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green business
March 2008 
Simple Ways Your Business Can Be "Greener"
Posted on Mar 27th, 2008
by 
jvmediadesign
jvmediadesign
Environmental issues and eco-friendly business practices are important to us at JV Media Design. Several years ago we made a conscious effort to, "reduce, reuse, & recylce" and we believe that it's not very difficult for other businesses to do the same.
Here are some quick tips on how your business can become more environmentally friendly, without too much effort or expense. These same principals can be applied to other areas of your life and home as well as your business.
Recycle
Recycling can take many shapes and forms. For instance, you can start purchasing recycled paper for your office machines such as printers, copiers, and faxes.
Recycled paper is now widely available at office supply and paper stores.
If you have a large office with many employees, set up recycling bins for soda cans, plastics, glass, and paper and find a nearby recycling service that you can take these items to.
When equipment or computers become obsolete, consider donating the items to a local charity or school (check out the Computers for Schools Program for instance) instead of setting them out by the dumpster (many computer items contain hazardous materials and should never just be thrown in the trash). When you upgrade your cell phones, be sure to recycle those as well. If you can't find a local drop off point, you can visit RecycleMyCellPhone.org.
If you need to upgrade your office furniture, consider purchasing used furniture or donating your old furniture.
Buy other recycled products (aka "post-consumer waste" products) for your business such as recycled paper towels, packaging materials and other supplies.
Offer or Ask For Alternatives
If your business involves manufacturing or the sale of products, explore environmentally friendly alternatives. Non-toxic, recycled, or organic alternatives are available. Often times, recycled materials can even be less expensive that new raw materials.
Even services companies like ours can offer alternatives. For instance, we offer eco-friendly printing (printing using recycled paper and vegetable based inks) to our clients as well as a web hosting alternative that is powered by wind and sun (renewable) resources.
Consider the Commute
Although not every business can be a home-based one, there are ways to reduce the effects of commuting on the environment.
If you have employees, try to organize a car pool. If you live close to the workplace, considering walking, riding a bike, or taking public transportation (in many large cities, some bus lines run on natural gas or electric).
Consider buying a TerraPass (http://www.terrapass.org) for yourself or your employees.
If you're in the market for a new company vehicle, look into purchasing a hybrid.
If you are part of a large company or corporation, try to institute breaking up the work shifts to help reduce the amount of traffic on the road at peak hours.
Go "Paperless" & Get Online[/b]
Make your office paperless by converting to electronic billing or invoicing, sending electronic faxes and email, and even selling online.
Having a website is an important marketing tool, but you can also offer your clients and customers a way to grab things like forms or documents online by having them on your website. You can also collect and store data by having a database programmed into your site and send your clients an electronic newsletter instead of a paper one.
Evaluate Your Environment
Can your business be using less power? Two simple ways to reduce power consumption is to install energy efficient lighting/light bulbs and to power down equipment or computers when they are not in use (weekends, evenings, holidays).
If you have a small business, considering opening windows and doors and using low-power fans instead of the air conditioning on warm days.
Large businesses and corporations in high-rise buildings can research becoming part of an energy management program such as The Energy Coalition (http://www.energycoalition.org) in California.
You can also help to improve your indoor air quality by using a hepa or ionic filter or even adding some live plants to your environment. More information on indoor air quality can be found on the Environmental Protection Agency website at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/is-imprv.html.
Get Involved
Consider researching and either volunteering or making a contribution to a non-profit environmental organization. A good place to start your research is CharityEvaluator.org (http://www.charitynavigator.org) and Give.org (http://www.give.org/reports/index.asp). Both sites can help you make intelligent decisions on finding and supporting charities.
Some of the environmental charity/non-profit organizations we support include:
Co-Op America (http://www.coopamerica.org)
The Conservation Fund (http://www.conservationfund.org/)
Environmental Health Coalition (http://www.environmentalhealth.org)
Coalition For Clean Air (http://www.coalitionforcleanair.org)
Sustainable Northwest (http://www.sustainablenorthwest.org/)
The Sierra Club http://www.sierraclub.org/
As you can see, "going green" doesn't have to be difficult and can make a big difference.
---
Article source: http://www.jvmediadesign.com
Here are some quick tips on how your business can become more environmentally friendly, without too much effort or expense. These same principals can be applied to other areas of your life and home as well as your business.
Recycle
Recycling can take many shapes and forms. For instance, you can start purchasing recycled paper for your office machines such as printers, copiers, and faxes.
Recycled paper is now widely available at office supply and paper stores.
If you have a large office with many employees, set up recycling bins for soda cans, plastics, glass, and paper and find a nearby recycling service that you can take these items to.
When equipment or computers become obsolete, consider donating the items to a local charity or school (check out the Computers for Schools Program for instance) instead of setting them out by the dumpster (many computer items contain hazardous materials and should never just be thrown in the trash). When you upgrade your cell phones, be sure to recycle those as well. If you can't find a local drop off point, you can visit RecycleMyCellPhone.org.
If you need to upgrade your office furniture, consider purchasing used furniture or donating your old furniture.
Buy other recycled products (aka "post-consumer waste" products) for your business such as recycled paper towels, packaging materials and other supplies.
Offer or Ask For Alternatives
If your business involves manufacturing or the sale of products, explore environmentally friendly alternatives. Non-toxic, recycled, or organic alternatives are available. Often times, recycled materials can even be less expensive that new raw materials.
Even services companies like ours can offer alternatives. For instance, we offer eco-friendly printing (printing using recycled paper and vegetable based inks) to our clients as well as a web hosting alternative that is powered by wind and sun (renewable) resources.
Consider the Commute
Although not every business can be a home-based one, there are ways to reduce the effects of commuting on the environment.
If you have employees, try to organize a car pool. If you live close to the workplace, considering walking, riding a bike, or taking public transportation (in many large cities, some bus lines run on natural gas or electric).
Consider buying a TerraPass (http://www.terrapass.org) for yourself or your employees.
If you're in the market for a new company vehicle, look into purchasing a hybrid.
If you are part of a large company or corporation, try to institute breaking up the work shifts to help reduce the amount of traffic on the road at peak hours.
Go "Paperless" & Get Online[/b]
Make your office paperless by converting to electronic billing or invoicing, sending electronic faxes and email, and even selling online.
Having a website is an important marketing tool, but you can also offer your clients and customers a way to grab things like forms or documents online by having them on your website. You can also collect and store data by having a database programmed into your site and send your clients an electronic newsletter instead of a paper one.
Evaluate Your Environment
Can your business be using less power? Two simple ways to reduce power consumption is to install energy efficient lighting/light bulbs and to power down equipment or computers when they are not in use (weekends, evenings, holidays).
If you have a small business, considering opening windows and doors and using low-power fans instead of the air conditioning on warm days.
Large businesses and corporations in high-rise buildings can research becoming part of an energy management program such as The Energy Coalition (http://www.energycoalition.org) in California.
You can also help to improve your indoor air quality by using a hepa or ionic filter or even adding some live plants to your environment. More information on indoor air quality can be found on the Environmental Protection Agency website at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/is-imprv.html.
Get Involved
Consider researching and either volunteering or making a contribution to a non-profit environmental organization. A good place to start your research is CharityEvaluator.org (http://www.charitynavigator.org) and Give.org (http://www.give.org/reports/index.asp). Both sites can help you make intelligent decisions on finding and supporting charities.
Some of the environmental charity/non-profit organizations we support include:
Co-Op America (http://www.coopamerica.org)
The Conservation Fund (http://www.conservationfund.org/)
Environmental Health Coalition (http://www.environmentalhealth.org)
Coalition For Clean Air (http://www.coalitionforcleanair.org)
Sustainable Northwest (http://www.sustainablenorthwest.org/)
The Sierra Club http://www.sierraclub.org/
As you can see, "going green" doesn't have to be difficult and can make a big difference.
---
Article source: http://www.jvmediadesign.com
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