The Perks of Making Your Business Sustainable

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While it is true that 9 out of 10 startups result in failure, this is not something you should focus on during the launch. In order to have a chance at success, you need to assume right from the beginning, that your business will stick for a while and start executing some moves that will pay off in the long run. Naturally, this doesn’t mean over-investing in the increased workload you aren’t likely to meet for at least a few years, but implementing some small changes that will make your business sustainable. Here are some ideas, as well as numerous perks that this kind of strategy brings.

Cutting down on energy consumption

The most obvious first step towards making your business both ‘greener’ and more sustainable lies in cutting down on its energy consumption. According to a recent statistic, 63 per cent of companies that are currently taking action to reduce energy use in their operation have been described as 47 per cent more effective than their competitors. Not only does enforcing such a complex policy improve the structure of your organization, but it also reduces the amount of money you pay for utilities by a significant amount.

There are several ways in which you can do so and the choice is yours. The first thing that comes to mind is contacting people dealing with LED lighting solutions and switch all your light fixtures with these more energy-efficient ones. As you probably already know, the LED bulbs have a much better Watt-to-lumen exchange ratio. For example, a 10W LED bulb produces the same amount of light (600lm) as its 40W incandescent counterpart. Another thing you could do is replace your regular office appliances with low-energy ones. Before you do so, however, just make sure to keep their functionality in mind at the same time.

Reduce water waste

Another thing you could reduce is the amount of water your office wastes. Here, unless the water is somehow included in your production, we are mostly talking about the water consumption of your bathroom and kitchen area. For the first, you can consider introducing low-flow toilets which are known to use only about 40 per cent of the water that a regular toilet does. On the other hand, a low-flow faucet can be introduced in both the bathroom and kitchen area and in this way drastically reduce the overall waste of water in the office. Hands free taps are another option.

One more thing you should keep in mind, aside from modernizing your workspace, you need to raise some awareness, as well. With this in mind, make sure to strategically place signs and posters all over the place, reminding people to turn off the tap once they’re done.

Finally, if you have some houseplants around the office, you could invest a bit and get some of those self-watering planters. These devices are almost as practical as they are water-saving, so in the long run, they are definitely bound to pay off.

Think about consumables

An average US office worker annually uses about 10.000 sheets of paper. This number alone is quite alarming when you look at the current rate of deforestation all over the world. Additionally, when it comes to your paper supplies, it costs you a small fortune. Luckily, there are more than a few things you can do to make this right. First, in the digital era you have the privilege of being able to choose what to print and what to leave in the digital format. The more often you go with the latter option the better. You could also opt for the recycled paper, which with the modern recycling technology gives highly satisfying results.

Aside from paper, some other office supplies you might need to use on a regular basis are paper clips, staples, tape dispensers, pencils, business cards and of course file folders. As you can see, most of the above mentioned have a digital alternative, which makes it much easier for you to cut down on their use.

Reputation boost

Finally, we come to one thing that is not that hard to speak of in numbers. You see, having your business labeled as green or sustainable opens it up to new markets and even makes it appealing to some of its old clients. It also sheds a much more positive light on your company values. After all, preaching earth-friendly policies is easy, on the other hand, enforcing them is something completely different.

In the end, it is vital to mention that aside from the above mentioned perks, you also get the satisfaction of knowing that your business is a part of the solution and not the problem. Even without all those reforms being great for your businesses finances in the long run, this alone would be reason enough to try and make your business sustainable.

About the Author

Chloe is a young blogger and a huge fan of social media. She enjoys learning and writing about design, business, psychology and productivity related topics. Her biggest dream is to travel the whole world and take stunning photographs of beautiful places. You can find Chloe on FB and Twitter.

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