As environmental concerns continue to grow and inform customer decisions, more and more businesses are looking for ways to lessen their environmental impact. Of course, reducing your carbon footprint isn’t just a good public relations move for your business or just good for the environment. It can actually help to help you save money over the long haul. So how can you go about diminishing your carbon footprint?
Heating and Cooling
Heating and cooling are two of the biggest offenders when it comes to a business’s carbon footprint. Both tend to rely, to some extent, on burning fossil fuels. Heating units often burn natural gas directly, while cooling units depend on fossil fuel driven electricity. Upgrading to a more efficient heating and cooling system reduces your fossil fuel consumption. You can also take additional steps, such as upgrading to more energy efficient windows to cut down on heat loss and gain. While expensive up-front, these steps typically pay for themselves within a few years as heating and cooling costs drop.
Telecommuting
The daily commute for you and your employees is another huge contributor to your business’s carbon footprint. Not every business can embrace telecommuting. If your business doesn’t rely on employee bodies being on the premises, allowing employees to telecommute even a few days a month can put a big dent in your carbon footprint. There is also a well-developed ecosystem of software that facilitates allowing telecommuting employees to actively participate in the day-to-day affairs of the business. Video-conferencing via Skype, for example, lets the employee sit in on a meeting or update you about their current project. You can also make use of virtual private networks to give your telecommuting employees access to any files or programs you maintain on an internal network.
In-Office Changes
Small changes can add up to a big difference in your carbon footprint. For example, you can switch to double-sided printed for most of your documents. You can also embrace cloud storage options to share documents directly, rather than printing every new draft. Implement a “Go Dark” policy that all computers, lights, monitors and equipment are turned off at the end of the day. This helps to cut down on wasted electricity from, for example, LED monitors that consume power while in active use or in a screen saver mode. Of course, there is the tried and true method of replacing incandescent bulbs with the environmentally friendlier CFL or LED lights.
Employ a Phased Plan
Don’t spring major changes on your employees without warning. Let them know ahead of time that you plan to take the company in a greener direction and why you’re doing so. Also remember that developing a new habit takes time. To give your employees time to acclimate to new processes, don’t try to roll out every change in one go. Set a target of changing one-to-two behaviors a month over the course of three to six months. Attempts to go green will largely succeed to the extent that employees buy-in to the process.
Reducing the carbon footprint of your business is better for the planet and often more economical in the long-term. You can also plan it as a process that you institute over time. This will be easier on your employees and your short-term profit line.