Ensuring that your office is environmentally friendly is more important than ever before. Not only can adopting a greener approach to trading be good for the environment, it can also help to improve your public image – and that is always good for business.

Nobody likes to see a business that doesn’t act responsibly with the environment in mind, and as more and more companies around the world look to become more environmentally friendly we can continue to make a real difference.

You may be thinking about making your office environmentally friendly, but if you don’t have much experience in the area it can be difficult to think about where you should start. We have got you covered; in the following paragraphs we’ll outline everything you need to know about making your office a much more environmentally friendly location.

Invest in an air curtain

Using air curtains are a far more environmentally friendly way of heating and cooling your office. They release far less emissions than traditional systems and are often much cheaper to run.

Ultimately by using air curtains you’ll not only be reducing your carbon footprint but you’ll also see a noticeable difference in your monthly utility bills. It really is a win-win situation for any office-based business.

Recycle where possible

Another easy way to make your office environmentally friendly is to recycle. Landfills up and down the country are literally bursting at the seams and certain materials leak toxic waste into our soil. This can have potentially detrimental effects to water supplies and much more. Furthermore, some landfills opt to burn waste and this leads to highly toxic gases being released into the atmosphere.

With this in mind it is essential that you make an effort to recycle where possible. Everyday office items like paper, milk cartons and coke cans can all be recycled and used again. This way our waste is re-purposed rather than just chucked in the landfill and you will be greatly reducing your carbon footprint in the process.

Only print when necessary

Have you ever printed something when you could have simply read it on your computer screen? We all have!

Make a conscious effort to only print where necessary.

Reduce waste

Here is another straightforward way to ensuring your office is environmentally friendly. Make an honest assessment of the amount of waste that your business produces and identify where you are creating more waste than you need to.

A common example of unnecessary waste is through using disposable polystyrene cups for the water cooler. After each drink someone will chuck away their cup and take another, add this up over a month and you’ll see that your business is producing a bulk of unnecessary waste.

Would it not make much more sense to invest in glasses and mugs that can be reused? You’ll instantly see that your business produces far less waste through making such a change.

Turn off electronics

Electricity is a major expense for offices, especially if your employees go home and leave their computers on overnight. Just by turning off computers and lights when they are not in use you’ll be able to greatly reduce the amount of energy that your business consumes.

Not only will this help you to become a greener company but you’ll also save a great amount of money on utilities each month, especially if you have a number of employees who tend to be quite wasteful when it comes to electronic devices.

Spread the word

Its all well and good making the efforts to become environmentally friendly in the workplace but only through the masses can we make a great difference. Therefore it is essential that you spread the word and inform your customers and suppliers of what steps you have taken to become a greener business.

No change is too small, and even doing something simple like recycling paper can make a big difference if we can get a number of businesses to do it.