Personal Finance

Going Green in the Business World

Many big businesses have been advertising ways they are going green. This is a great strategy. Sustainability is a hot-button topic in today’s world with the constant pressure of rising global temperatures. Many people want to support businesses that are kind to the environment because they feel they cannot or are not doing enough for the environment on their own. Not only is going green good for your business’s press, but it is just a good thing for a business to do. Big businesses make the most pollution world-wide, but that means that they can make the biggest difference, too.

Going Green Saves Green

Going green can also save your company green. Various tax deductions are offered to businesses when they institute green practices. Depending on the type of business you run, such as a C corp vs S corp, you could save a good amount of money in taxes by changing small things in how your business is run. The more you change, the more tax deductions are available to you or your business. If you start immediately, you can achieve these deductions on next year’s tax return.

Start in the Workplace

A good place to start is making small changes in the workplace. Switching the light bulbs in your place of business or insulating your building to a higher degree can save money and electricity while helping the environment. There are plenty more small, green changes you can make in the factories or business places at your company to make a difference in energy consumption and global warming.

Think Recycling

Also, companies that produce products can bring recycled materials to make their goods. For instance, a restaurant could purchase 100% recycled utensils and carryout bags for customers. This would help the environment and encourage more purchases. Purchasing something sustainable just makes a customer feel good about the purchase and makes the customer more likely to come back in the future. There are a lot more examples from Forbes of companies making a facet of their company more sustainable and attracting a lot more customers. Any extra price for getting these items would soon be forgotten as more customers arrived to buy for the planet.

Ship Items Strategically

Finally, an easy way to help the environment out is to ship strategically. Some companies are beginning to hold an order until all the items are prepared and ship it together to save the gas and energy wasted on the second, third, or even fourth trip. In the past, the strategy has been to deliver whatever was ready to get the product to the customer as quickly as possible and get a good customer service rating. As people start to focus on global warming, they are much more open to waiting for their order. 

Companies could also wait until there is enough product to fill a truck to deliver to a specific place. For instance, if they have orders for Michigan, instead of driving a truck to the nearest shipping station and giving them new orders to ship every week, they could wait a month and do strategic shipping.

An Earth-Friendly Business

Still, some companies aren’t sold. Big business has a habit of focusing solely on money. One of the biggest issues customers have when interacting with businesses is how inhumane they are. They become blind to the customers that supported their rise to the top and forget about issues that matter to them, such as climate change. Now would be the perfect time for big businesses to practice their humanity, not just for the good press or increase of customers, but because it is the right thing to do. Changing business models to be more green and Earth-friendly is the right thing to do. Many customers would appreciate it.

Overall, there are plenty of ways to help the environment, and, big or small, all companies need to help out. To be frank, there is no way individual families working towards being more sustainable will be able to cause enough change when companies that produce and ship items every day contribute to waste, pollution, and energy consumption. Companies need to work towards change, not just to look good, but to do right by the environment.

Sweating the Big Stuff

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