Can You Truly Take Tech To The Green Side?

Julie Starr • January 26, 2022

When it comes to sustainability in business, digital technologies are often painted as the bad guys. Certainly, the fact that the internet alone is responsible for as much as 3.7% of global greenhouse emissions is enough to make any ethically conscious company shudder. Unfortunately, with online activity now essential for success, even businesses that are aware of this often high cost of tech usage have no choice but to invest. 

Of course, sustainability focuses like ethical energy usage can go a long way towards offsetting this damage, but there’s still a lot of ground to cover before it’s possible to even come close to limiting the damage created this way. Hence why, for green-minded businesses, something called sustainable technology is increasingly becoming a pressing focus.

As well as referring to the most sustainable sourcing of energy reserves, this term has largely come to refer to technology that provides environmental good. This sustainable focus can both reduce the amount of technology being used and, hopefully, offset the damage created by residual digitizations. Keep on reading to find out just a few of the most pressing sustainable technology focuses currently making that possible.

# 1 – Automating unnecessary processes

Automation is responsible for a great many of the sustainable focuses that we’ll be discussing here, but it deserves a mention of its own because automating even unrelated in-house processes can make a huge difference to energy outputs. Targeted solutions like automated process discovery that specifically highlight weak points in a company’s digital infrastructure can especially help to eliminate time-consuming and eco-damaging tech-led processes. Furthermore, automation significantly reduces the time each team member must spend in front of a computer, which can lead to significantly more time spent on eco-focuses including sustainable practices, eco-collaborations, and general environmental good. All because of the implementation of a technology that you previously dismissed for being as bad as the rest. 

# 2 – Sourcing supply chain improvements

As can be seen from the implementation of certain technologies such as shelf-canning robots and built-in sensors by companies like Walmart , technology that helps with the management and simplification of general supply chain processes can also make a huge difference from an environmental standpoint. Again, this is in large part thanks to reducing the need for far lengthier tech-led manual processes for the same purpose. However, the ability of this technology to significantly reduce supply chain wastage is perhaps its main selling point. This is especially evident in Walmart food chains, where self-led technology has significantly reduced food waste with a positive environmental impact when paired with general reductions in output, largely offsetting any energy that these technologies require to function in the first place.

# 3 – Seeking more sustainable solutions

Generally speaking, sustainable solutions such as collaboration and energy sourcing , etc. are limited to things like word of mouth recommendations, or the options that are closest to your company location. However, by providing simplified access to far wider-reaching sustainable solutions, internet usage, in particular, can lead to significant improvements elsewhere in your company. This is going to be difficult to justify if members of your team spend hours on the internet seeking sustainable partnerships of this nature, but targeted, limited searching for the right companies to work with can make a huge difference to processes overall. From changing energy suppliers to ensuring partnership with a more eco-friendly delivery service, well-chosen searches of this kind can more than make up for the energy usage they cost in the first place. Offsetting energy consumption with automation, in general, can especially afford you the energy usage needed to enjoy this benefit without compromising on your green standing in general.

# 4 – Using tech for social good

Outside of making certain sustainable business practices possible , it’s also important to note that a generalized focus on using technology to do environmental good can also largely justify the energy needed to make them possible in the first place. Social media campaigns like those seen from companies like Ford are a prime example of this, with this otherwise necessary aspect of digital marketing operations being targeted towards direct environmental good. From petitions to fundraising campaigns and beyond, taking social good online can certainly help to see tech doing more environmental good than it does damage over time.

Sustainable technology may be a step away from everything you’ve learned, but the reality is that it isn’t difficult to both offset digital damage and find a positive way around it when you keep these unique, and importantly green, approaches in mind. 

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.