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5 Easy-to-Overlook Ways Your Small Business could Reduce Pressure on the Planet
Climate change is an ongoing issue that the majority of us are contributing to – including businesses big and small – but there are steps we can all take to tackle this damaging problem. So let us take a look at 5 easy-to-overlook ways your small business could reduce pressure on the planet.
1. Reduce energy consumption
There are several methods to reduce energy consumption and costs within the workplace, and the majority of them may be accomplished with little adjustments in employee behavior.
A small business may easily minimize its energy consumption in the office by simply turning a few pieces of electrical equipment off when they are not in use, or swapping to a device that doesn’t need to be plugged in all the time. For example, if you’re looking for energy efficient communications that will benefit your business and the planet, there are a wide selection of mobile phones for you to choose from as an alternative to the traditional landline.
The various methods you and your workers can carry out to minimize energy consumption include turning off office lights after working hours, decreasing the heating, reducing air conditioning, and disconnecting appliances and electronics when they’re not in use.
2. Measure greenhouse emissions
Calculating your carbon footprint and measuring greenhouse gas emissions should be the first step for any small business that wants to help reduce pressure on the planet. It’s vital and has reputational benefits that new consumers and possible investors will see as an incentive to reduce climate change.
Begin by calculating the particular greenhouse gas emissions within your work, then choose a foundation year for the reduction pledge and set an initial goal. Consider how to eliminate emissions and develop a plan for accomplishing the goals. Include your company’s carbon emissions, goals to decrease them, and emission reductions in your reporting.
3. Sustainable commuting among employees
There are various bicycle lanes and cycle to work initiatives available to encourage employees to minimize their carbon footprint, which is excellent because cycling is the most environmentally friendly mode of transportation.
You might also considerably cut your indirect CO2 emissions by encouraging employees to use public transit – offering discounted public transport and bus fares can incentivize this. You may even want to encourage vehicle sharing among coworkers who live nearby to ultimately cut down on carbon emissions.
4. Encourage working from home
You should start by minimizing employee commuting to client meetings by considering doing virtual meetings – using video conferencing rather than face-to-face meetings. This is because completely putting a stop to your commuting once and for all is simply the most effective way to reduce emissions from your daily commute. Employees who work from home rather than driving to the workplace would drastically cut their carbon footprint and your company’s as a result.
During the events of pandemic in 2020, most firms were able to work well from home, thus enabling the flexible working trend to continue is a simple but extremely effective method for your organization to reduce pressure on the planet.
5. Reduce your wastage
Another method you can adopt to reduce pressure on the environment is reducing the amount of waste your workforce generates which can be easily tracked and managed. You should simply cut down on the waste of all disposable items such as paper, disposable cups and cutlery, and encourage employees to bring their own bottles for drinking. Cutting down on stock could also be beneficial if it often ends up as waste.
