More people are becoming mindful of their wastefulness and their own carbon footprint. Businesses should be no different. Over the years, our deteriorating environment has brought our attention to the changes that need to be made, not only in our personal lives but in our work lives too. What has become apparent is that things need to change and quickly.
Businesses have a huge impact on the environment; therefore, to encourage sustainability, they need to rethink their strategies and processes to ones that help reduce the company’s carbon footprint.
What is a carbon footprint?
A carbon footprint is an environmental measure of the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by a person, organisation, product or country.
Steps to decrease your business carbon footprint
Reduce energy use
Energy is the biggest contributor to the carbon footprint of a company. It can often account for up to 50% of their entire carbon footprint and is, therefore, the area in which the biggest changes can be made.
To reduce the amount of energy used simply actions can be done, such as switching off all lights, computers and equipment at the end of the workday. Energy-efficient lightbulbs can be installed in the office as they used a lot less energy than normal light bulbs. Companies can also look at switching to a renewable source of energy as a way of significantly decreasing their energy usage.
Become paperless
Around 50% of waste from companies is comprised of paper. Therefore businesses need to look at reducing the amount of paper used, if not getting rid of the use of paper all together. With all of the tools and technology at our fingertips, there is no need to keep paper records anymore. Therefore, by moving to electronic documentation, businesses can reduce their waste by 50%.
With experienced auditors in more than 65 countries and across all business sectors, DQS South Africa is your one-stop-shop for business solutions. Our holistic approach integrates assessments, audits, certifications, inspections and evaluation in order to guide organizations toward sustainable success. Let’s make it happen!
Implement a reduce, reuse, recycle strategy
A reduce, reuse, recycle strategy is a simple but effective strategy for reducing a business’ carbon footprint. This means that businesses need to reduce the waste produced by the company. Therefore strategies need to be put in place to ensure that the company as a whole produces less waste.
One of the ways to do this is to implement the reuse strategy by providing reusable products in the office, for example, coffee cups, plates and containers. This will, therefore, reduce waste as people will not bring in disposable cups, plates and bags that contribute to the overall waste of the business.
The recycle strategy is easy to implement. Businesses can put out different bins for different recyclable materials. For example, plastic, paper and cans. These bins should be easily accessible and should be around the office. This, therefore, encourages employees to dispose of recyclable waste in the proper manner. It also reduces the waste of the company as all the recyclable waste the company produces will be responsibly recycled.
DQS South Africa is your local business solutions partner, offering solutions that work for your sector. We form part of an international network dedicated to ensuring compliance and business conformity. For any questions about our services or to contact us, please visit dqs.co.za.
