Due to the ongoing challenges that stem from climate change, it has become crucial for businesses to monitor, manage, and reduce their carbon footprint. Otherwise, running a business without this approach not only hurts a venture’s profile, but also noticeably harms the planet.
If you are a business owner, you also need to pay attention to this aspect. In addition to improving your company’s standing in the public eye, this lets you establish positive change in the world. In turn, this becomes a win-win situation from a business as well as a social responsibility perspective.
To help you navigate this tricky path, here are 5 ways to make your business more green.
1. Make Energy Improvements
From learning how solar panels work to knowing how wind energy gives you power, you can look into multiple sources of renewable energy to support your business. This ensures that you are not using fossil fuels to run your company’s operations and add to the rapid deterioration of the planet.
In case you find it difficult to fund this approach, you can look into C PACE financing to help you execute your plans. This funding can be utilized for upgrades that relate to renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage. This makes sure that you are able to turn your business into an environmentally friendly entity without straining your finances.
2. Offer Benefits for Public Commuting
If you work with more than a handful of employees, having multiple professionals use their cars for their daily commute can significantly affect the carbon footprint of your business. In order to overcome this challenge, you can offer benefits to those employees who use public transport to go back and forth from work everyday.
This approach can make a world of difference for environmentally conscious employees, while also cementing your business’ reputation as a conscious entity itself. By working with an employee benefits planning service, you can execute a strategy that fulfills all your goals without failure. This also ensures that you are protected from a legal standpoint.
3. Introduce Remote Work Opportunities
One of the positive side-effects of the coronavirus quarantine came in the form of more companies adopting work from home opportunities. This working model can make companies more environmentally friendly by cutting down on workers’ commutes.
If you were one of the ventures that switched to remote work, you may already have all the required digital infrastructure to continue the WFH model at a moment’s notice. But even if you have not tried remote work yet, adopting it would be quite easy.
In addition to cutting your carbon footprint, this approach also goes a long way towards expanding your pool of candidates. In turn, you can use a job posting platform to find highly talented professionals that take your business to the next level.
4. Reuse and Recycle Your Materials
When you are learning how to be more environmentally friendly, you have your work cut out for you. But learning how to run a greener business is not impossible.
For instance, if you manufacture or sell goods, using recyclable packaging can cut down your carbon footprint by a significant margin. In case you only sell services, purchasing used equipment for your office can achieve nearly the same goal.
5. Keep Doing Environmental Audits
Being environmentally friendly is not a one and done approach. Similar to your business operations, it needs constant monitoring and improvement in order to be in line with the times ahead. This not only allows your business to be environmentally conscious, but also lets it stay that way on a consistent basis.
You can reach out to professionals in the commercial energy efficiency space to help you make desired improvements to your business’ structure and operations. This practice calls for an additional investment. But the benefits that it brings to the table are worth it. With a specialized approach, you can optimize key areas of your business’ activities without taking shots in the dark.
These suggestions enable you to make your business more green in a timely manner. As a result, you can run an organization that takes care of its bottom line while also following the same approach for the planet.