Excluding a few skeptics, most people and companies are conscious that we’re facing a global environmental crisis and that human activity is largely responsible for it. Carbon emissions have been a hot topic for many years, with various groups suggesting solutions. Still, one of the best ways to start curbing this trend is by making sure that industries make decisions that work towards reducing their carbon footprint and negative impact on the environment. This can be done by making a few changes to their organization. Here are a few ways businesses can reduce their carbon footprint in pallets manufacturing.
Check Where their Supplies Are Sourced From
Making sure that your supplies are sourced sustainably is essential if you’re serious about reducing your carbon footprint. Take something as simple as pallets for instance. Millions upon millions of pallets are manufactured, sold, and wasted every year by pallet suppliers near me. Pallets use up a lot of the wood harvested from American forests every year, and chances are that, if you run a search for ‘pallet suppliers near me’, many companies supply pallets that are not sourced responsibly.
However, products like GreenBlock use up a fraction of the amount of wood that would be required to build a regular pallet. So, if your business is environmentally aware, you should start looking for pallet suppliers near me that carry GreenBlock pallets. Not only does it take 50% less wood to make a GreenBlock pallet compared to a regular one, they’re much lighter, too. This also has a convenient effect on the amount of fuel needed to transport them. So, make sure that you speak with pallet suppliers near me, and ask them where and how they source their products.
Go Agile
By making it easy for your workers to work remotely, you also reduce the amount of commuting they have to do, which ends up reducing their carbon footprint.
There are many tools that you could use to make your office more agile. One of the things you could do is look for Kanban software. Kanban is a system that was created by Toyota that uses a simple but efficient system of note cards to monitor work in progress and allow teams to work more efficiently. With a Kanban board, each member of the team can see which tasks are at each point, and what needs to be done in priority.
Advanced online Kanban tools make it easy to delegate tasks to team members and allow them to work without having to constantly report to you or go to the office. The less moving your employees do, the better it is for the environment. And it could also boost the morale of those who value more autonomy.
Limit Food Waste
Did you know that food waste accounts for as much as 8% of total greenhouse carbon emissions? Food waste occurs at virtually every stage of food production and consumption and is a huge planetary issue.
However, you don’t necessarily have to be in the agro business or own a food business to reduce food waste. One simple thing you could do is collect food scraps and compost them. Not only will you reduce the amount of potential harmful fertilizers you’ll be using, but you’ll also be able to reduce the amount of waste your business produces. Also, consider only sourcing the food in your cafeteria from local sources or services that do this. This will also make a difference.
Monitor Your Energy Use
A lot of a business’s carbon emissions boil down to the energy they use. And, in most cases, there are many things that businesses can do to reduce it. For one, if your business is still reliant on incandescent bulbs, you should switch to less wasteful options like CFL or LED lights. Not only do they consume less energy, but you’ll be able to make huge savings if you replace all of your lightbulbs. They also last far longer than incandescent bulbs.
Another thing you could do is look at heat recovery technology. Heat recovery units use hot air produced by your heating to heat cold air coming in your facility and use cool air from your HVAC system to cool hot air coming in the summer. This maximizes the efforts of your heating and HVAC, allowing you to save energy.
Make sure that you get employees involved and that you watch their habits as well. Make sure that they shut down all computer screens and towers when they leave. Also try to consider primarily using laptops in your office as they consume a lot less energy on average than regular PCs.
You should also look at where you get your energy from. One thing you could do is work with an energy supplier who sources their energy from renewable sources. While it may cost you a little bit more, you’ll at least have the peace of mind of knowing that you’re doing your part.
Get Serious About Recycling
You should recycle as much as you can in your business, or reuse items when possible. Also make sure that you buy recycled materials when possible, too. People often overlook the correlation between waste and carbon emissions, but landfills are one of the planet’s biggest producers of methane, which is one of the many elements contributing to the greenhouse effect.
So, the less waste you generate, the smaller your total carbon footprint. Ensure that you have a comprehensive and far reaching recycling scheme and make sure it is easy for your employees as well.
One thing you could do is work with a company like First Mile that will actually be able to recycle and reuse most of your recyclable waste. We specify that because “recycling” companies too often just end up shipping your material to other countries where it ends up piling up. So, it’s important that you go with a company that actually uses the material you send them. They also offer very affordable plans, so we strongly suggest you give them a call and see what they can do for you.
Limit the Amount of Printing You Do
You should also work towards using as little paper as possible in your business. Many offices still consume tons and tons of paper, and this could be easily reduced simply by limiting the amount of printing that goes on.
Try to digitize your actions as much as you can. This could be done by digitizing contracts, making annotations and viewing documents on screen. Also, avoid printing presentations and emails as much as possible. If you absolutely have to do some printing, however, always make sure that the double-sided option is selected and you will halve the paper used. You should also consider digitizing important documents and move to a digital storage system instead, which will not only reduce the amount of paper you use, but will make your documents much easier to organize and retrieve.
Conclusion
Reducing your carbon footprint is all about making concrete structural changes in your organization and committing to them. Not only will you be able to make an impact on the environment, but attract clients with the same eco-friendly ideals.