Eco-Friendly Ideas for Your Interior Design Business

Julie Starr • December 18, 2021



Have you heard about eco-friendly movements? Are you looking for ways to integrate environmentally sustainable practices into your business? Are you interested in creating a more sustainable footprint with your interior design business?

Your interior design business undoubtedly does enough good for many people. However, you can as well extend this help to the environment. Taking the smallest of changes in your business structure can help to reduce the negative impacts on the environment. Below are a few ways you can infuse your business systems and design processes with eco-friendly efforts:

Sustainable Sourcing

Consider some factors when looking for sources for eco-conscious products. These factors include but are not limited to low-impact production, the use of non-toxic or upcycled materials, and ethical manufacturing. Furthermore, source vintage pieces and include recycled or reused materials whenever possible. 

Reach out to and work with companies committed to environmentally sustainable design. There are many good options for sourcing finishes and products for your business. Be sure to source them from eco-conscious companies that offer several products like eco-friendly fabric . Moreover, work with vendors that invoke your aesthetic and utilize them when sourcing products for your clients.

Digitize Your Business

Start by moving all your files and client proposals to a digital space. Doing this will reduce clutter in your office space and minimize the need to use paper for filling and writing proposals. In the same vein as all your client proposals, creating digital media kits is also a good idea. Here, people like the media, investors, potential clients, and others can find information about your business. You can also invest in digital databases and other relevant software.

You can also create a user-friendly website for your business where clients can book and make orders for your services online. Again, you will help reduce the use of paper. 

Additionally, create design presentations with sustainability in mind. Do away with printing images and creating a traditional mood board. Instead, create interactive PDFs with options like hyperlinks and present them on an iPad.

Rethink Your Install Day

Your install day probably comes with lots and lots of boxes that eventually end up in a landfill. You can help lessen the impact on the environment by utilizing old boxes to repackage all the items for install day. Alternatively, you can invest in reusable containers that you can use for all your client installs. 

Ensure Your Receiving Warehouse Is Sustainable

In a case where you are using a receiving warehouse for shipping your clients’ products, you should ensure that they practice sustainability. For example, ensure that they recycle or compost all the cardboard your clients’ furniture and other products come in. Doing this will push further your eco-friendly initiatives for your business.

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Your Waste

Ensure you implement waste management strategies in your interior design business to promote sustainability. You can start by providing sorted recycling bins in all your spaces. Then, educate your employees, if any, on the proper ways of recycling waste. Moreover, encourage your employees to avoid using disposables and use real utensils and cutlery within the office. 

Conclusion

As you can see, most of the eco-friendly ideas above are tangible and easy to implement. Moreover, they are simple such that you can start implementing them today. You can help move to a sustainable and eco-friendly impactful industry by simply digitizing systems, sustainability strategies and being more thoughtful about how you consume your supplies.

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.