There are a lot of reasons to be thinking about making the switch to an “eco friendly” business. Not only are you helping to sustain the environment and letting your customers know that you care, it can be very rewarding personally too! These days everything is about being environmentally friendly, recycled and sustainable – particularly in business. It makes sense that businesses would be leading the way, as they are one of the biggest contributors to the problem, and are in a great position to effect change. While when most people hear the word “eco” they think “expensive”, that is simply not true. In fact, being eco friendly can save you money, from printing less to saving energy, both your wallet and the environment will be positively affected. You can always start small – as every little bit helps!
Here is 6 ways that you can help your business become eco friendly.

1. Think Before You Print

Did you know that it requires 10 litres of water to produce 1 sheet of A4 80gsm copy paper, or 5,000 lts for 1 ream of copy paper (www.waterfootprint.org). In addition;

• Paper production accounts for nearly 40% of all felled trees
• If ½ of the worlds paper could be recycled we would avoid harvesting 80,000 square kilometers of forestland each year
• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 26,000 litres of water, nearly 3 m3 of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil (320  litres), and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power the average home for five months.

Re-use copy paper for in house printing, only print out emails if absolutely necessary, recycle all waste paper, and purchase paper that has been made from recycled stock. Install bins in several office locations to make it easy to collect paper for recycling or for reuse as notepaper. Most businesses print in bulk to get the best unit price, however they can end up paying a lot more than they think when you look at what actually gets used. For example, when was the last time you “trashed” out of date brochures and stationery because of changes to phone numbers, addresses, pricing or the marketing message was no longer relevant.

2. Your Stationery Says a Lot About Your Business.

Using 100% post-consumer recycled stock and vegetable inks to print your stationery can greatly help the environment. Business cards with UV coatings and laminate can’t be recycled and require a lot more energy to be printed. Printing eco friendly stationery used to be expensive – but that is no longer the case. In fact, Print Together specialise in environmentally sustainable printing, and have fantastic prices (note: they are not an affiliate).

3. Eco Font

This is another printing one. Eco Font is an eco friendly font that aims to save ink. It enables you to save up to 25% of ink or toner. Both your wallet and the environment will be grateful to you, because ink and toner are a particularly heavy burden on both. It has no effect on legibility – just on the environment!

4. Don’t Waste Your Energy

• There are plenty of ways to save energy for your business.
• Turn off your computer, lights, machinery, and equipment when you leave for the day
• Use LCD monitors, which use half the power of traditional models (are are much better looking!)
• Turn off the lights in common areas once everyone leaves
• Use Energy Star certified equipment
• Use compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs

5. Green Hosting

Choosing a green hosting company is an easy one for your business to do – choose them once and you don’t need to think about it again (until your next bill arrives!). We offer two great hosting packages for businesses, a perfect companion to our website packages.

6. Add A Plant to Your Office

Adding a plant to your office can have a long list of benefits. It will reduce toxins in the air, increase air flow and help to reduce eye irritations from staring at that computer screen all day! It will add some life to a dull office and brighten your day.

Let us know what you think!
What changes have you made to running your business in order to become environmentally friendly? How has this affected your business?