7 Ways to Reduce Your Company’s Environmental Footprint and Green Your Business

reduce carbon footprint

Business facilities around the world have been under pressure to adopt a more environmental-friendlier attitude regarding their activity. This is a burning issue considering climate change and environmental impact we have on the planet, as a society.

This, especially in the context in which multiple recent research papers have shown that climate change also influences extreme weather phenomena. However, a damaged environment leads to other severe results: it can lessen the health of those living in industrial areas and exposes people from all around the world to a series of safety risks.

Adopting an environmental-friendly policy in your company will not only help you reduce the environmental footprint of your company, but it will also help you attract environmentally conscious consumers and collaborators.

Plus, employees in similar companies are more likely to stay longer with their employers due to the feeling of social responsibility their sense in their employers.

Those establishments interested in finding our which measures should they adopt, to reduce the carbon dioxide footprint your company generates as a result of its activity. But a thing companies should also pay extra attention to is waste management, a usually overlooked area.

1. Become Energy Efficient

You may be unaware of it, but producing energy and delivering it to the end consumer will impact the environment. The process generates impressive volumes of greenhouse gas emissions which usually lead to ozone layer damage. This is how climate change and extreme water appear. Installing energy-efficient building equipment, including light bulbs and switches is a fast and easy way to reduce your company’s carbon dioxide footprint.

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For instance, movement sensors installed in most areas of your building will allow your company to decrease the energy used by lighting the building. These work on a simple principle and automatically turn off the lights in those areas of the building that are not actively used.

There are numerous commercial and industrial energy efficiency tools and resources that companies in various sectors can use in their planning and implementation phase so, make sure to make good use of those.

2. Renewable Energy is Always a Good Solution

Another good solution that economic players have when it comes to reducing the impact on the environment is adopting renewable, clean energy. Solar and wind energy also have the beneficial potential of lowering your company’s energy expenses.

Research federal and state incentives for similar actions and decisions. These are due to make renewable energy far more affordable than you imagine it right now. Here you will find more information on incentives.

3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Manage

Your environmental footprint is not resumed to energy efficiency. It also consists of the way in which you manage the waste that your company generates. And let us tell you, all companies out there generate immense amounts of waste.

The simple strategy that can be applied in this case is the “reduce, reuse, recycle” philosophy. When this is not possible, appropriate ways to dispose of your waste and manage it are mandatory. Luckily for many companies out there, there are some good examples of recycling machinery that they should pay attention to.

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The way in which your company disposes of various materials impacts the environment as well. Ideally, you should look forward to using less of various materials, when possible. Simple measures like printing information on both sides of your paper, ditching disposable cups and so on are great ways to start off your journey here.

Preventive maintenance programs will help you prologue the life of your production machinery and will make your equipment last longer. A recycling program should also be implemented as a company-wide measure.

4. Conserve water

Once again, to extract, process and deliver water, plenty of energy is used. This generates, once again, plenty of green gas emissions. If you use a heater to heat the water in your company, a first small step to conserve water is to heat it at lower temperatures. Repair any potential water leaks to save water in the long run.

Aerated faucets will most definitely help you save water. If you are one of those facilities with a high demand for hot water, like hospitality facilities or medical facilities, you must find reliable ways to recover and recapture heat from hot water waste.

5. Travel Less

All companies with deep concern about environmental matters should encourage their employees to use the public transportation system to get to and from work. Each individual that uses their personal vehicle to make this generates enormous volumes of green gas emissions. When possible, you should encourage your employees to use green ways to get around; bicycles, for instance.

Furthermore, your company should make a goal out of travelling less for business purposes. There are online conferences that will make it possible for you to stay in touch with your collaborators without leaving your office building.

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Besides, there are other low-emission communications means that you can use in the process. If you need to maintain a fleet of vehicles, make sure to consider investing in low-emission, fuel-efficient models.

6. Ship Goods Efficiently

Like most of today’s businesses, you most probably ship some of your goods around the world. To make sure that you reduce your environmental footprint, you want to consider ways to reduce your shipping emissions. Shipping by air is generating more emissions, for instance. This is why you want to ship by ground fleets of railroads.

7. Consider Sourcing from Your Proximity

Normally, you need resources to carry on your business but considering the volumes of emissions generated by their transportation, it would be a good idea to consider finding sourcing those goods from your proximity.

This will reduce the overall emissions generated by your company and will create the image of an environmentally concerned player on the local market. Plus, if you find a local collaborator, you may even be able to enjoy some lower prices and fees.

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