www.www.worldexecutivesdigest.com | 7 Sustainable Project Ideas to Take Your Business in a Greener Direction | Trying to go green with your business? Here are 7 sustainable project ideas to help you grow your business in a way that isn’t detrimental to the environment.
According to a study performed by NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business, a full half of all the growth in consumer packaged goods sales between 2013 and 2018 came from sustainable marketed products.
There’s no doubt that the business world is enjoying explosive growth through the use of sustainable project ideas. But not only do sustainable initiatives help your business grow, but they also benefit society and the planet at the same time.
Check out these seven sustainability-focused projects that almost any business can implement!
- Use Environmentally Friendly Lighting
There are two ways that traditional light bulbs can harm the environment. First, manufacturing them requires us to consume the world’s resources. Second, they need a lot more energy to power than some modern light bulbs, making them a constant drain on the world’s energy supply.
Switching to environmentally friendly bulbs can help with both issues! They are more efficient to make, and they also require less energy to provide the same lighting to your business.
You can also consider using up your old light bulbs before making the change. This lessens the consumption of manufacturing new light bulbs.
LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are impressively powerful lights despite the small size of their bulbs. They are also highly efficient, using up to 10 times less energy. Unlike some other types of energy-efficient bulbs, they don’t contain mercury and are also less likely to break.
Another great idea for making your business greener is to utilize natural light. If your business receives a lot of sun during certain hours of the day, consider turning off the lights and enjoying some sunlight.
- Use Ecologically Sourced Furniture
Irresponsible furniture practices can create a significant drain on the environment’s resources, both in costly manufacturing and in the use of the materials themselves.
Wood furniture is especially harmful, as it’s sometimes manufactured in ways that waste a great deal of the trees that the wood comes from.
One great way to make your furniture more environmentally friendly is to use recycled furniture.
Sometimes, a piece of furniture within your own office that can be adapted to serve a new purpose. Tables, for example, can be made out of all kinds of things, like shelving units and more.
You can also focus on repairing rather than replacing large furniture items. Upholstered furniture is easy to restore to its former glory. Buying old furniture and having it buffed up for office use is another excellent strategy.
If you do buy new furniture, try to make sure that your wood furniture comes from FSC sourced wood. FSC wood is also a great choice for any construction projects your company does. Using FSC wood can help you build greener and support your community at the same time.
- Let Your Staff Work Remotely
Working remotely is an increasingly common practice that can help out your bottom line as well as the environment. Every employee or executive that can work from home means one fewer person that’s using up fossil fuels to power their transportation.
Remote workers can also lower energy consumption and costs. Having fewer people in the workspace may require less temperature control in your office, and possibly fewer lights turned on, and computers plugged in.
- Use Water Carefully
In times of drought, your business can get creative to operate on less and less water. The truth is, the majority of our water usage is entirely unnecessary.
Encourage everyone in your business to follow environmentally aware practices with regards to water usage. They can turn off sinks while they soap up their hands and be careful about water usage while washing office mugs or coffee pots.
Fixing any leaking water in your office can help you eliminate those sources of completely wasted water. Installing water-efficient bathroom plumbing can help as well.
- Reduce Your Paper Consumption
Sustainable companies are always on the lookout for ways to use less. And, that includes office supplies like paper.
Plenty of businesses have found ways to go completely paperless, reducing their paper consumption to nearly nothing. Because this is one of the most common products wasted by businesses, going paper-free can make a huge difference.
Computer technology has allowed us to replace most paper memos and messages with electronic ones. And, other paper waste, like receipts, is slowly starting to go digital, too!
Even if you don’t think your business is quite ready to go 100% paper-free, you can switch to electronic messages and cut your consumption way down. This will also decrease your need for printer ink, another big help to the environment.
- Lower Energy Use
Installing lights that operate on a timer or sensor and turn off when no one is around is a great way to make sure you’re not wasting energy. Setting computers to go to sleep when they’re not being used can also help.
Plugged in electronics draw power from the plug even if they’re not turned on. Make sure that anything not being used gets unplugged.
- Use Recycled Electronics
Old or excess electronic equipment often ends up in landfills, wasting valuable resources and energy. Electronic waste is growing at an incredible pace, which means that now is the right time to reduce our output before it gets out of control.
Many people can’t afford to buy a new computer or other electronic equipment. Instead of throwing yours away when it starts to age, look around the community for people who could benefit from your old equipment.
If you put an ad out offering office equipment for free, somebody will take it off your hands. This can even save you the difficulty of moving it around.
This is one of our favorite tips for going green because it benefits everyone. It helps members of your community, the planet, and your business all at the same time.
Get the Most Out of Sustainable Project Ideas
Learning how to become a sustainable entrepreneur is as easy as looking for ways to do it. The world needs more people who are willing to put in just a few minutes of research and follow the recommendations they find.
We hope you learned something helpful about sustainable project ideas, and how they can benefit both your business and the world!
To learn more about business and entrepreneur tips of all kinds, check out our other blog posts and articles.
