Over the years sustainability has become vital to ensuring businesses are future-proof. Investors have become increasingly interested in investing in environmentally conscious enterprises that implement sustainable strategies. Likewise, 81% of customers expect companies to have some level of sustainability awareness.
When embarking on the journey of creating a greener business, it’s difficult to know where to begin. Every business is unique and should take a look at its daily operations and reflect on the changes that can be made to improve sustainability.
There are many simple ways businesses can be more environmentally conscious and follow eco-friendly practices. Start by basing your decisions on the environmentally friendly principles of reducing waste, reusing, recycling and using renewable energy.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
The first green strategy to implement in your business is recycling and reusing. Look at the waste your facility produces and how you dispose of it. Ensure that staff have access to all types of recycling containers and encourage employees to sort their recycling correctly.
Landfill sites are overwhelmed with the unsustainable amount of waste we produce, so try to avoid disposing of items where possible. First, attempt to repair items or consider buying second-hand or refurbished furniture to promote reusing items and reducing waste.
Donate Supplies
If items like office furniture or supplies need upgrading, consider donating them to a charity or another organisation. Reusing items is a sustainable practice that combats the overproduction of material items and waste. Surplus office supplies can be donated to schools to provide educational supplies to lower-income students who may struggle to afford them.
Go Paperless
Going paperless supports environmental sustainability and saves your business money on printing costs. On average, a single tree takes in around 900 kg of carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. Since carbon dioxide is a harmful air pollutant that causes global warming and negatively affects our health, we must focus on reducing the number of deforested trees to produce single-use paper.
Paperless billing and digital documents are all alternatives that can be created and sent virtually. By moving your paper documents online, laborious paper filing and retrieval are streamlined and losing important information is unlikely.
Remote or Hybrid Working
A study from the Carbon Brief in 2023, found that the transport industry remains the highest emitting sector. Transport emissions are a key area businesses must target to make their organisation greener.
Limit unnecessary travel, encouraging employees to work remotely or follow a hybrid working structure. The pandemic showed us that many office-based jobs can be completed remotely at home. You could limit the number of days in the office to 1 or 2 to reduce emissions created by your employees commuting to work.
Remote or hybrid working isn’t possible for businesses in every industry. In this case, incentivising eco-friendly transport methods like walking, Cycle to Work schemes, public transport and car sharing could be beneficial. Minimising the number of car journeys will drastically reduce the collective emissions produced by your company in its commute.
Green Hosting
Everything stored in the cloud must be stored externally on servers which require energy to store and keep cool. Most of this energy is powered by fossil fuels. In fact, the internet is one of the highest carbon-polluting industries with an estimated 416.2 TWh of energy consumed annually.
Choose an eco host who uses renewable energy like solar, wind or tide energy and follows eco-friendly practices. Having your data managed by a green host keeps your carbon footprint down and is an easy change for a greener business.
Create A Greener Space
Simply bringing more plants into your workspace promotes a greener business. Whether it be a thriving garden on the outdoor premises or having indoor house plants, creating an environment with plants gives a more natural feel and helps purify the surroundings. Like trees, plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, helping to improve air quality and combat air pollution.
Save Water
An important step to becoming a more eco-friendly business is conserving water throughout your operations and in office spaces. In bathrooms, why not install push taps which turn off automatically and cannot be left running by accident?
Likewise, dual flush toilets offer two flush options to reduce water usage. In office kitchens, a communal dishwasher can be used to wash all the utensils and dishes from the day rather than individuals washing their dishes separately which requires more water.
Food Waste
Companies like TooGoodToGo help to minimise food waste by saving items from restaurants and cafes that would have been thrown away. The service works by selling items at the end of the day at a reduced price.
If your business has a cafeteria, you could start your own food waste initiative by selling leftover meals or produce which are approaching their use-by date. Encouraging employees to follow food waste practices like these helps to reduce the amount of food waste associated with your business.
Solar Energy
Potentially the greatest strategy to improve sustainability as a future-proof business is by investing in renewable energy. With the UK’s net zero emissions goal, the government has made £5 billion available to support businesses in their sustainability efforts. Now is the perfect time to invest in solar panels for your business as there are a range of government subsidies to support you in this process.
Solar panels are a great way to do your part to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change by switching to renewable energy and moving away from fossil fuels. Solar panels harness the sun's rays and convert them into green solar power which can be stored and used to power your office or put back into the National Grid for others to use.
Creating your own solar power means you won’t have to rely on energy providers. Energy prices often fluctuate and can be increased as and when the provider chooses. Take control of your energy costs by joining the thousands of companies across the UK that are enlisting the help of commercial solar installers to help them switch to renewable energy.
Solar Panel Installation
Solar panels are a cost-effective solution which is quick and easy to install. The solar panel design and installation process consists of 4 easy steps:
Sol P V Group
At Sol P V Group, we’re commercial solar installers who are committed to creating solar energy solutions for greener businesses. As winners of the Energy Efficiency Awards for 4 years straight, we have the experience and technical know-how to help you meet your sustainability goals and set up your renewable solar energy source.
We offer a range of commercial solar services from solar panel installation and maintenance packages to EV charging services designed to power your company's electric vehicles. Whichever service you are interested in, we take a personal approach to the design and installation process to provide green energy solutions that are completely tailored to the needs of your operations for a future-proof business.
Call us on 01422 647817 or contact our teams in Hebden Bridge to discuss the commercial solar solutions we offer and the solar panel funding options your business may be eligible for.
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