If you run a business and are concerned about the impact your operations may be having on the planet, here are two steps you can take to make your enterprise more eco-friendly.
Make it easy for your employees to recycle
Most of your employees probably understand the importance of recycling the waste that they generate throughout the course of each workday.
However, if you fail to provide them with easy access to a recycling bin (for example, if the main recycling bin is located outside your commercial building), they may end up tossing recyclable rubbish into your office's standard refuse bin instead, simply because it is too time-consuming to go outside every time they need to dispose of a piece of cardboard or some papers.
Similarly, if you don't have any composting container in your staff canteen, your employees will have no other option than to toss their food waste into the standard refuse bin.
As such, if you care about the environment and want to minimise the impact your employees' day-to-day activities have on it, it's worth investing in several recycling bins for your office and at least one composting bin for your staff canteen. This investment could drastically reduce the amount of waste that your business contributes to local landfills.
Don't throw your old electronics into a landfill
Most businesses use a wide range of electronic goods, including computers, laptops, e-tablets, printers, scanners and photocopiers. Because these items are used with great regularity, most have quite a short lifespan and need to be replaced quite frequently.
Tossing these old electronics into a landfill can have an incredibly negative impact on the environment. Items such as PCs and laptops often contain toxic substances such as cadmium, lead and mercury. When these electronic goods are left in a landfill, these substances can eventually begin to seep into nearby soils and bodies of water. This can lead to the poisoning of both plant and aquatic life.
Given this, it is essential to take an eco-friendly approach to the disposal of your business' electronic items. When you find yourself with a device that your office no longer needs, take it to your local ewaste recycling centre.
This type of recycling centre will have specialist equipment that is designed to break apart the device and remove any components that can be reused or repurposed. Any remaining plastic, glass or metal pieces will then be separated and recycled.
