The environment continues to be a hot topic for us all, in every walk of life. But what can you do to make your business greener, and will it really make a difference?

As with individuals recycling at home, no matter how small your business, there are some positive steps you can take which can make a real difference to the environment, without causing disruption to the way you work, and even potentially saving your business money.

No matter what type of service or product your business offers, it is affected by environmental legislation designed to ensure the impact of your business on the environment stays within acceptable limits. You need to make sure you are operating within the parameters of this legislation. For details on environmental legislation affecting your business, visit the Environment Agency website.

What are the benefits to my business?
There are many benefits to doing your bit for the environment by making your business as green as possible:

• Reduced waste and associated costs
• Lower utility bills
• More efficient processes
• Improvement to your business’ CSR 
• Feel-good-factor!

What can I do to make my business greener?
The steps you can take to make your business greener will depend on your business and the service it offers.

We’ve pulled together a short guide on the different elements you should look at if you want to become more environmentally friendly. It’s certainly not an extensive list, but we hope it gives you a starting point, and something to think about.


In the office 

• Do you use environmentally friendly utility companies?
• Are you wasting water through leaks, taps, or cisterns?
• Are you wasting electricity by leaving lights and non-essential devices on, out of hours?
• What recycling options do you offer your employees?
• Could you provide colour-coded bins for recycling?
• Could you provide glasses rather than plastic cups for use by employees?

Out and about 

• How do your employees travel to work and get to meetings?
• Is your workplace near to public transport links?
• Could they use a more environmentally friendly means of transport?
• Could they share transport, or have remote meetings instead?

Working with your customers 

• How do you report to clients or to colleagues within your business?
• Could you use electronic copies of reports rather than printed copies?
• What policies do you have to make your IT more environmentally friendly?
• Are your printers set to print double-sided?
• Do you encourage employees to turn off their PCs every night?
• Do you know how to recycle your IT equipment? (see our Q&A on Environmentally friendly IT )

Product design and manufacture 

• What does your business produce?
• Look at the different stages your product goes through in its lifecycle. Could its design be improved to help limit its environmental impact?
• Where are your raw or component materials sourced from? Could they be sourced more locally? What are your supplier’s environmental claims or credentials? 
• How is your product manufactured? 
• What fuels do you use?
• What are the waste products, and how are they disposed of? Could these waste products be reduced, or re-used? – speak to your local recycling centre or waste management contractor to find out which materials they can recycle.
• Could you improve the efficiency of its production?
• Is there any new manufacturing equipment that might be more environmentally friendly? 
• How is your product wrapped or displayed?
• Is there any excess packaging? – this not only increases raw materials for your business, but can increase transport costs too.
• What is the packaging made of? 
• How is your product transported?
• Is there a more environmentally friendly way of transporting it?

Envirowise offers advice on the government legislation that affects you, on recycling, plus more information, tips, and case studies on becoming a greener business.