5 Ways to Go Green with Your Business
It may come as a surprise to many, but did you know that businesses going green doesn’t only benefit the environment? It also makes sense from a business perspective as the company is seen to be socially responsible, which helps to increase its marketability and integrity.
And yet, the move to more environmentally friendly practices is oftened hampered by the popular misconception that it involves investing huge sums of money or cutting back on products and services. But in fact, this could not be further from the truth.
To debunk this myth, we’ll share with you some simple things (some of which you may already practice in your daily life) you can do today to make your operations more eco-friendly.
1. Switch your light fixtures to LED
A great way to a start is to replace the regular incandescent or fluorescent bulbs in your office with energy-efficient, light-emitting diode (LED) lamps. LED lamps have a prolonged lamp life of up to 60,000 hours, while using only 2 watts of energy per use. Even though they may seem pricey, the energy-savings in the long run will more than make up for this.
2. Power down equipment when not in use
This is something many companies do not do despite the savings it can bring. Shutting down or putting unused computers and photocopy machines into sleep mode helps to conserve electricity and minimise CO2 emissions while also lowering your utility bills.
You should also request for an energy audit from a licensed electrician or engineer to find out which of your office equipment consumes the most energy.
For your convenience, certain models of Canon PIXMA printers are capable of displaying the number of paper sheets saved and level of CO2 reductions when printing in auto-duplex mode (printing on both sides of paper).
3. Adopt a paperless workflow
Recent studies have showed that approximately 1.26 million tonnes of waste paper is generated annually – making up 21% or the largest amount of total waste generated in the country.
In a bid to lower this number significantly, many companies have strengthened their information and communication systems and chosen a paperless workflow.
If going paperless is not a viable option for you, consider other alternatives such as using 100% recycled paper or switching to photocopiers and printers with duplex options such as the Canon LASER SHOT LBP6200d. Canon’s Easy-WebPrint EX software also helps you conserve paper by allowing you to resize web content to fit into a single page.
4. Buy eco-friendly office equipment
Whenever possible, dispose of your old office equipment by sending them for recycling and replacing them with newer, more energy-efficient models.
You can also consider choosing Canon for all your office printing needs as every Canon product is compliant with the International Energy Star Program and the European Union Restriction on Hazardous Substances (EU-RoHS) Directive. Furthermore, plastics from disposed Canon consumables such as ink and toner cartridges are often recycled into new ones.
5. Spread the conservation message
For your environmental efforts to be effective, it needs to cascade down to your employees. Let them know they too have a part to play by informing them of the total amount and types of waste the company produces and how they are disposed of.
Also, don’t hesitate to consult recycling businesses or government agencies such as the ‘Waste Is Not Waste’ organisation for assistance in developing recycling programs.
After all, the key for any business going green is to maintain healthy sustainable practices that in the long run not only saves the environment, but also helps the company save money and resources.