In the era of terrible pollution and advanced technology, it’s always a good idea to go green with your business. Business owners understand that operating efficiently, focusing on sustainability, and being different from your competition often means you have to put in more effort. On the other hand, putting in more effort doesn’t necessarily mean that you are going to have to spend more money, as businesses that care about sustainability will help you save money in the long run and become more popular on the market. Here’s how:
Green Energy Tax Credits
All over the world, governments are praising green businesses and showing their support by offering green tax credits to those who focus on green procurement and sustainability in their work. There are also significant tax deductions for businesses that are environmentally friendly. In the United States, for example, there is a green energy tax deduction of more than a dollar and a half per square foot offered by the federal government to businesses that are able to cut their energy consumption in half. In Australia, on the other hand, the government is working on a plan that will offer grants to companies, which will help the country meet its target of cutting emissions. This goes to prove that governments recognize the effort of business owners who decide to go green.
Green Hosting
It’s no secret that web hosting providers need a lot of energy in order to successfully power servers and data centres, and this has a bad impact on the environment. Still, there are web hosts that use renewable energy resources such as air, sunlight, and water – Canada, for example, generates the majority of its electricity hydroelectrically. If you decide to go green with your web hosting, you can choose a host which will give you a custom green ‘badge’ you can use to show the visitors on your website that your business values and supports sustainability on all levels.
Green Materials
High utility costs result in businesses having to compensate by using materials of lower quality. Today, everyone emphasizes the energy saving potential of solar panels and other energy-efficient appliances but no one mentions the toxicity of materials they are made of. A similar thing happened with asbestos in Australia in the period between WW2 and the early 2000s – the mineral was so convenient and gave such great results that it was used for commercial building. Still, no matter how convenient asbestos used to be, thorough asbestos testing in Sydney is common before any renovations take place these days. In order to prevent this from happening you can always opt for green materials, thus ensuring you will meet new laws and standards in the long run.
Baby Steps
It’s the small things that make a bigger picture, and you can’t expect to run an environmentally-friendly business unless you implement a green policy. By encouraging remote work, you’ll be able to reduce commute times, cut down on overhead costs, and improve the productivity of your employees. You should also encourage everyone in the office to recycle and separate waste: papers, glass, and metal, and you could also make a small compost bin for coffee grounds and tea bags. Make sure you get a paper shredder for your office because paper and paper products such as cardboard are among the most easily recyclable materials.
Get a Green Certificate
It’s evident that more and more consumers are becoming savvy about using and buying green products and relying on green businesses. There is a huge difference between stating that your business is green and environmentally friendly, and actually being able to prove it. Green business certifications like Green Business Bureau’s program allows you to actually support your business’s environmental claims. These certificates aren’t something you can just buy, however, as you have to be able to prove that you’re already ‘green’ or that you’re making an effort to make your company more sustainable. As a result, you’ll be able to draw more potential clients, consumers, and business partners who share the same values and ideas.
A great number of business owners that decide to go green do so because they truly believe that they can do something to minimize the impact they have on the environment, all while positively affecting their company’s employee moral and finances. Some of them decide to take baby steps while others go all-in, but the bottom line is that they do so because they understand it’s the right thing to do. Green businesses are an extension of the owners’ values and by implementing green projects, the owners are doing everything in their power to ensure that they operate sustainably.
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Author Bio:
Will H. Sandford is a Sydney based writer, entrepreneur and green enthusiast. He feels that having the chance to run a family business and still having time to explore nature with his family is an absolute privilege. “All the things you love is what your business is all about.”
