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You started a business, you care about the environment and the impact your company has on it, not what? Moving toward becoming an ecofriendly business sounds like a great plan, but many business owners are not sure how to make that happen. No matter what type of product you make or service you provide, there are ways you can make your business have a smaller negative impact on the environment. There are several different aspects of your business you can examine and change to create a more eco-friendly company. These are the three main areas of your business that you should examine to help you create an ecofriendly business. The first and most obvious place to start is you product or service. Reviewing every step of your production process and looking for ways to create a more eco-friendly product or service will go a long way toward creating a green business. At the most basic level, your business should comply with all of the environmental regulations in the area you are doing business. In most places in the United States, there are Federal and State regulations and in some places there are even local city ordinances in place. While at times it can seem like these regulations make it more challenging to do business, they are there to protect the local people and environment around your company. Complying with them will help create a lower risk environment for you, your investors, and your workers. Looking ahead and integrating above industry standards will help you stay in front of your competition and help you win the support of the public. Having an ecofriendly image for your company is much easier to sell than cleaning up a bad reputation. Institute clear regulations and work standards across the board at your company to ensure that all of the work being done at every location complies with the highest standards. Do not stop at making green products, encourage your employees and office staff to make ecofriendly decisions in their work and home lives. Empower all of your employees to make ecofriendly purchases if they are in charge of ordering supplies for you manufacturing and office needs. If you use printed materials like business cards or letterhead, order them from a company that is eco-friendly and uses recycled products. Set up a green office program that includes actions like creating a recycling plan for all your locations, converting your lighting to energy efficient bulbs, institutes a plan to turn off all electronics including computers when they are not in use and other energy conscious choices. Some companies even offer a bonus to employees who make the healthy and environmentally friendly choice to ride a bike to work. Finally, establish a long term plan for your company to invest in more energy efficient business practices. Things like remodeling your business or manufacturing locations to run on cleaner energy or building new facilities when you expand out of sustainable materials, can be part of a long term investment plan to keep your company going in an ecofriendly direction. Written by L. Reaves for Beacon Hill Associates, Inc., found at http://www.b-h-a.com - an environmental insurance broker and program administrator focusing on specialty insurance related to the environment and pollution.
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