As we continue to go towards the commitment of zero emissions by 2050, many businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the need to be eco-friendly. Strategies such as work from home that aims to promote lower carbon emissions, mean that the target to achieve a positive effect on the environment is now higher than ever.
While businesses might have plans to ‘do their bit’, many entrepreneurs could still go the extra mile. So, what a business can do to have less burden on the environment? Let’s dive in:
Work from Home
Doing business from home is seen as a luxury. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many companies have found their employees working from home.
In May 2020, bosses at social media giant Twitter decided their employees would have the option to work from home for an indefinite period. This era-defining decision followed announcements similar to this from companies like Google. The tech giants had extended their policies regarding work from home by the year 2021.
Allowing employees to work from home eradicates the headache of commutation. Globally, transport is a major concern for CO2 emissions.
- On average, a car on petrol in the UK liberates the equivalent of 180g of CO2 per kilometer. A diesel car produces 173g of CO2/km on average.
Using public transport to commute to the offices may help lower the number of vehicles on the road. However, allowing staff to work from home can eliminate carbon emissions altogether.
In the past 12 months, ‘work from home has seen a surge in search volume on Google. While there was an increase during the initial period of lockdown, there were still a huge number of searches for this term in May 2020 than May 2019.
This huge search volume indicates that people are searching for the opportunity to stay home and perform their roles. Offering this ‘luxury’ could help in satisfying your staff while also allowing your organization to be more eco-friendly.
Energy
Of course, every industry is not suited to have the option of work from home. The manufacturing sector, for example, needs on-ground staff to operate heavy equipment to finish their roles. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t change the way you operate to help you become eco-friendly.
Cleveland Bridge, a constructor, and fabricator of steel bridges and complex structures reduced its carbon footprint and made simple changes in its offices. Managing Director of the company Chris Droogan, said: “Our maintenance team started to recycle all greywater. This significantly improved our water utilization.
“Another instance was our plan to save lights being unnecessarily left on. We installed passive zonal infra-red and sound-sensitive switching along with LED lighting throughout our offices. Within areas of operations, we installed LED lighting. It provided significant carbon reduction when multiplied over our operational area of 30,000m2. We upgraded our heating system too, to enable larger zonal control and improved efficiency.”
Another way to improve energy consumption is to switch your portable generators. Switching to LPG generators can help several industries.
Tom’s Kitchen, a movable food van, is a massive example of this. Its owner, Metin Sonmez, stated the advantages of switching to LPG from diesel: “I chose an LPG model due to its better business sense.
Within a matter of weeks, I was saving fuel cost of around 60% — on a weekly basis and I was saving £116.00. The cost of a generator recovered its capital investment within five weeks. The best bit is, the generator kept going for days. So, I never worried about running out of power when I require it the most.”
Such LPG generators contain the same performance and power as petrol generators. Additionally, it provides the benefit of up to 40 percent fuel savings.
Changing Your Methods
Training your employees to work smarter can aid you to lower your organization’s carbon footprint. While you can choose to change to energy savers, leaving them on all the time will still have a detrimental effect. Make sure you place certain methods and make sure your business is efficient. It can be as simple as the implementation of a recycling system.
- Are your waste bins labeled clearly?
- Do your workers know their takeaway pizza boxes for lunch, for instance, can’t be recycled?
Another simple thing to fix is to go ‘paperless’. In the last 3-4 decades, the usage of paper globally has risen by 400 percent. This has brought rapid deforestation. Thus, turning paperless can save trees and allow them to continue playing their role in absorbing CO2 from our atmosphere.
Last Word
Each of the above-mentioned points can help your corporate operations become more eco-friendly and enhance the environment we live in. It’s a possibility and as the years go by, there will be any stringent laws put in place for corporate organizations. So, remain ahead of time and ensure you are doing what you can in the present to avert environmental possible issues in the future.
Author Bio: Lilly Daplyn is a digital marketing expert who works for Islestrading – A Glutathione Powder Supplier and Protein Exporter. She just loves to share her knowledge with the world in the form of blogs, videos, and various other types of content.