Being Eco Friendly can be Cashflow Friendly too

Filed under eco friendly by on 31/08/2011 at 8:52 am {no comments}

Green living is the new buzzword all across the globe with new initiatives for environmentally friendly living becoming a major trend in homes.  What many small business owners don’t realize is that taking steps to reduce the human impact can be both a profitable and exciting venture with rewards on all levels.

Making your business more eco friendly can also have benefits in terms of your positioning campaigns, offering you a strong selling and starting point.  There is also the issue of your base profit.  This will be positively affected by the reduction in costs that come from using energy wisely.  For those of you who are new to the green initiative, there are simple and effective steps that can help you become comfortable with the idea and eventually make it part of your personal and corporate lifestyle.

1.    Turn it off

When you are not using office or home equipment, make sure that it is turned off at the energy source.  This can have as much as a 75% decrease in energy output if you are thorough and consistent.

2.    Cut out your printing

Try to eliminate the use of paper in your office or at home.  Electronic boards and email are just as useful (if not more so) for communication and help minimize the unnecessary use of paper.  Similarly, you can print on both sides where possible which will cut your paper-use in half as well as instill a culture of reduction.  Use recycled paper to drive the point home.  There are plenty of suppliers who can offer quality recycled paper at affordable rates.  This way you are also helping recycling businesses to perpetuate sustainability.

3.    Don’t let taps drip

While a dripping tap is annoying on its own, it has far more severe consequences for your business or home.  A dripping tap can collectively waste thousands of liters per year depending on how often it happens.

4.    Recycle for money!

One of the best things about recycling is that you are killing two birds with one stone.  On one hand you are helping to reuse man-made resources and on the other you are able to make money out of doing so.  Recycling plants will often pay you to drop off your paper, plastic and glass in an effort to keep the plants running and help save the planet!
Many people are under the misconception that being eco friendly means attaching yourself to a tree and vowing never to come down until it is saved.  While this may be true for some activists, they are ultimately trying to make a point and gain exposure.  What we are talking about, in the modern business sense, is reducing costs and committing to being as efficient and ethical as possible whilst building a strong platform for marketing as well as social and environmental investment.  Small changes can save big money and spread more awareness and exposure as employees begin to change their frame of reference and their habits as a result.  Making these simple changes can yield incredible results for your profit margin as well as the development of your brand.

Eco Friendly Companies

Filed under eco friendly, Uncategorized by on 08/06/2011 at 9:56 am {no comments}

I have a good friend who runs an eco friendly business, we were discussing the wide range of businesses who now claim to have a green credential in some way or another and how realistic those claims are for various companies. For example, is it really possible to be green in any way if you are a transportation company? Many local councils have their green bus services now, these often run busses on palm oil, now as most people are aware, there is a completely different environmental impact from running busses on palm oil. Instead of the pollution argument there is the whole issue of destroying the rainforests and devastating the natural environment to clear land for the growing of the palm nuts which the oil is extracted from.

Whilst these are all issues there has to be something said for businesses who make a step in the right direction, rather than simply complying with the minimum levels of legislation which affects their particular industry sector.

My friends company is an eco business and the first thing which he said makes a huge difference is having a home office. It doesn’t matter how you get to work (unless you walk or cycle), this is usually the largest part of your daily carbon footprint, he has therefore eliminated this completely. He also does 90% plus of his meetings online now too, not only saving himself a huge amount of time traveling but also the fuel impact. He recycles and offsets the cost of electric and website hosting by funding tree planting.

His company, he explained, is easier to make green than most, he works in technology and internet services.  I’m not going to claim to understand exactly what he does but I know hes a web designer, but then optimises them to appear in the search engines. Did you know when you do a search on Google for example, did you know it’s not just coincidence who appears near the top? There is a complex algorithm behind it, based on lots of different factors on the page of every single website, and who they link to and who links to them. It really is a minefield, but that’s what he does, basically he is a n seo in swindon and provides services to companies from lots of different industries, including other uk seo companies in some cases.

He combines seo and keeping it eco friendly very well, but it does make you think about how difficult it must be for many other industries, particularly those involved in transportation, chemicals or tourism.