What does it mean to be eco-conscious?
Effectively, it’s just another term for being eco-friendly; you do all you can to minimize your negative impact on the environment. You’re more conscious of the things that can harm the atmosphere, so you take steps to ensure that you reduce energy consumption, cut down on waste, and lower carbon emissions.
So, for a company to be eco-conscious, it needs to follow a few simple practices that make it more environmentally friendly. There are various things you can do, and here are some of the more effective ideas:
Use solar panels around your business premises
Making the most of renewable energy sources is a stellar way of being a more eco-conscious business. There are plenty available, but solar is the easiest for you to utilize. You can start installing and using solar panels around your business to generate a clean energy source.
Obviously, the way you use solar panels will depend on your business premises and where you can install them. Putting some on the roof of your building will always work well, and you can store the energy in a generator, which can then kick in and provide you with some renewable energy. The benefit of this is that you get the energy for free, so it reduces your energy bills and lowers your carbon footprint.
If you have no way of installing solar panels on the roof of your building, then the next best idea is to get solar carports. In short, these are structures that you can park your cars underneath. They provide shade and protection from the rain, but you have solar panels on top of them. It’s a smart way of making your carpark a lot more eco-friendly, and you can usually get more panels on these than you can on a roof!
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Provide electric company cars
Does your business provide company cars? If you do, then you can be very eco-friendly by offering electric vehicles to your employees. This way, you ensure that any employees who use company cars aren’t harming the environment. The same goes for companies that depend on a fleet of vehicles; try and make them electric. These days, you can get electric vans as well, which is ideal for tradesmen and service-based companies.
The only downside of electric cars is that they need to be charged, and there aren’t as many charging stations as there are fuel stations. But you can counter this with charging stations in your parking lot. In fact, the carports we mentioned earlier can be installed with EV stations as part of them. So, they supply electricity to your company cars, and it’s all provided by solar energy!
Of course, company cars are optional; some people may prefer to use their own vehicle. But, by making this change, you ensure that your business isn’t responsible for high carbon emissions. At the very least, you’ve done your bit to protect the environment.
Set up a strict recycling system
Now, the first two ideas will require some investment to set up. But the long-term gains are there for all to see. Admittedly, smaller companies might have a hard time trying to implement renewable energy sources or switching to electric company vehicles.
Bearing that in mind, this idea is perfect for everyone. All you have to do is set up a strict recycling system in your business. Ensure that any waste is recycled as much as possible. This means recycling scrap paper, sorting out your plastic waste, and making sure that you only dispose of things that can’t be recycled at all.
It’s so easy to do this as there are recycling guidelines that are so easy to follow. In some cases, companies that manufacture specific products will have their own recycling systems for you to use. The best example of this is Nespresso and their coffee pods. You can’t put these pods in with your recycling, but they have a system where you can send them back to the company to be properly recycled. So, if you think something can’t be recycled, then check with the product manufacturer to see if there’s a way to send them back so they can be re-used.
With a system like this, you will reduce so much business waste. As a consequence, you help the environment by reducing the amount of rubbish in landfills. If every company did this, the world would be a much better and more eco-friendly place.
Plant trees/bushes/flowers/anything green!
Lastly, and this is another tip everyone can use, you should plant some greenery around your business premises. Unfortunately, you can’t stop people from cutting down trees in rainforests all over the world. But you can help support the environment by planting more greenery to help pump out more clean air into the atmosphere.
Look outside your premises and figure out ways to plant bushes or little trees and flowerbeds. Not only does this make your business more eco-friendly, but it can also help improve the way your premises looks. Some plants and flowers can add a much-needed touch of color!
Why should you be more eco-conscious?
An eco-conscious business is such a positive thing. Aside from the obvious benefits of helping the environment, you also see some bonus advantages as well.
It improves your business reputation as you present your company as one that cares for the environment and actively tries to help things. It gives your brand a purpose, a common ground for other people to identify with. As a result, you might start bringing in new customers as people want to support an eco-friendly business. Plus, if you reduce your carbon footprint, your energy bills will decrease as well. So, you can save money every month.
Basically, nothing negative comes from being an eco-conscious company! So, follow these steps to improve your brand and make a positive impact on the environment. Some of the ideas might be out of your reach right now, so stick to the easier ones instead. As your business grows, you can start adding solar panels or switching to electric vehicles, etc.