From Guest Blogger Romeo Demes: Five Ways to Make Your Business Greener – The Guide For Eco-Friendly Business Owners

Adopting eco-friendly practices is one of the most strategically important decisions a business can make. Apart from saving the environment, becoming greener can reduce business costs and even improve the business’ standing in the eyes of customers and potential customers. As such, it can make a business more profitable, efficient and competitive.

However, most business owners are reluctant to go green because they imagine it would be expensive. This could not be further from the truth. Adopting greener practices actually saves costs. If you are a business owner, you can take the following actions to make your business greener or more eco friendly.

Eco-Friendly Lighting

The simplest way of becoming greener is by adopting eco-friendly lighting. This basically means switching from incandescent lighting to more efficient alternatives such as compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) or Light Emitting Diode (LED). These types of lights are more eco-friendly because they consume less energy. They also produce more light and last much longer than incandescent lights. Therefore, using such lights can not only make your business eco-friendlier, it can actually save you money in energy costs. Some estimates place the money saved at up to $200 per light source. You can use that extra money to expand the business.

Alternative Energy

There are a number of companies which currently provide “green power”. Such power is generated using renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal and biogas. These sources are much cleaner than contemporary power sources like coal and petroleum. You can therefore make your businesses greener by using such alternative energy for powering your office or factory. Although such energy resources tend to be slightly more expensive than the inefficient sources, the positive PR it generates can drive sales which can more than offset those extra charges.

Green Equipment and Gadgets

There are a number of appliances, gadgets, equipment and vehicles which are certified as “greener”. These include electrical appliances which are manufactured using eco-friendly processes. They also include equipments or gadgets which are either made out of materials which are either bio-degradable or recyclable. There are also vehicles like hybrid vehicles which emit less carbon dioxide into the environment. By opting you use such appliances, equipment or vehicles during your business operations; you can make your business greener.

Green Web Hosting

In today’s world, not having a website for your business or product is like not existing at all. All good businesses have their own space on the internet – their website, which is an important part of every successful business. This way is perhaps the easiest way by which a business can become more eco-friendly. There are many web hosts which provide green web hosting services for your business website. Popular environmentally conscious companies like HostGator in Texas run their servers using renewable energy sources rather than fossil fuels. Another example is WMD hosting in Europe who engages in environmentally friendly activities such as tree planting. The advantage of using such green web hosting is that it costs as much as and sometimes even less than services which use fossil fuels. Therefore, using green web hosting can make a business more eco-friendly while potentially saving costs.

Adopting Energy Saving Practices

There are some simple practices which a business can carry out to reduce on the energy consumption. An example is turning off equipment such as computers, machinery or lights when they are not in use. Another is using heating or cooling systems only in rooms which are being used. Such practices can reduce the energy consumption of a business, thus reducing energy costs while making the business more eco-friendly.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, those are a few steps you can take to make your business greener. They can be carried out irrespective of the size or location of your business. By deciding to become greener, you can not only protect the environment, but also become more competitive. Ultimately, making your business eco-friendly can be the one thing which distinguishes you among your competitors, thereby giving you the much desired competitive edge.