Environment-friendly policies and a fiscal tightening of the belt are two seemingly unrelated trends that have been touted by companies in recent years. The first often involves a desire to avoid bad PR, as businesses, from Facebook on down to your local dry cleaner have turned to renewable sources and energy-saving methods in an attempt, largely, to appeal to their consumer base. At the same time, the brunt of the current recession has slashed revenues, depleted client pools, and generally forced managers to make painful rounds of cuts.
It would seem like an inopportune time to go green. In reality, however, the opposite is true: by making your business more environment-friendly, you can succeed in saving money and appealing to potential consumers – outcomes both of which are especially alluring during a time of economic stagnation. Here are a couple ways to go about making this happen:
Take Advantage of Communication Technology
We live in a world where cloud services are fast replacing hard drives, advanced smartphones are becoming the norm, and the most portable of laptops are giving way to tablets. As business managers, we may as well take advantage of this technology for its communication potential. Instead of driving or flying to an important meeting, save money – and go green – by conducting it through virtual channels. Instead of requiring employees to be in the office each and every day, save on gas and electricity costs – and improve worker morale – by permitting the flexibility for telecommutes.
Make Your Office Energy Efficient
Continuing on the topic of technology, there is a multitude of products out there that can help reduce your office’s utility bill. There are energy-efficient lightbulbs, motion-sensor lighting systems that turn off the lights when the office is empty, and advanced temperature control devices that learn to heat and cool a space at the most efficient of levels.
Construction buffs may want to look at how new engineering advances are allowing buildings to be assembled more efficiently.This can be seen in the use of newly efficient o-rings in construction projects. The combination of fluorocarbon, nitrile, and a bevy of other extremely durable materials – as well as the wide variety of o-ring sizes – makes them a construction must for the foreseeable future.
Go Paperless
Office flyers, memos, expense reports, and pay stubs consume a good amount of paper, and paper adds up to consume a good deal of money. You can eliminate this cost by going paperless: communicate with your employees purely through email and set up a system whereby all office accounting takes place online. This may also pose a good opportunity for your business to delve into the world of cloud computing. With all information easily digitized and share-able, after all, paper becomes less and less of a convenience.
By following these basic steps, your business can quickly cut some costs and run more efficiently. And, of course, you have done your part to help the environment, too.
Author: Anna Kay Hicks
Art: Shutterstock
