A happy March to you. With St. Patrick’s Day coming up, and our Go Green initiative,
this newsletter is going to be bursting with ideas for using the new Green ideas
to save your company money while helping the Earth.
Tip 1: If your office has a dishwasher, try to set up a schedule where everyone
washes everything at once. It saves water and energy if you run the dishwasher instead
of handwashing the dishes.
What does Go Green really mean? And more importantly, what does it mean to you and
your business? Going green goes beyond replacing incandescent bulbs with CFLs and
LEDs. It is a philosophy of reviewing how you do business, and what are ways that
you can better use resources.
Tip 2: Green Marketing has a tight strategy that reduces resources that are used.
Use social media to build up your relationships with people to bring in their business
and obtain referrals.
Do you have cute little key chains with your logo on it? Pens? Pencils? Magnets?
Do you think people really use them? If not, then perhaps it’s time to review your
marketing communications plans and look how you want to brand your company, and
how you want to get your brand out in front of people.
What would your customers really like? Maybe they want grocery bags with your logo
on it? The important idea to consider is to continue doing what is effective, stop
what isn’t, and look at ways that could be more effective at what you’re trying
to achieve. If you pass out paper and a cube of notepaper, look into cubes made
from 100% recycled notepaper.
Tip 3: If you have an area for a garden, plant flowers, and use the coffee grounds
as mulch. If you want to get really industrious, set up a composter. The new ones seal better and don’t smell. Put in coffee grounds and encourage employees to bring
in their veggie scraps and coffee grounds. When the compost is done, you can add
it around your landscaping for free fertilizer that will keep your plants greener
and healthier with less effort.
Tip 4: Look into getting a new roof put on the building (or discuss with the owner)
as there are tax breaks for choosing light colored steel roofs, not to mention the
reduced cost of air conditioning or heating.
Tip 5: Encourage people to re-use printer paper. If you printed out a draft on one
side, turn it over and print out another draft. Hopefully, your waste management
company has recycling set up. If not, have large bins available for paper, cans,
and bottles. Take turns bringing the material to a recycling center. If you get
money, save it up, and at the end of the year, you can vote to donate it to a charity
or have an office party.
Tip 6: Encourage carpooling or bicycling into work when appropriate.
Tip 7: Look for a local dry cleaner that uses green products. Then have a day where
the whole office brings in their dry cleaning, and rotate who brings it down, and
who picks it up. Ask for a volume discount. You’ll save money, and the environment.
One of the best ways to run a Green business is to shop locally and purchase as
much locally produced merchandise as possible. It saves on shipping costs and it
saves on the fuel used to transport the merchandise. Plus, you’ll be helping other
local businesses stay in business. And they will refer people to you improving your
ROI.
Next month, we’ll talk more about running a green business. Don’t forget our current
specials on setting up an email campaign to save on the cost of paper and postage
as well as our special on web hosting. Now is the best time to get your information
out there.
