With coverage of environmental damage, a huge topic in the media in the last few years, businesses are having to make big changes to their services and processes to become more environmentally-friendly. This is to be in compliance with new rules and regulations but also so that they can reduce their carbon footprint and improve brand reputation.

So, how are businesses changing their services and processes to reduce their environmental impact?

Energy Efficiency

Organisations in all industries consume a huge amount of energy to keep their business running. There are many ways that modern-day businesses can reduce their energy consumption, including:

• Switching to solar power
• Using energy-efficient appliances
• LED lightbulbs
• Insulation
• Behavioural changes (switching off machines when not in use etc)
• Walk/cycle to work schemes
• Carpools

Going Paperless

Another highly effective strategy for being more sustainable in business processes is going paperless. In addition to reducing paper usage and ink, going paperless can also reduce operating costs and improve efficiency as digitising documents can make everything much easier to find.

Sourcing Locally

When sourcing materials and supplies, opting for a local supplier is more environmentally-friendly because it means that there is much less travel involved but you should also try to find ethical and environmental-friendly suppliers in your area. This is also a good way of supporting the local economy.

Improved Logistic Services

Logistics plays an enormous role in many industries. Improving logistics services by finding the best and local couriers via companies like Parcel2Go can be environmentally-friendly by reducing time on the roads which can bring down the use of fuel - this can also be cost-effective from a business standpoint.

Green Fleets

Leading on from this, many businesses are now opting for green fleets in the form of electric or hybrid vehicles to make deliveries or simply as their business vehicles. This is an excellent way to reduce carbon emissions especially for businesses that rely heavily on automobiles. Electric car technology is constantly improving and there are now many different types of electric car available so you should be able to find one that suits your business’s needs. Electric cars can be costly upfront but you could make huge savings in the long run while also improving your brand reputation.

These are just a few of the ways in which modern businesses are taking action to make their processes and services more environmentally-friendly. It is important that businesses (and individuals) take action to reduce environmental impact even if it is just a small change. In addition to the environmental benefits, a company may find that there are a host of other advantages to making the above changes, such as reduced operating costs, increased efficiency and better brand reputation.