We’re all concerned about our impact on the environment. We want to conserve energy and resources. We want to become environmentally responsible and avoid being wasteful because we feel a sense of social responsibility. In business, it just so happens that reducing the impact of our day-to-day operations can also save us time and money. That makes everyone a winner. Here are some tips for working more sustainably.
5 Tips for becoming an Environmentally Responsible Business
1. Recycle paper, ink, and toner supplies
When selecting a business equipment vendor, it’s important to consider whether they have a good recycling program in place. With landfills filled to capacity, it’s nice to know that our consumables can be reused, rather than thrown away. Not all equipment vendors and manufacturers recognize the importance of recycling their products, but recycling is perhaps the single most important thing you can do to reduce your business’s negative effect on the environment.
2. Keep a close watch on printing.
What if you had a tool at your disposal that could automatically intercept print jobs within your business and analyze them; applying rules to help enforce your print policies? Many businesses rely on their employees to make smart decisions about what they print. While everyone tries their best, this can still lead to expensive and wasteful printing practices. Think about the cost of operating your printers and copiers, then multiply that by the incredible amount of paper and toner they use each day. Implementing a solution that actively manages your print processes can not only save your business a lot of money but also reduce your business’s environmental impact by promoting more responsible usage.
3. Utilize the energy-save mode on your copier or printer.
The equipment we use in our offices each day consumes a lot of power. They are valuable tools that help us achieve great things, but there are things we can do to make sure we’re conserving energy whenever possible. Many new copier and printer models feature an energy-save mode, which puts your device to sleep after a period of inactivity. In many cases, there’s also a manual button that can be pushed after your print or copy job is completed to put it to sleep immediately. This allows your device to use less power and start back up in a matter of seconds when needed again.
4. Copy & print double-sided to save paper
If you think about it, you can actually reduce your paper consumption by HALF if you make double-sided printing a regular practice in your office. Paper is expensive so that’s no small accomplishment. It’s as simple as selecting the double-sided option when you print. You can even make double-sided printing the default in your print driver settings.
5. Digitize as many of your documents as possible.
What’s the best way to reduce the usage of paper and toner supplies? Print less. We all know that the documents we create are vital to the success of our business and that the hard copy will always have its place in the office – but printing documents can, at times, be the least efficient and cost-effective way to make use of them. When you implement a digital Document Management System, your important documents are stored electronically. This conserves resources and improves workflow and document distribution by making your documents easy to search and retrieve. At the same time, it increases security and reduces the threat of lost, stolen or damaged information.
