10 Low-Cost Ideas to Green Small Business CSR Business Initiatives

We are all generally more eco-aware during Earth Month and in business that translates into re-evaluating our green CSR business initiatives. As I wrote in a previous post, that awareness was a little heightened for us this year as it coincided with the compilation of our first Sustainability Report. Now that we are in the final stages of completing that report, we are preparing to action our goals leading to our next reporting year.

As a small business, we can’t compete with the grand gestures of larger corporations as we are limited by funds, resources and influence in comparison but that doesn’t mean the changes we make are not just as valuable. Small businesses shouldn’t be discouraged from changing what is within their means because it seems trivial.

A survey conducted in February 2012 by Office Depot Small Business Index of 1,002 small to medium-sized businesses revealed that 61% of the respondents are actively looking for ways to be greener and that 70% of them are also anticipating going green within the next 2 years. This encouraging research also revealed that there are several general concepts that small businesses accept as being indicative of going green and these include (% of respondents confirming how they are going green included in brackets): Recycling more (82%); Reducing waste (72%); Buying energy efficient products (61%); Buying recycled products (60%); Seeking non-toxic products (43%); and Reducing water use (39%).

Balancing business needs and goals with making sustainable choices can be challenging and the respondents cited the main obstacles as being cost (39%), lack of options (21%) and quality (13%). It’s no surprise that cost was a key concern considering the International Energy Agency estimated going green at a worldwide cost of $45 trillion :

1. Go as paperless as possible being mindful when printing an email, document or report is really necessary. When possible, print double-sided and in black and white. Keep a running count of the pages you print off – it’s just like calorie counting. You’ll be more cognizant of your consumption.
2. Activate your computer’s standby/sleep/hibernate settings to reduce energy when not in use and power it off completely at the end of each work day
3. Power down all other electronics when not in use. Take it a step further by unplugging them which will save additional energy
4. Eliminate all disposable dishes, cups and utensils and stock a communal set of dishes, drinking glasses and cutlery in the staff lunch room.
5. Lower your thermostat in the winter and raise it in the summer by 1 to 2 degrees. Every degree represent a 5% reduction in use.
6. Encourage packing a lunch and going Meatless one day per week! It will save you time, money and the environment as abstaining from meat for one day only will reduce your carbon footprint by 28.5%.
7. Ban plastic water bottles and provide staff with reusable water bottles and filtered tap water.
8. Encourage taking public transit or carpool amongst coworkers.
9. Switch to energy efficient lighting fixtures that use T5 fluorescents bulbs rather than traditional fluorescents.
10. Use green, toxin-free cleaning products.

These small acts are a great way to start to build your sustainability and they won’t break the bank. Even though Earth Month is drawing to an end we need to carry it over to the other eleven months of the year and live every day like it’s earth day. Through consistent attention, education and awareness effective change will come one small act at a time.

What low-cost green initiatives have you incorporated into your small business?

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional professional fundraising including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.