6 Environmentally Friendly Business Practices Your Brand Should Consider

Julie Starr • December 11, 2020



Business owners are being challenged by public opinions and global legislative changes to practice environmentally friendly business cultures. As a result, the commercial viability of your company may depend on green transformation. In fact, 58% of customers are more likely to follow a brand if they know that the organization cares for the environment. Are you looking forward to embracing eco-friendly business development strategies but don’t know where to start? Here are five environmentally friendly business practices you should consider.

  • Practice green procurement

A simple way to adopt an environmentally friendly business culture is to practice green procurement. Consider your suppliers and find out who produces their goods sustainably. Order recyclable supplies that don’t contain substances that are potentially toxic to the environment. You can also decide to cut ties with suppliers who excessively package their goods with tons of plastic and other materials that aren’t eco-friendly. If you’re a procurement manager, it is smart to be mindful of your suppliers and their goods to screen for sustainable business partners. 

  • Use eco-friendly cleaning solutions

Traditional cleaning solutions may release toxic chemicals into the environment. These can also affect your employees’ health and hurt the planet. Conventional cleaning solutions can cause pollution in your business environment. Switching to eco-friendly cleaning products could place your organization on a straight path to success. Greener cleaning products can minimize air and water pollution and lower the risks of climate change and ozone layer depletion. By using environmentally friendly cleaning chemicals, companies can reduce the amount of waste in landfills. Green cleaning products are more sustainable as they use less packaging.

  • Use reusable office supplies

In the US alone, over 4 million pens are discarded per day, which is terrible for the environment. The solution to this problem will be to switch to reusable pens to limit their plastic waste. Reusable pens are refillable with new ink if they run out of fluid. Your organization can also cut down its production of paper waste by using tablets in place of sticky note pads. Additionally, encourage your staff to take notes electronically instead of using marker boards. Ask your team to keep track of your business materials to help you understand what products are being wasted and how to green your office space. 

  • Adopt green advertising strategies

Technology has made it easier to do virtually anything. With regards to eco-friendliness, technology allows eliminating the use of certain materials. For example, in advertising, you no longer need to print your message to get it across. You can use social media platforms to achieve that. Similarly, when conducting research or receiving feedback from clients to establish your marketing strategies, you can use platforms such as MaxDiff survey templates or Google forms. By launching eco-friendly marketing campaigns, companies can distinguish themselves as environmentally friendly business brands. These suggestions are practical as a large number of the world’s population uses smartphones.

  • Reduce vehicular emissions

It’s no longer news to say that the transportation sector is a heavy contributor to greenhouse gas production. In 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that emissions from road vehicles and commercial aircraft accounted for 29% of greenhouse gases in the environment. 2016 had previously seen even more shocking statistics — one American Community Survey found out that workers drove at least 115 million cars to work every day. Unfortunately, more oil-powered vehicles on the road mean more emissions. 

As a means of building a sustainable company, you can encourage your workers to use commuting options that reduce emissions. For example, you could start carpooling systems and subsidize transportation for your workers to use public transport instead of driving their own cars. The use of public transport saves travel time and minimizes fuel consumption in urban areas. You can also incentivize employees who walk or cycle to work every day.

  • Break the addiction to plastic convenience

Collectively, humans produce more than 300 million tons of plastic per year. You can help reduce that number by limiting your plastic waste usage and searching for alternatives. Recycling can help your business minimize waste, save more money, and contribute to a healthy environment. Perhaps the smartest decision you can make is to decrease the number of single-use water bottles and coffee cups in your work environment. Annually, the average office worker uses roughly 156 plastic water bottles and discards about 500 coffee cups. When your organization starts using reusable materials, you can limit your carbon footprint and decrease the volume of waste in landfills. 

The future of the planet and that of humanity hinges on sustainability. Therefore, consider going green.

5 Everyday Items That Can Quietly Boost Your Brand

By Julie Starr • July 17, 2025
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.

How Student-Led ‘Energy Audits’ Are Cutting School Costs (and Lighting the Way Forward)

By Julie Starr • July 14, 2025
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.