5 Easy Ways To Make Your Business Greener

marketing planSwitching the way your business works to go green can take time, but many of these green business ideas will end up improving your business in the long run.

Depending on what industry you’re working within, you might think it’s difficult or impossible for your small business to go green. While you might not necessarily have access to all the possible methods of decreasing your carbon footprint, there are likely still a few tips and tricks to going green you haven’t tried yet.

Use this guide as a starting point for unique and inventive options to make your business more environmentally friendly.

Consider Your Work Environment

One of the first and easiest changes to make with your business to go green is to focus on the physical location you use for your business. Improving the environment inside of your business can help the space feel cleaner and greener, even with just a few minor adjustments.

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, a relative humidity measuring less than 50% can help remove indoor allergens. Improved air quality can also potentially improve your business’ energy use, depending on what heating and cooling you use in your space.

Materials Matter

If your business sells or produces particular products, consider adjusting the materials you use to make your products. Not all materials can be substituted during manufacturing without also adjusting your manufacturing methods.

Reaction injection molding, for example, is the process by which molded polyurethane parts are made. In the process, two liquid components are mixed and injected into the mold where they chemically react and cure. Because of the chemical reaction, it’s difficult to swap materials for this method. However, if you find a simple swap for your products that won’t increase prices too dramatically, consider making the switch.

Modernize Your Equipment

If you’ve been in business for a while, your equipment might be a bit outdated. While this might not seem like that big of a deal, updating and upgrading your equipment can make a significant difference in how eco-friendly your business is.

Sometimes, you may be able to get away with adding extra equipment to your existing resources. For example, using both a silenced generator and a hydraulic pump for certain construction equipment helps you save on fuel consumption while reducing environmental pollution by 50%.

Digital Developments

Have you noticed paperwork piling up in your home office or elsewhere in your business? You may want to go paperless with your business as much as possible. Many types of paperwork can be managed exclusively online nowadays thanks to advancements in technology, seriously reducing or entirely eliminating the need for wasting paper. This small adjustment can dramatically reduce the amount of waste your business creates on a day-to-day basis.

Get Creative

Some of the most environmentally-friendly options for your business are the ones that you’ll end up creating. If you’ve got an idea to make your business more eco-friendly, give it a shot and see how it turns out. If it ends up working in your favor, consider patenting the idea and using it to develop your business further. Not everything can be patented, but the qualifications are sufficiently broad to encompass nearly any original invention. Your idea could turn out to be the next major green innovation for small businesses everywhere.

Switching the way your business works to go green can take time, but many of these ideas will end up improving your business in the long run. How do you plan to go green with your business?

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Valerie M.

Contributor at Small Business Marketing Tools
Valerie M. is a writer from Upstate New York. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from The State University of New York at Fredonia in 2016 and is currently working at a digital marketing agency where she writes blog posts for a variety of small businesses all over the country. Valerie enjoys writing about music, animals, nature, and traveling.