Top Green Tips for Small Businesses -
Make a Difference Whilst Saving Money!
Following on from our
recent article on how much your business
could be saving by reducing energy bills, we
have found some top tips from BT Business to
show how you can make a difference to the
environment for little cost (and even
potentially saving money).
"The 4.5 million small businesses in the UK
are the lifeblood of the economy and can
make a big difference to tackling climate
change," said Bill Murphy, managing director
of BT Business.
"In our guide, we demonstrate how small
steps can make a big difference. SMEs using
IT and communications technology to act in a
more sustainable way will benefit from
reduced costs, enhanced reputation and
greater productivity."
The five tips are as follows:
-
Use conferencing to reduce travel for
meetings - If every small
business in the UK replaced 10 meetings
a year with audio conferences, small
businesses could collectively save more
than 1.7 million tonnes of CO2. Cutting
down on travel would also cut
expenditure on air tickets, train
tickets and petrol.
-
Reduce unnecessary trips back to the
office by using mobile communications
technology - Using mobile communications can ensure that employees
do not have to make additional trips
back to the office following meetings.
With a reduction in employee car travel
by the equivalent of two working days a
year, small businesses could
collectively save more than one million
tonnes of CO2, as well as saving on fuel
costs.
-
Shut down computers and other electrical
kit at the end of the day - If
every small business in the UK forgets
to switch off just one PC monitor at
night, they could be collectively
wasting enough energy for every person
in London to microwave at least two
dinners each. As well as helping the
environment, turning off equipment cuts
electricity bills.
-
Use recycled stationery and save paper
- If every SME in the UK switched to
recycled paper, small businesses would
collectively save billions of litres of
water.
-
Take-up flexible working - By supporting the equivalent of one employee
working from home for just one day a
week for one year, small businesses
could collectively save 516 million
kilos of CO2 in reduced travel.
On top of the environmental and financial
benefits of saving energy; you can also
improve the image of your business as a
socially responsible company. This helps to
promote your business, and potentially
improve the relationship you have with your
existing customers.
For more information on the other benefits
of being Environmentally Responsible visit
our previous news article here.
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