughout the building can boast solid benefits for working conditions. Plants naturally absorb toxins that otherwise pollute the air around them, paving the way for a clearer thinking space for the team. Field experiments conducted in 2014 even demonstrated that workers tend to work more productively when plants are present in their surroundings.
Besides, what better way to communicate your office’s green initiatives than by placing green vegetation in key locations? Plants provide an excellent reminder of the environment your efforts are attempting to preserve.
- Reform Company Commute
Automobiles cause some of the biggest headaches for the atmosphere of our planet, contributing large amounts of carbon dioxide as we drive them between work and home every day. Why not encourage your team to utilize alternate methods of travel to arrive for work each day? Or better yet, why not find ways for staff to work remotely when they can afford to?
Biking or walking to work could serve as a means to improve office health and reduce carbon emissions, but in many cases the distance is too great for workers to utilize this as a viable option. Instead, encouraging team members to take advantage of public transportation or set up carpool groups can help minimize the individual dependency on cars and gas each day.
Some activities may not even require workers to leave their homes. Try to closely examine each employee’s activities and workload on a weekly basis to determine whether they can skip looking for the car keys altogether by putting in hours from the comfort of their own home. Over time, a reformed commuting system can have drastic impacts on a company’s efficiency and sustainability, so don’t skip out on the big opportunities to make your business that much more eco-friendly by taking care of commute.
