Earth Day (held every April since 1970) raises awareness of environmental concerns. The media is full of related information and has us all thinking about how we can improve our environment.
SOS (Success on a Shoestring) tips are all about saving and making money, and “Going Green” fits that concept perfectly. As entrepreneurs and small business owners, we are a perfect example of people who can make small changes that have a big impact.
1. If you need furniture for your office/business, check out great desks, chairs, filing cabinets, lamps, and other office supplies at Goodwill or Habit for Humanity Re-Stores. No packing material is used for shipping, you contribute to a good cause and this recycled office furniture does not end up in our landfills.
2. If you provide water in your office for customers/employees to drink, consider using filtered water jugs and paper cups instead of individual plastic water bottles. Paper cups take 2-4 weeks to break down in a landfill; Plastic bottles take approximately 1,000 years to biodegrade. The average American throws away enough plastic bottles in a year to build a chain of plastic around the world.
3. If your customers drink coffee or hot beverages, consider providing them with attractive ceramic mugs or mugs. They are easy to put in the dishwasher and add a touch of class to your business. Find them cheaply at Goodwill or the Habit Re-Store. Styrofoam cups never biodegrade and will be in our landfills forever.
4. Buy small fans to use in each room. Fans make you feel cooler and you can set the air conditioning thermostat 5-7 degrees higher and still feel comfortable.
5. Set up an attractive recycling center for cans, bottles and paper in your business by using colored plastic or wicker baskets that don’t take up a lot of space. Call it the “Green Corner”.
6. Send and receive your invoices by email. Save time, paper, stamps and the back of your postman. PayPal has a good service for sending and receiving payments. Go to http://www.paypal.com.
7. Replace your regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). They use 66% less energy than a standard incandescent bulb and last up to 10 times longer, saving you time changing bulbs. Replacing a 100-watt incandescent bulb with a 32-watt CFL can save $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb. Packs of 6 or 8 CFL bulbs are the best way to buy and are sold at Lowe’s or Home Depot.
Here’s to more “Green” in every way, for all of us.
Please let me know how these tips work for you.
More SOS tips are posted on my website.