Corporate Responsibility: 8 Ways Companies Reduce Their Carbon Footprint

Are you a business owner wondering about how to reduce the carbon footprint of your company on the environment?

Unfortunately, the greenhouse gas effect on our planet is worsening every day. And fully one-quarter of all our emissions come from electric and heating uses.

If you’re concerned about the effect of your business on the environment then there is plenty you can do to reduce your carbon footprint on our environment.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure what steps you can take, we’ve got you covered. Keep reading to learn eight key steps you can take to reduce carbon footprint. And the best part is that with most of these steps you will save money in the long run which will positively affect your bottom line and improve your business profit margins.

Assess Your Current Situation

As you work to better your future, for both your company and your planet, the best place to start is to know where you’re beginning. So, take some time to assess where you are now. What is your company already doing that you’re proud of? What areas can you improve in, and where do you need to set up new systems from scratch?

When you know where you’re starting you can begin to map out your strategy for how to lower your carbon footprint and leave the earth a better place.

These steps can give you a starting foundation so take some time to assess your current situation. Then map out your strategy for how to lower the carbon footprint of your company on your community.

Invest in the Future

New forms of energy require an upfront investment. By making that investment now in solar and wind energy you can set your future business up to reduce your carbon footprint as well as your energy bills.

Renewable energy isn’t the wave of the future anymore. It’s the current trend and it’s time for everyone to get on board and start utilizing these amazing resources.

It might seem extremely expensive in the beginning to install dozens of solar panels on the roof of your corporate headquarters. However, the savings in the coming years, and decades, will more than pay for themselves. Additionally, it will feel great knowing that you’re not reliant on the US electric power grid.

Additionally, if you provide company cars, consider switching to an electric fleet. Again, the initial investment might be larger upfront. But, your costs overall will decrease. Consider replacing each older vehicle as it becomes time with an electric alternative.

Light up the Boardroom

What lighting are you using within your organization? Now is the time to move away from typical office fluorescents and upgrade to LED lighting.

Switching to LED lighting isn’t just for your kitchen bulbs. Everyone can benefit from these powerful light bulbs that don’t use as much electricity as their older cousins. Regardless of if you’re a small business changing the light bulbs in the back storeroom or if you’re a large corporation switching thousands of lightbulbs across dozens of buildings, you will see an improvement in both replacement costs and energy use costs.

While you’re upgrading your lights to LED bulbs consider also switching to automatic or timed on/off switches. By keeping lights off while your offices are closed you can decrease your costs and energy usage by a considerable amount.

Go Paperless

How many reams of paper do your employees print every day? Do they need that much information saved on paper? How quickly does that information become irrelevant shortly after it’s been printed?

How often does your company purchase one pallet of paper reams? If you’re buying 20lb printing paper, this is roughly around forty cartons or one ton of paper. It takes roughly about 24 trees to makes this one pallet of paper you just purchased. Consider that the next time you order.

These are important questions to ask yourself and your team. By choosing to keep your information digitally, your team will find that they can reference their information quicker and update it more often than if they print the information. Encourage your team to keep their documents in a shared database such as Dropbox or MS Teams for easy reference digitally.

Educate and Empower

Give your employees the information they need to make smart decisions. Also, give them the power to make the right decisions based on this education.

When your team is working together towards a common goal you will see an increase in engagement in working towards decreasing your energy usage and waste. Collaboration amongst your employees will enable you to make a bigger impact than a strict top-down mandate to comply with any new program you create.

Sometimes we keep doing something just because it’s the way we’ve always done it. It’s not necessarily the best way and we might not even like the way we’re doing it. However, taking the time to figure out something new doesn’t ever seem to present itself with our never-ending to-do lists and scheduled meetings.

So, take the time to set up training for your team members around how your company can lower your footprint through small daily choices. Help them to learn new ways of doing things and new options available that will help your organization reach your environmental goals.

Offer Incentives

As you work hard to reach your goals, remember to involve your team. They are your number one asset in this endeavor to find ways to reduce carbon footprint and energy usage.

Offer incentives to employees who ride their bike to work or work remotely one day a week. You can eliminate carbon emissions as well as eliminate your need to provide endless amounts of parking with these two incentive programs. Additionally, you will find your employees enjoying a better quality of life as they implement these two programs.

As your employees work together to decrease your energy usage give them regular feedback on your progress. Encourage further participation in your initiatives and offer incentives when they do take part.

Reduce Travel

Do you really need to attend multiple conferences every year? Do your employees need to visit each location annually? Or would virtual visits provide the same information with lower travel costs?

Not only can you provide incentives to your employees to stay home while they work you can also eliminate the need for air travel by reducing the amount of company-mandated meetings and events. Virtual conferences have become popular with recent events, however, they don’t need to disappear in the future.

Zoom and Skype have revolutionized the corporate meeting environment. Utilize this great new development to decrease costs and reduce travel emissions. You can decrease the number of fossil fuels emitted that damage the environment every day. As more corporations get on board with this new virtual board meeting environment we will see significant changes over time.

Don’t Knock the Cliches

We’ve all heard the saying a million times, but at the end of the day, we can all benefit from remembering the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This system is still as effective as it always has been. From simple recycle bins to industrial waste disposal you can bring back the popularity of this cliche today.

These days companies are taking reducing their waste products to the next level. There are businesses that will help your company to responsibly reduce the amount of waste you produce. When you work with a company such as Hcienv.com that will help you responsibly dispose of any spill cleanup you have so that it doesn’t get into the surrounding soil.

Keep the area around your buildings clean so you can be a better steward of your community. As more businesses like you realize the importance of reducing their carbon footprint as well we can all work together to leave our planet a better place for future generations to come.

Reduce Carbon Footprint and Cut Emissions With These Key Initiatives

It is easy to think that one person or one business can’t make a big enough difference. But now you can see how simple choices can affect your carbon footprint. And when other companies see the effect you’re having as well as the savings you’re experiencing, they will follow suit as well.

Then your effect on the environment will be exponential as you positively influence others to make good choices for their companies.

Now you no longer have to wonder how to reduce the carbon footprint of your business on the environment. You now have a blueprint to follow to make smart choices going forward.

For more great information on this and other important topics check out the rest of our blog.