Going Green has become more than feeling good about your actions. It’s the best way for small businesses to reduce, reuse, and recycle in ways that support the company’s bottom line. When you reduce waste, you save money. It’s that simple. Recycle Nation dives into ways that you can save your small business money by going green.
The Benefits of Going Green as a Small Business
But, how does Going Green help reduce your costs? What benefits does your company gain?
- Financial Benefits
Going Green saves money. You’re not spending as much on office supplies when you come up with creative ways to reuse them. Instead of purchasing more notepads each month, you could be reusing the blank side of printouts. Even better, record meetings and post the recording in the cloud for others to access. You can have someone transcribe it when time allows.
If you’re updating your electronic devices like computer stations or smartphones, make money having the old equipment refurbished. You get cash back to put towards the cost of new technology.
Rely on the cloud rather than having dozens of external hard drives available. You could have one or two for your IT worker to back up systems in a safe location, but save money by preventing excessive spending on more devices than you really need.
- Reputation
Wasteful practices damage your company’s reputation. A small business relies on keeping customers happy. If you get caught throwing away electronics instead of recycling them, your reputation will take a hit. You don’t want to lose valuable customers over wasteful habits.
- Employee Morale
You might not think about how waste affects some of your employees, but it can. They may be frustrated to see so much waste generated every day.
Take my situation for example. I worked for a contractor that did food demonstrations in membership stores. As part of my job, I had to throw out any food that was uneaten or didn’t get cooked by the end of the day.
One day, I was put on a demo for lobster bisque. My manager provided me with 30 containers of the soup to serve over the next six hours. Five containers were left when my shift ended, and company policy was to throw away the soup, container and all, into the trash compactor.
We were not allowed to donate it to the area soup kitchens, even though it sat in a refrigerated bag with ice all day. I loathed throwing away food, but it was considered theft if we tried to take leftover food out of the building to donate to shelters. It made no sense to us that donations weren’t allowed, and that impacted morale.
Promote the Four Rs Around Your Workplace
How do you reduce waste as a small business owner? Create a laminated poster on the Four Rs for employees to see. Make sure they understand their role in waste reduction. What are the 4 R’s?
1. Reduce
Reduce how much waste your company generates through responsible purchases and office supply use. Instead of having single-use water bottles in the breakroom fridge, give everyone a refillable water bottle and invest in filtered water refill stations.
If you still print out forms like invoices, receipts, or warranty paperwork to give to your clients, consider switching to paperless options. Instead of printing out paperwork that eventually ends up in the trash or recycling facility, people can get the forms via email or text.
Before making a purchase, make sure it’s something that’s definitely needed. You might think new tablets for all workers is a fun idea, but will your employees use them regularly? Would some prefer updated laptops over new tablets?
2. Reuse
Reuse as much as you can. Instead of throwing away bubble wrap and packaging peanuts when you get supplies in, save them for the shipments you package and send out. Unwanted printouts that come in the mail or are circulated to employees by management can be cut into squares and used for taking notes.
Your employees use tablets now instead of cash registers. You might find there’s a local farm stand that would love having a locking cash register. You promote reuse through your donation to the right organization.
3. Recycle
Recycle everything you can, including food scraps. If you cannot reuse bubble wrap, recycle it in a plastic film recycling bin at a local grocery store. If you have a lot of batteries from calculators, flashlights, remotes, etc., save them in a box and recycle them at a local hardware store or recycling facility.
Create an accessible area with clearly marked bins for each type of recyclable and show employees how to recycle everything they can. You’ll want bins for:
- Cardboard/Paper
- Electronics
- Food Waste (Compost)
- Glass
- Metal
- Plastic
- Plastic Film
Items that cannot be recycled, such as office chairs or desks, can be given away. While an older desk is an eyesore to you, it could be a diamond in the rough to someone with the time to refinish it. Give as much away as you can.
4. Rethink
Finally, rethink your purchases. You want to update your office and are imagining all new desks, chairs, lighting, paint, and flooring. Make environmentally-friendly decisions. Choose items made from sustainable wood like bamboo, aim for energy efficient LED lighting, and low VOC paint.
As you make the purchases, consider shopping at used furniture or government liquidation sales that promote reuse. Look for Energy Star or local electricity company rebates on energy-efficient lighting.
If you’re updating an office bathroom or kitchen, look at devices that conserve water. Low-flow faucets and toilets are a good start. Not only do you use less water, but your water bill lowers, so you save money. If you have landscaping that’s frequently watered, install rain barrels under building eaves or gutters and use the rainwater for watering the gardens and grass.
Enjoy the Long-Term Benefits of Being a Responsible, Sustainable Small Business
Once you’ve implemented the 4Rs and are taking other steps to reduce waste, you start seeing immediate cost savings. That won’t stop. The more you reduce, recycle, reuse, and rethink your habits, the more you gain.
Recycle Nation’s recycling tool helps you find the best place to bring recycled items. Enter your ZIP code, find the nearest facility, and use the contact information to reach out. Some facilities charge a recycling fee to business owners who recycle larger amounts of electronics and other recyclable items. By reaching out, you know what to expect when you arrive to recycle your office items.
