The Benefits of Going Green

Article by:
Frank Vega
EO Houston

Want to cut costs in business? Try going green! I run a newspaper-subscription service, and we recently made some changes to offset our carbon footprint. What started out as a fun way to help the earth turned into a project that increased our operational efficiencies, saved us money, motivated employees and fostered a more collaborative office culture? Here are some of the key things we did:

  • We cut one quarter of our paper costs by encouraging employees to print only when necessary, and to use the backs of printed sheets as scratch paper.
  • We installed a faucet-mounted water filter in the break room, which drastically cut our need for water-cooler jugs.
  • We installed recycling bins in our break room for plastics, aluminum and paper packaging.
  • We implemented a paper-recycling program to ensure all of our paper waste is being put to good use.
  • We made the switch to reusable dishware.
  • We switched to recycled toner cartridges and started recycling our pens.
  • I bought rechargeable batteries for all employees.

In the beginning, I anticipated a lot of staff resistance to these changes. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that going green generated a lot of energy among our employees. All in all, I’ve been pleased with the results of the measures we’ve put in place, and I encourage others to consider implementing green practices for better business.

Frank Vega is the owner of Newspaper subscription services lP/ green Business Bureau. E-mail Frank at vega@nsslp.com.

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