How To Go Green With Your Manufacturing Company Before the Year Ends

Julie Starr • September 14, 2021



As the year ends, it’s time for you to reflect on your accomplishments for the past 12 months. For many, this includes evaluating your business practices and looking for ways to make every operation more sustainable. If you’re considering going green with your manufacturing company before the year ends, then these steps might help.

Implement Eco-Friendly Products

With the world going green, it is inevitable for a business to follow suit. One way of doing this is by implementing eco-friendly products in your manufacturing company. To start with, here are some examples of eco-friendly products: recycled materials and post-consumer material. Other ways to implement green manufacturing in your company include using aluminum machining to produce durable products and alternative energy sources such as solar panels or wind turbines or installing a rainwater collection system for irrigation purposes.

Implement Safety Measures With Your Machinery

If you have new machinery delivered before the end of this year, ensure that it is equipped with safety features. For instance, consider equipment with interlocked guards to prevent injuries when a door is open, or an operator leaves your station or work post. Dust collection systems should also be considered since these can help reduce your overall costs associated with health care insurance.

Use Circular Manufacturing To Save Energy

When you make products, it is important not to produce too much and ensure that goods can be constantly remade into something else . The fewer materials used, the better because this will reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint. It also limits how much waste can be produced, which helps save landfills from being overcrowded with trash that cannot decompose naturally, cutting costs.

Use Green Cleaning Products

If you’re sending physical documents, make sure the documents are printed double-sided when at all feasible. This will not only save trees but also help with water conservation efforts. The most crucial part of going green is using eco-friendly green products that are safer for employees and the environment. Use products with less harsh chemicals like natural or green cleaners to give your production plant an eco-friendly boost without compromising the quality of the product.

Recycle and Reuse

Recycling uses less energy than creating materials from raw resources by reducing landfilled or incinerated waste. It also reduces greenhouse gas emissions made from extracting virgin materials. Better design and recyclability can be as simple as recycling paper, plastic, and metal at your office. Still, more complex options include collecting used cooking oil from local restaurants to create biodiesel fuel or even a full-scale composting program that turns food waste into fertilizer for crops and gardens in an urban area.

Another benefit of reuse is that it extends the life of products. For example, paper can be reused multiple times before finally being recycled into new paper products or cardboard boxes rather than thrown away immediately after use.

Conclusion

As you can see, going green is not only the right thing to do because it helps protect our planet for generations to come. It’s also a way of demonstrating your company values and leadership before your employees, investors, customers, or anyone else who may be watching what kind of business you are running.

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.