7 Ways To Build An Eco-Friendly Parking Lot

Julie Starr • March 30, 2022



Many commercial buildings can benefit from having a parking lot for customers and employees. But have you considered the environmental impact that your parking lot could have? How you use the land for parking could affect the local ecosystem, your company’s carbon emissions and even the energy efficiency of your business. Below are just a few different tips for building an eco-friendly parking lot. 

Make room for trees and plants

While you may have limited land to turn into a parking lot, you should think twice before simply covering it all in asphalt. Allowing some room for trees, plants and grass will help to oxygenate the air and support local wildlife. This could be something as simple as growing a few bushes around your parking lot or planting a few trees around it. You may even be able to arrange your parking lot around any existing trees in order to preserve them. 

Opt for local gravel

A gravel driveway is generally more eco-friendly than an asphalt driveway as it relies mostly on natural or recycled stone. Some gravel companies import their stones from abroad, which of course does result in added carbon emissions. Using local gravel can help to reduce your company’s carbon footprint. You may even be able to take some from a local beach if you’re based near the coast. 

Opt for pervious concrete

 

Concrete and parking lot striping isn’t completely environmentally-friendly due to the way it is made, however, it is often made from natural materials, making it potentially greener than many synthetic surface options. One of the most eco-friendly forms of concrete to use is pervious concrete. This concrete allows water to pass through it. This can prevent puddles and flooding, as well as hydrating the earth below. This prevents the roots of plants around and in your car park from being starved of water. 

 

Seal your asphalt

Asphalt is often favored as a parking lot material because of its durability and affordability, however, it isn’t particularly eco-friendly. It does require less energy than concrete to produce but can produce VOCs (volatile organic compounds) which can pollute the air. Asphalt can be made more eco-friendly by sealing it. This preserves the life of asphalt for many years, reducing the need for repairs (which often requires extra transportation and production of asphalt). This could make it a greener investment than concrete. There are companies such as South Central Sealing and Paving that can install and seal asphalt for you. Any necessary repairs may be worth carrying out first. 

Use VOC-free paint

When it comes to painting your parking lot, it could be worth considering the type of paint that you use. A lot of paint produces high levels of VOCs, which are not good for local air quality. Fortunately, there are many paints nowadays that don’t produce these chemicals. Such paints may even be biodegradable. These are a much better choice for those that want to maintain an eco-friendly parking lot. 

Add EV charging stations

Electric vehicles are better for the environment than petrol and diesel engine vehicles. However, the lack of EV charging stations has put many people off from making the switch. Adding EV charging stations to your parking lot could be a great way of attracting and encouraging more EV users. Many places around the world now offer grants to businesses looking to install EV charging stations on their premises. In other words, you may be able to install a charging point for free. Think carefully about which bays to play chagrin stations in and signpost these clearly. This post features some information about where exactly to install EV charging stations in your parking lot. 

Install solar panel canopies

Solar panels are an eco-friendly source of power. They can also save owners money on their energy bills – instead of having to pay a supplier, you can rely on your own free electricity supply instead. Of course, they do cost quite a bit of money to install, however you’ll make your money back in the long run by not having to pay energy bills. Most businesses install solar panels on their property roof, however, there could be another option – installing solar panels in your car park. Solar panels could be added to the top of canopies, allowing cars to park in the shade while helping you to generate your own electricity. You could even use these solar panels to supply charging points with electricity. This Yale Environment 360 article goes into greater detail about why solar panel parking lot canopies are a good idea. 

 

5 Simple Ways to Make Your Online Business More Sustainable

By Julie Starr • August 9, 2025
Running an online business can feel like a constant balancing act. You’re trying to grow, keep customers happy, and still have time for yourself. The trick to making it all work long-term is to build habits and systems that last. You don’t need a complicated plan or endless resources to do it either. Here are five straightforward ways to make your business more sustainable without overcomplicating things. Focus on long-term customer relationships If you want your business to last, you need customers who keep coming back. That doesn’t just happen because you’ve got a good product or service. It’s about making people feel valued every time they interact with you. Simple things like remembering their name, following up after a purchase, or sending a quick thank-you email can make a huge difference. People are far more likely to support a business they feel connected to, so keep those relationships personal and genuine rather than purely transactional. Make your marketing work smarter A big part of sustainability is making sure your marketing isn’t draining your time or money. You want it to be efficient and get results. This is where working with seo consultants can help. They know how to make sure people can find your business online without you throwing cash at random ads. Even if you can’t hire someone right now, you can start by focusing on keywords, improving your website’s loading speed, and posting valuable content that answers the questions your customers are already asking. Streamline your products or services It’s tempting to try to offer everything to everyone, but that’s rarely a good idea. The more you offer, the more time, money, and resources you’ll end up using. Instead, focus on the things you do best and make them as good as they can be. When you streamline what you’re selling, you can put all your energy into perfecting it, which makes it easier to maintain quality over time. Customers notice when you consistently deliver something great, and they’ll trust you more for it. Keep an eye on your finances No matter how much you enjoy the creative or customer side of your business, the numbers are what will keep you going long-term. That means knowing what’s coming in, what’s going out, and where you can cut costs without cutting quality. Set yourself a monthly check-in to look at your spending and profits. If you spot something that’s not working financially, don’t leave it for months, hoping it will improve. Tackle it early and you’ll avoid bigger problems down the road. Look after yourself You can’t run a sustainable business if you’re running yourself into the ground. Burnout isn’t just bad for you, it’s bad for your customers and your bottom line. Make sure you’re setting boundaries, taking breaks, and switching off when you can. That might mean scheduling a full day without work every week or turning your phone off after a certain time. The more balanced you are, the better decisions you’ll make, and the easier it will be to keep your business moving forward without constantly feeling like you’re in survival mode. Sustainability in business isn’t about doing one big thing; it’s about making intelligent, consistent choices that build over time. Start small, keep checking in on your progress, and before you know it, your business will feel a lot steadier and more future-proof than it did before.

Sustainable Choices That Heavy Industry Businesses Can Easily Make

By Julie Starr • August 8, 2025
Are you hoping to build a heavy industry business? It’s the kind of company that can have globally sweeping positive and negative effects. On the one hand, you’re contributing to the industry, ensuring there’s enough supply to meet demand, and you can do your best to operate in a sustainable way that prioritizes the environment. But on the other hand, the heavy industry has long been the most significant business polluter in the world. Despite advancements in industry technology and usage, their ranking relative to other sectors, such as food and beverage , and shipping and logistics, has remained unchanged as of 2025. Requiring extensive use of large, heavy, and expensive machinery, the fumes produced by heavy-duty factories in sectors like mining, aerospace, nautical, and metal production regularly cause harm to both human and animal life. It’s why anyone interested in investing or scaling within an industry like this needs to focus on their company’s carbon footprint. There are various ways to ensure you’re limiting your harmful output and waste, and you’ll want to use as many as possible within your operation. Check out our recommendations below. Work with Green Suppliers No matter what stage you sit at in the hypothetical supply chain, you’re likely to source at least part of your overall production material from a supplier. If that’s not the case, you’ll still need to work with companies that provide machinery and equipment, as well as replacement parts for these industrial items. All in all, to make as sustainable a choice as possible, you’ll want to commit to working with a ‘green’ supplier who makes eco-conscious choices at every step. Eco-friendly suppliers will strive to both implement sustainable practices within their production line, as well as provide sustainably made and/or extracted materials. The products and/or parts they send out are likely to be recyclable when they reach their end-of-life period, or they’ll run a scheme where you can send old or broken parts back to them. Offset Your Carbon Emissions Offsetting carbon emissions converts the waste output from your operations into something more positive. If you’re interested in programs like this , you can use official government platforms or climate charity websites to contribute. You’ll be able to find a variety of projects that have been undertaken to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, and they’ll be located in various regions across the world. You can choose to patronise as many of them as you wish, but if you want to focus on specific types, you’ll also be able to do so. When approaching a program like this, it’s usually best to offset month by month, as this helps you stay on top of your carbon footprint. Be sure to invest in as much carbon removal per tonne as your business has potentially contributed to the atmosphere in the last month. But before you go any further, there’s one thing you need to keep in mind here: Carbon offsetting is just one sustainable practice you can turn to, but it’s not the only one your business will ever need to use. Yes, it’s one of the most sustainable practices a heavy industry business can invest in. But that’s only true when it’s partnered with real-time carbon-lowering efficiencies within day-to-day operations. Repair, Rather Than Throw Away Repairing is the best option if a repair is possible. This should be the first step when evaluating old or broken-down equipment. If it can be salvaged, it should be. Otherwise, you’ll have to replace the equipment in question. Not only is that expensive, but it also means more waste to manage. And not all heavy industry tech can be recycled. Sometimes it’s potentially hazardous and needs to be disposed of carefully, and this could have harsh impacts on the surrounding environment. Repairing is your best bet, at least 80% of the time. You can get back up and running faster, and you don’t need to account for a large investment at short notice. And more equipment can be repaired than you might think. It’s not just small, singular parts that can be pulled out. Entire internal systems in even large vehicles, such as freighter ships, can be replaced by secondary parts. A marine logistics provider or deep-sea fishing operator would save a lot of money just by ordering a Cummins Rebuild Kit for one of their vessels. Deciding to put the ship out of commission and eventually scrapping it will contribute to the large-scale waste common in companies like this. Aiming to repair and limit environmental damage will get that same boat back onto the waters in seaworthy condition. Operate with Lower Emission Logistics Shipping your products to businesses and markets always generates a carbon footprint. Unless you’re operating only within the local area and you’re able to transport products back and forth on foot, this is an unavoidable issue. And seeing as you’re a heavy industry business, that’s not very likely. But some shipping options are better than others. Indeed, there are low-emission choices to be made, and you’ll want to look into these logistic partners only. You’ll likely find that air travel is a total no-go zone. Alternatives to this are long-haul road transportation or a traditional shipping company that operates via sea. Yes, even trucking your products over land generates a lot less carbon waste that can damage the environment than flying something! Staying Green as a Heavy Industry Player Working sustainably within the heavy industry is a career-long project. You’ll need to continually make moves to consider what could be streamlined into something greener and less consuming next. In the end, this can help your long-term costs decrease and stay low. Fewer risky investments, fewer fees from environmental bodies, and more productive time within your business. So, it’s not going to be easy, but it will be worth it