10 ways to green your business and save money | Bantham Technologies

With the rising costs of electricity and gas, it is becoming more important than ever to be aware of how much energy your business consumes. Luckily for you, there are a few simple things that every small business owner can do to become a greener company. We’ve compiled 10 ways for you to green your business and save money in the process! Take a look below:

1. Use recycled paper for printing
Recycled paper is the greenest option, it uses less energy, water, and produces lower carbon emissions than the manufacturing of non-recycled paper and at the same time reduces the amount of waste to landfill – as paper can be recycled 4 to 5 times.

2. Install motion sensor lights in your parking areas to save on energy costs.
They may reduce lighting energy consumption by 50 per cent or more in some circumstances!

3. Host an Earth Day event at your company to educate employees about the environment and how they can make a difference.
Setting aside time to help employees reduce their emissions will help your company overall and will ensure that your employees feel the full benefits of changes to working practice. Your employees are your biggest asset and no major change can be made without them.

4. Put recycling bins throughout your office or building
Most bins are designed to be fairly neutral, just so they don’t look too out of place in any office environment. But with just a little thought, you can do better than this. By designing ‘recycling areas’ into your office, you can make the recycling bins blend in with the same material finishes & colours, or as the case may be, bins which stand out – which-ever suits your office style!

5. Provide incentives for employees who bike, walk, or take public transportation instead of driving.
Some people will always need to drive – that’s fine. But by providing a real economic incentive for workers to take public transit or to bike or walk, everyone wins! Bikers and walkers get a bit of extra cash and exercise, public transit is being put to good use, and drivers can get to work faster. The incentive could be a gift voucher or 30 minutes off on a Friday, whatever the incentive it may be, every employee wants to feel like there is something in it for them!

6. Make sure all of your office equipment is turned off when not in use to reduce power consumption.
Let your equipment “go to sleep” after a period of inactivity. This is the single most effective means of saving energy. Though there is a small surge in energy when a computer starts up, this small amount of energy is still less than the energy used when a computer is running for long periods. Spending a large portion of time in low-power mode not only saves energy but helps equipment run cooler and last longer.

7. Reduce your company’s carbon footprint by using less fuel in the fleet of vehicles.
If you are looking to reduce your fleet’s emissions then it’s important to understand what
the current carbon footprint of your fleet looks like.

You can measure your fleet’s CO2 emissions in several ways, typically the most popular is a Carbon Footprint Calculator or you can try ours, with our very own Environomics Calculator to see what effect you can make on our environment.

8. Switch from disposable cups and utensils to reusable ones that can be washed after use.
Over three years of use, the reusable cups and utensils would result in an estimated life-cycle reduction of 88% of greenhouse gasses, air pollutants and water consumption over the disposables. We say no more on this one! The proof is in the figures!

9. Use a programmable thermostat to save money on heating and cooling costs.
A programmable thermostat could reduce your energy usage. You simply program the thermostat to warm (or cool) your office when you’re there; when you leave for the day, the thermostat switches off.

The main problem is that people don’t use programmable thermostats the way they’re intended…so read the manual!

10. Opt for email correspondence over paper mail.
This is one of the easiest things you can do to start going green with your business; simply opt out of receiving paper bills whenever possible and stick with electronic billing statements instead.

 

If you want to know more about how we can help your business or the work we have done with our clients, please get in touch at +44 (0)20 7698 4447, info@banthamtechnologies.com or via the website contact form.

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