Running a business from home is about as good as it gets when it comes to going green. You don’t have to spend hours every day commuting to work and back, which means you already have a smaller carbon footprint to begin with. Home businesses tend to be more efficient in terms of energy usage too.
However, there are still a lot of things you can do to make your home business friendly to the environment. The simplest of steps can create the biggest impact, which is why we are going to discuss some of the easiest things you can do to become eco-friendly in this article.
Limit Your Use of Paper
At the top of our list of easy things to do to go green, we have limiting the use of paper. As a home business, you really don’t need to use a lot of paper. Critical business information and files are now stored digitally.
Digital files are not only easier to maintain, but friendlier to the environment. For documents that you still need to print, use recycled paper whenever possible.
You can also take more steps in this department, including disposing used ink cartridges properly and only using ink cartridges that you know you can recycle later.
Sustainable Supplies
Whether you are making your own products or reselling items to customers, working with goods that are made in a sustainable way is the way to go. Goods that still use a lot of plastic for packaging, for example, aren’t friendly to the environment. The same can be said for products that leave behind a large carbon footprint as part of their manufacturing processes.
Sustainable supplies are the best. While it is not always possible to switch to better supplies or stick with eco-friendly manufacturing processes, you can always make the decision to source items locally whenever possible.
Give Back
In an interesting discussion with Michael A Peck, MAPA founder and business development guru, we learned that businesses that donate and give back more are more likely to succeed on the market. The same can be said for businesses who are more active in establishing eco-friendly processes.
Rather than throwing away items you no longer use in your home office, donate them to a good cause. Old desks, computers you no longer use, and other office equipment that has been replaced can still be useful for others.
Reward Clients
One last tip we are going to discuss is rewarding customers for supporting your efforts to go green. When a client sends you a digital invoice rather than a paper one, for instance, show appreciation. The same can be said for customers who use their own shopping bag offline or opt for less packaging when ordering online.
The rewards don’t have to be particularly big either. You can, for example, use eco-friendly merchandise or souvenirs to support the cause. The more people you persuade others to join the movement, the bigger the impact your business makes to the protection of our environment.
These small steps can produce huge impacts indeed. They are perfect starting points if you want to keep your home business friendly to the environment.
