How to Make Your Business Eco-Friendly: 6-Step Guide

As a business owner, you’re probably focused on finding new customers and boosting your profits – but you should also be paying attention to the environment. 

At this very moment, climate change is a big topic. Some of the world’s most popular CEOs, like Apple’s Tim Cook, are working hard to adapt their supply chains and ultimately protect the earth. But this movement isn’t just limited to large global companies – businesses of all sizes are doing their part. So, it doesn’t matter whether you run a side business from home or a small office with a handful of employees, there’s plenty of room for you to make your business eco-friendly. If this has caught your attention, follow this 6-step guide on how to make your business eco-friendly. 

Step 1: Go paperless 

First of all, your business should aim to go paperless. This doesn’t mean grabbing all of your files and documents and throwing them out the nearest window. Instead, it means reducing the amount of paper you use until – eventually – you reach the end goal of a paper-free office. 

You’ll be happy to know that going paperless isn’t as difficult or time-consuming as you would imagine. After all, that’s why computers exist. Now, you can compose and send invoices, contracts, offer letters, HR documents, and so much more over the internet – meaning handling documents in paper form is no longer necessary. To do this, many businesses use DocuSign, but there are DocuSign competitors out there who can offer you much better functionality, pricing, and customer service. 

Step 2: Switch in-person meetings for virtual meetings

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of years, you’ll know all about Zoom. Thanks to Zoom and other video platforms, businesses have been able to continue communicating with employees and partners during some difficult times, and it seems certain that virtual meetings are here to stay. This is great, mainly because virtual meetings are better for the environment. So, rather than driving to meet business clients and partners, make sure to hold video meetings when the opportunity is right. This way, your business will be much more eco-friendly.  

Step 3: Recycle a lot more

Recycle, recycle, recycle. Throughout your office or business quarters, you should include some recycling bins and boxes. This is an incredibly simple – yet effective – way to make your business greener. As a bonus, you could even reward your team for how much recycling they do each month.

Step 4: Cut down on needless travel 

The likelihood is that drive to work every morning. Your employees probably do this, too. If so, you should consider encouraging them to cut down on their car journeys and get public transport to work, instead. Also, during breaks, employees should be encouraged to stay local rather than driving far to get food and drink. 

Step 5: Source from green suppliers

Think carefully about your suppliers. Could they be doing more to help the environment? These days, green suppliers are becoming increasingly more popular. If you can source from a green supplier, then you shouldn’t hesitate to switch. It will future-proof your business and improve your brand image in the eyes of the public. 

Step 6: Avoid plastic cups and cutlery in the office 

Plastic cups and cutlery are a big problem in today’s office. If you want to be super strict, you should put a ban on them and tell employees to bring their own reusable cutlery. In the long run, this benefits everyone and will drastically reduce your business waste.