Are you trying to figure out how your company can be more Earth-friendly?
Check out our round-up of eco-friendly business practices – then adopt them today.
for The Story Exchange
photo: Entrepreneurs may find themselves looking for ways to go green in their businesses. We’ve rounded up a list of six eco-friendly business practices that female founders and their firms can consider. (Credit: Elevate Digital, Pexels)
As international discourse continues to focus on how best to combat climate change, entrepreneurs may find themselves looking for ways to go green in their businesses and be more eco-friendly.
We’ve rounded up a list of six eco-friendly business practices that female founders and their firms can consider. From adopting new habits to changing old ones, these are shifts that can be made immediately — and that will make a difference.
[Related: How Greta Thunberg, AOC and 10 Women Entrepreneurs Are Battling Climate Change]
1. Encourage recycling and other good habits among employees.
Getting workers to properly sort their trash can be tricky, but the benefits of doing so — especially with office staples like paper — make it well worth the trouble. Take time to teach employees about proper disposal of recyclables, and the impact their efforts have on the world around them.
2. Get an energy audit.
To quantify the environmental impact of your company, and to find ways to lower that impact, hire a professional to do a commercial energy audit of your firm. Experts can help you find ways to be cleaner and more efficient in how you run your business — from the products you buy and electronics you use to how you light your office and utilize electricity.
3. Offset your carbon footprint.
For business owners who travel frequently, this is one way to negate the ecological impacts of flying. First, if you’re curious about the exact impact of your travel, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a calculator that can shed some (natural) light on the subject. If you’re alarmed by the results — and teleconferences aren’t an option — you can look at your airline’s options or go to sites like Gold Standard or Green-e to offset carbon emissions by donating money — generally, anywhere from $2 to $20 — to green organizations.
