Greening Your Workplace

The corporate world is prone to using materials and ingredients that are unsustainable, unfit for recycling or generally harmful for the plant.

With Earth Day coming up in April, it’s an appropriate time to reevaluate your workplace for environmentally friendly steps you can take to “green” your business.

Here are some tips to get started:

Opt for Energy Efficient Upgrades: An old appliance is going to consume a lot more energy than a newer, energy efficient model. Don’t be deterred by the initial expense; energy efficient models cost less to run each month and will save money in the long run.

Strive to Be as Paperless as Possible: This can be as simple as using both sides of paper and reducing page margins to fit more per sheet.

Purchase Products Made from Post-Consumer Recycled Materials : Recycling efforts only work if people buy products made from reused materials, such as paper, envelopes, ink pens and more. 

Evaluate Your Products or Services: See how you can change your company’s business model to be more environmentally friendly, such as greener packaging or ingredient changes that retain the integrity of your product or service.

Opt for Green Marketing: This includes not only business cards, but also environmentally friendly marketing products. People tend to throw out the cheap, plastic trinkets passed out by companies, which end up sitting in landfills permanently since plastic doesn’t biodegrade.

Make Office Recycling a Priority: Contact your local recycling center to see what the process is for weekly pick up, and remember to recycle your old electronics and fluorescent light bulbs as well.

Stock Your Breakroom with Green Products: Things like Styrofoam and plastic don’t decompose in landfills, so replace them with reusable or environmentally friendly options.

Bruno Sharp is the founder of Dr. Sharp Natural Oral Care, a line of oral care products made from sustainable ingredients.