Earth Day is coming up on Saturday 22nd April. Climate change is a serious issue, and as a result many businesses are making an effort to reduce their carbon footprint. In recent years, there has been a greater emphasis on what we as individuals and businesses can do to help save our planet and tackle the climate crisis.
Thankfully there are lots of simple ways for businesses to become more eco-friendly. Here are five tips to help reduce your business carbon footprint.
1. How To Reduce Your Business Carbon Footprint: Remember the 3 R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Apply the 3 R’s to every area of your business, from office supplies to packaging, operations, and fixtures and fittings (such as using LED lightbulbs). Not only will your business reduce it’s carbon footprint but you will probably save money too!
2. Make Meetings Remote
Remote work became extremely popular during the pandemic, and many companies are still embracing remote work. Of course there are always occasions when it’s important to meet face-to-face, but next time you schedule a meeting consider if it might be quicker and easier to catch up remotely instead.
This may seem like a small step, but it can make a big difference over time. After all, transport makes up around one fifth of all CO2 emissions!
3. Offset your Carbon Emissions
Start by measuring your business carbon footprint. You can then make a plan about how to reduce this -some businesses have even become carbon neutral by doing this. The price of doing this will depend on your current carbon emissions; simply contact a carbon-neutral certification partner to find out what you can do & how much it will cost for your business. We signed up to Ecologi last year and make a monthly donation to offset our business carbon footprint.
4. Travel greener
It’s often difficult to do business without some element of travel, but there are ways you can reduce your travel related carbon footprint. A simple place to start is by walking or cycling to local meetings, and travel by train or public transport whenever possible (instead of taking your car). If you have to take a flight, choose to offset your carbon emissions at the point of ticket purchase or make a one-off donation using websites such as MyClimate or Clear.
5. Buy Second-Hand Office Furniture
It’s easy to purchase second-hand office furniture from hundreds of dedicated office furniture suppliers. This is much better for the planet and it can save you a lot of money.
6. Speak To Your Customers And Employees
Finally you can speak to your customers and employees to find out if they have any eco-friendly suggestions. It is likely that some people will have suggestions of their own, and this is a great way to show that you value the opinion of your customers and employees.
Doing this will also make it easier for you to implement eco-friendly practices (such as using paper bags instead of plastic bags) within your workplace.
Did you enjoy this article? If so, click here to read more tips on how to run an eco-friendly business.
