Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Going Green

During good economic times people tend to be more altruistic. Businesses and people alike do more to make an impact on the things which surround them. One of these differences is making a conscience effort to do more environmentally friendly activities. Although it is more difficult to partake in these sometimes more expensive activities during tough economic times, there are still green activities which can help your business to save money.

One way is to move from paper mail to email. These days you can pay most of your bills online without the hassle of having to dig up stamps and envelopes. This cuts down on waste while saving money. You can also send weekly specials to your customers through emails. With more people moving to an online environment you have the potential to broaden your client base.

Another way your business can go green is to start using an internet based fax service. Fax machines not only use paper when faxes are sent but will also print off a confirmation page when faxes are received. This can be a very costly piece of equipment between the paper usage and toner waste. It’s been estimated that if just one percent of all paper faxes sent in America each year were transmitted electronically, 73.5 million trees would be saved.

Finally, try to host meetings online when it is not necessary for all of the participants to be there in person. For a small price you can invest in camera equipment so you can still view body language and facial expressions. By meeting online you will help to reduce carbon emissions.

Becoming an environmentally friendly business does not have to cost a lot. With the right planning you can save money while doing something good for the environment.