How Your Business Can Fight Its Throwaway Culture
There’s no doubt that we live in a throwaway culture. If anything, the problem is getting worse, not better. For bosses and entrepreneurs, it creates nasty side-effects because failing to exploit goods and services only leads to waste. And, the more wastage you have in the workplace, the more money you’ll leave on the table.
As a leader, it’s your job to improve efficiency throughout the office. Of course, it’s challenging when your routine is full of bad habits and the business is stuck in a rut. Plus, you might not think that fighting your brand’s throwaway culture is necessary at the moment.
Just remember that without eco-friendly efficiency, not only are the odds of blowing your budget higher, but the chances of appealing to new customers are lower. In short, you have to do something if you want to reach your long-term goals. Here are four options at your disposal.
Buy Cheap, Buy Twice
Buying multiple times is expensive, and it’s bad for the environment. When you increase the demand, it results in additional goods and services being made, which means essential resources are depleted. The worst part is, this isn’t necessary if you do your research and opt for quality items.
When you buy cheap, you buy twice since the quality is much lower. Therefore, it’s smarter to purchase more expensive hardware and software for the office to ensure it lasts longer. Yes, price and standards don’t always go hand in hand, so you should be careful before heading to the virtual checkout. Still, as a rule, the best products won’t be offered at bargain rates.
If you are in doubt, you should opt for brands you can rely on, ones that are synonymous with maintaining high standards. Then, you can almost guarantee that nothing will be thrown away for a long time.
Provide Work Devices
Not providing work devices is a way to reduce expenses. It’s usually a last resort when money is tight and the budget is bare. Unfortunately, some bosses are obsessed with liquidity, so you might be tempted to avoid investments if they appear too costly or pricey. It’s a massive mistake.
Firstly, there are security concerns you should address. Secondly, from a sustainability perspective, letting people use personal devices to conduct business will affect the supply chain. When the supply chain becomes too complicated to understand and manage, you can expect plenty of wastage.
Ensuring your staff has the latest Android devices with Android Zero-touch capabilities makes large-scale deployment seamless. As a result, errors shouldn’t occur that exacerbate the throwaway culture, such as overbuying materials with short expiration dates.
Recycle
It’s a cliche, but that doesn’t mean recycling isn’t a useful tool in the fight against waste. A recycling program is about as simple and powerful as it gets because you can guarantee that your garbage isn’t harming the planet.
Food is obvious since meals and drinks come in plastic containers and metal cans. But, there’s a lot more in the office you can recycle, including your old appliances. A printer is hard to get rid of, which is why you are tempted to take it to the dump. However, you can trade it in, scrap it for parts, or donate it to charity.
The latter is an excellent hack if you’re struggling to find a solution that doesn’t involve throwing it away. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, which is why Goodwill stores will gladly accept donations to help the less fortunate.
Invest In A Lifestyle
Your focus will be on the business as a whole, but at some stage, you need to recognize that the effectiveness of your strategy relies on your employees. If they don’t get on board and invest in the new policies, the plan will fail quickly. After all, you rely on your workers to implement procedures, and this is no different.
With that in mind, you need to show them that a throwaway culture is bad and exists outside of the office. Should you hit this target, they’ll start making decisions for the good of health and wellbeing, and the company will benefit. Driving less is a prime example. Highlighting the emissions of a standard commute and the money they spend on gas could encourage them to walk more.
Or, they might cycle to work if you develop a scheme that makes owning or renting a bike accessible and affordable.
The key is to realize that you have a throwaway culture. Then, you can concentrate on tweaking your approach.
