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When it comes to making improvements to your business, the first thing that likely comes to mind is a brand new office, maybe upgrading the company vehicles, or hardware such as computers/phones/peripherals. In reality, the same principles apply to your own home.
One thing that may not be at the top of the list, but certainly should be, is making improvements on the company’s carbon foot print. We have all heard of carbon emissions tax and carbon reductions through booking flights, but have you really thought about what this actually means? While saving money is ultimately a great thing, it is important to remember the detrimental effect that we have on the environment. While I agree that we can’t change the world on our own, a vast number of small changes certainly can! If you are thinking of becoming a little greener, here are some important changes that could go a long way:
- Renewable Energy – Using a renewable energy source to subsidise running your company off the national grid is such good news for the financial side of your business. There are many different technologies to choose from but the most popular seem to be wind, solar and hydroelectric. As well as saving money by installing green energy technologies such as solar panels, after only 6 years you could start earning money too. The excess energy produced can be sold back to the national grid. There is always an initial cost when it comes to installing green energy technology but you should view it as an investment for a better future for your company and the planet as a whole. Considering that energy prices are constantly rising (and will almost definitely continue to do so), this might be the best investment decision that you ever make!
- Eco-friendly Transport – If you are thinking of upgrading the company fleet, you may consider hybrid or fully electric cars. Not only are they much easier to maintain, for wholly electric cars there is no road tax to pay anywhere in the UK. Grants are also available https://www.gov.uk/plug-in-car-van-grants/overview.
- Recycling – Recycling may not affect your bottom line as a business as a whole, but it is something you should be thinking about in general, the government have a lot of initiatives that allow for commercial recycling to come at little cost. This can be an effective way to cut down on your commercial waste charges, while also contributing to sustainability.
- Recyclable Packaging – If your company is the producer of consumer goods of any kind you should think about going into making all of your packaging recyclable. Not only does recyclable packaging generally come a lesser cost to businesses to will really send the message home to your customers that you care about the planet, boosting your likability factor inordinately.
Going green is generally something a lot more people are concerned about and not just within the domestic sphere. Many companies are looking at becoming carbon neutral and are very publicly advocating the use of green energy. If you become a trailblazer in your sector you will be held in much higher regard to your competition. You will also be setting a great example for the surrounding geographical area and the homes and businesses in it.
What do you do (on a personal or business level) to help save the environment?
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I used to cycle to work, and bring my lunch which can count as green because I didn’t buy a sandwich in a plastic container. I got the bike through the cycle to work scheme that allows you to save about 40% of the bike’s price, big companies have it implemented, I had to ask my boss to participate since it was a small business, that scheme is really neat.
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Being as we run our business from home we’re pretty fortunate to not be involved in many of the things that would be bad for the environment. We have few meetings that we have to actually drive to as a lot can be done either via email or Skype.
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I think I do a fairly good job with my carbon footprint. It takes very little in the way of “stuff” to make my business run. It can be done from a laptop, which I love. I do recycle and use compact fluorescent lightbulbs, but other than that I don’t go to the extremes like composting or anything. I am getting better about not food wasting as well.
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I don’t have a business so I can’t comment from that stand point. On the home front and at work recycling is a big part of everyday life. We thought about getting solar panels, actually one of our neighbours have them installed. I don’t know about the cost or program they are in but it’s something we may look into.
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We don’t really do much to reduce our carbon foot print other than my wife and I driving to work together rather than taking separate cars.
We don’t have any public transport near us so it makes it difficult to find any other way to work.
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We really want to get solar palentls when/if we ever move!
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We recycle nearly everything that we can: cardboard, chip board, paper, magazines, glass, and plastic. We also try our best to conserve energy whenever possible. We’re fairly anal with turning off lights, we leave the heat to a minimal level in the winter and transport our space heater from room-to-room.
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Recycling, being basically vegetarian, having an extremely fuel efficient car, buying certain organic products, buying eco-friendly cleaning products. We also purchased a programmable thermostat, even though all our heat is included in our condo fees.
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I’m huge on recycling, sometimes too much that it annoys some friends. As for the car, most cars are fuel efficient today – technology taking it’s toll.
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A lot of things that are green can save your business green too. Using those dome skylight things instead of lights can save on your electric bill. Reducing waste can save cash. Properly insulating your business. It’s crazy that more businesses don’t want to become greener.
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Small to medium sized enterprises should really get on board with the commercial solar panels. Mind you, my old boss rented his units from which the business was conducted but surely he could have done some kind of deal with whoever owned the buildings.
They’ve been operating over 30 years and although solar has only really recently become widespread and viable I think any outlay would have been paid for by now had he had it installed 5 or 6 years ago.
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I have heard similar things Darren… the panels usually pay for themselves in a few years! Great investment for sure