With millions of tons of plastic ending up in the ocean every year and other environmental concerns, it is important for business people to make eco-friendly changes to how they run their company. However, it can be difficult to know just where to start. Implement these seven simple changes to greatly reduce your carbon footprint and that of your business.
1. Start With Ecological Training
When you are deciding upon a career, you want to make the best choice because it will affect the rest of your life. Those that decide to take the dental assistant programs will become a necessary part of a dental business. If you find a dental practice that is trying to lessen the carbon footprint they create, then that is even better. The owners of the dental practice can teach their employees the importance of taking care of the planet.
A dental practice should recruit and teach workers how to protect the environment and help out the earth by starting at their office. This is the easiest way to make your company more environmentally friendly and can also give your staff invaluable skills they may transfer to another position.
2. Go Paperless
The paper that is used in many offices is both unnecessary in this digital age and dangerous to the growth of forests on our planet. You can avoid deforestation and excess pollution of our environment by implementing a digital records database. This can help preserve the number of trees on earth to soak up all the excess carbon monoxide from our environment and it can also cut down on the amount of clutter and excess paper that many businesses collect.
3. Shop Local Goods
Not only should you try to source goods that are made close to you, but you should also order a great quantity at once. When you order goods for your business, it is important to take transit into account when calculating your businesses’ carbon footprint. Locally sourced items have to travel a smaller distance, and ordering a lot at one time means you can stock up and be the cause for even less traffic.
4. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Your business probably throws away a lot of things that can still be used. Renovating an item, breaking it apart for usable components, or even turning them into an art piece can all breathe new life into your office but can also save you a ton of money on refurbishment. This can help the environment whether you do it at home or at work.
5. Reduce Your Dependence on Fossil Fuels
Your company can cut its reliance on an unsustainable resource like gasoline simply by adding hybrid vehicles or vehicles that use alternative fuel to your business fleet of transportation. Many companies are also offering incentives to employees who make the switch to a more sustainable automobile for their private use. You might consider setting your office up for remote work. Even just one daily commute from an employee can greatly add to your rate of carbon emission.
6. Know Exactly the Effect Your Business Has
Knowing just how much impact your business has on the world around it is a great piece of information to have if you want to add some environmental innovation to your office or learn from past mistakes and try to do better. Consult with an outside firm who can perform an environmental audit so that you can post results with no one calling into question the relationship between the two businesses. They can make a ton of suggestions that can make your office a more environmentally friendly place, including switching to LED bulbs, doing away with plastic disposable goods, and other small but important changes.
7. Encourage Others to Be More Mindful
A huge part of making your office more sustainable and eco-friendly is adding opportunities for people to choose the more environmentally friendly option. Do not make single use, plastic items available. Install recycling bins around the office. If given a chance, most people will choose to do the more sustainable thing. Host regular meetings where you go over proper recycling format. Try to create the idea of taking care of the planet as “cool” and many more people will want to help you.
