You may have felt the need to make your business go green, a personal effort to save the planet. One look at a solar panel bill must have put that ambition on hold, as there is no way a small business can afford that and remain profitable. That was then, and new advances in technology have made it cheaper and easier to transform your business. Read on for the top 6 technological steps you can take to make your business more eco-friendly.
1. Cloud Computing
Who says making your business green must happen onsite? The best way to make your business eco-friendly will happen away from your physical address, such as through cloud computing. Traditional computing requires physical computers at your business site, but you can run computer-based tasks from remote computers.
Apart from not having to buy expensive computers, cloud computing offers a ton of benefits, including:
- Reduced electricity costs
- No more computer updates
- Reduced paper usage, leading to less environment pollution
Real estate can benefit from it, since agents selling houses can have a centralized portal where they can list their properties. The health industry can use it to store patient data, which is handy because a health practitioner from any healthcare facility can simply log in and get a patient’s medical history.
2. Digital Signage
Digital signage involves using electronic displays to pass information or for advertising. Since the process of making a ton of paper releases 582lbs of air pollution, using digital signage eliminates the need for paper. Other benefits are:
- Update your message in real time
- Produce less waste in terms of printing, transporting, and disposing marketing campaign material
- Cost savings since once material is printed, it can’t be used again when there is a change in messaging
According to a 2014 report, 55% of consumers are willing to pay more for the goods or services of eco-friendly companies. Once people notice your company uses digital signage, they will know you are environmentally friendly and opt for your products.
3. Green Web Hosting
Website hosting involves saving your files on a cloud server, which is just a fancy name for a computer storage in a remote location. Since you will need your files on demand, whatever the time, the server provider must keep that computer running online 24/7 for 365 days a year. Most of the electricity used to power those computers uses fossil fuel. Small wonder the internet is rivaling the aviation industry in terms of carbon emissions.
One solution is green web hosting, where you use off-grid power or renewable energy sources to power the server. A more affordable solution would be to choose a company that offers green web hosting, such as:
- GreenGeeks
- iPage
- HostPapa
- DreamHost
- A2 Hosting
4. Telecommunication
There are different forms of telecommunication that are not only eco-friendly, but have made work easier. For instance, file sharing allows people to send work files in various formats instead of sending them a physical file. Video conferencing has made remote meetings possible, meaning people do not have to drive to work just to hold meetings.
Telecommunication has proved vital in the healthcare industry, since patients do not have to travel all the way to a healthcare facility to consult a healthcare giver. Medical practitioners can then exchange their information between colleagues or other medical facilities. Such practices create remote working possibilities, save money, and prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
5. Energy-Efficient Data Centers
You may not be a manufacturing business, but that does not mean you don’t pollute the environment. Your business may have a data center or maybe you have leased one and these require a lot of electricity that uses fossil fuel.
One way to reduce your carbon footprint is using energy-efficient data centers that do not use fossil fuel, using servers that draw little electricity, or using data centers that utilize renewable sources of electricity.
6. Remote Work
The pandemic has forced companies to resort to remote work to prevent its spread. There has been a 400% growth in the number of people who work remotely at least once a week since 2010. As always, there were teething problems come implementation. Companies soon realized they had to educate their employees on the tech needed to function, improve internet connectivity, and ensure they had the right equipment to perform their jobs.
Big companies like Twitter and Google have given their employees the green light to work from home till 2021. Most tech companies have no problem with their employees working at home. If anything, they have seen a 48.6% rise in productivity. Others are not so lucky, since it is impossible to work at home if you are in the manufacturing or service industry like hotel or construction workers.
If you want your business to be eco-friendly, there are a number of technological solutions you can try out such as telecommunication, green web hosting, and cloud computing.
