The Benefits of Green Workplace Practices

Image Courtesy: Flickr Image by Stockholm Environment Institute

Global warming, a growing problem and a topic which has been brought up a lot in the past decade. With more and more trees being cut down every week and the beautiful landscapes that we see around us slowly dying, a lot of workplaces have taken the green initiative.

By taking the green initiative, we mean that they have implemented recycling into the office; they have replaced some of their environmentally damaging machines, and those employees who have the luxury of a car get to experience a completely eco-friendly vehicle. Of course, these are all beneficial to the environment, but how is it beneficial to the workplace?

Global Warming

When we refer to a business’s carbon footprint, we are talking about how big of an environmental impact a business has on the environments health by carbon emissions. Oil companies or paper companies who cut down trees and burn what they have no use for – these types of companies have large carbon footprints. In order for a company to reduce their carbon footprint, there are a lot of things that they are able to do, some expensive and some not.

Minimizing Our Carbon Footprints

Recycling is one of the easiest processes to implement into your business. It’s very cheap and only takes a second for your workers to decide where a certain piece of trash should go. The most common recycling categories are paper, food and plastic. This benefits the environment due to how each material is recycled in a different way, using different processes.

Compared to regular trash disposal, where the more common ways of trash disposal consist of burning the trash (which gives off toxic fumes, unhealthy for both the atmosphere and the people around the facility) and landfilling, which causes ground pollution and ruins the natural soil, eco-friendly waste disposal methods are incredible.

Benefits from a Business Perspective

Communication: One of the most important factors for success, when it comes to business. When it comes to going green, it can be incredibly beneficial for the environment as well as there being benefits from a business perspective too. In the current day and age, there are few reasons to use paper.

If you need to write a dissertation for college, type it up on your computer. If you need to send a letter to someone, email him or her instead. The list of reasons for a company to be using paper instead of transferring their everyday work over to the digital age is slowly dying out, and in the near future there will be none left. Trees are meant for the environment, and that should be all they are meant for.

Saving Money as a Business

An additional benefit is that businesses can save the environment while saving money at the same time. The electricity production process is damaging to the environment, which makes every joule of energy produced vital. By businesses taking a little extra time to make sure that after they have used a certain machine or appliance, they turn it off, they will give a helping hand to the Earth’s health as well as cutting down on their electrical bill at the end of the month!

Another way in which they can save money is by switching all of their regular appliances to energy-saving appliances, which results in a significantly less amount of energy being used.

These are just a couple of the many benefits for a business to go green.

How Companies Can Enhance Their Brand

When a company first announces that they are going green, it can have a heavily positive impact on their public image. What do we mean when we say ‘going green?’ By that we simply mean that they are using eco-friendlier resources than before, and taking full advantage of the green methods they can use to do their everyday work, while also benefiting the environment. Once you have taken the next step and transcended to the next step of going green, the public will start to recognise you as a business who cares, and not just another statistic.

On top of the public looking at you from a more positive point of view, it will not only increase your customers but it will help attract more people to want to work for you. Staffing issues will rarely be a problem from that point on. Increasing your sales and making more people want to be your employee are both fantastic qualities to have in a company.

To Conclude…

As a business, it’s in your best interest to save as much money as you can. After all, nobody wants to be losing more money than necessary, right? So with that in mind, if you are a business who hasn’t yet taken the opportunity to go green, seize the opportunity and make that transition. As a green business you won’t only be saving money, but the public recognises green companies and appreciates the effort of being such. Take the leap – it’s in your best interest.

Keep your office green, here’s a free downloadable and print-ready Go-Green poster that you can post anywhere in your office. More posters available in Alsco Greenroom.