Quick Ways To Reduce Your Business’ Carbon Footprint

Julie Starr • November 25, 2020



Any conscientious company should be looking not just at their profitability but also their sustainability. All businesses will impact the world around them, but that impact does not have to be negative. In America, the average footprint for each person is a staggering 16 tons per year. This figure can be lowered by a few quick and simple changes to our business practices. Here are a few simple suggestions that any business can quickly implement to reduce your carbon footprint. 

Streamline Your Online Data

It is hard to imagine, but while an email costs less carbon than a similar size letter, our online use still has a carbon footprint. A Greenpeace report stated that some of the biggest data centers consume the equivalent energy of 180,000 homes within a day because the drivers where cloud data is stored need power and often also need cooling. This has a cost. So if you have multiple duplicates of a file sitting on your companies’ shared files, this does have a cost to your carbon. Every minuscule cost soon adds up. Consulting for cloud environments is a service that will help you streamline your cloud setup and use it most effectively. The added benefit is that the less data stored, the lower your carbon footprint, and the less financial cost occurred as well. 

The Reusables Bin

A recent study by Forbes discovered that, on average, companies recycle 54% of their waste. While this is an increase over recent years, there is room for improvement. If you have a sound system of recycling in place, consider adding a Reusables bin as well. This is for items that might usually be disposed of but could be reused by the company. For instance, paper clips or ring binders can be reused multiple times. If your business prints large quantities of non-confidential paperwork, you could use the paper’s back for scrap notebooks, rather than just throwing them into the recycling. Remember, while recycling is great, it does have a carbon cost, and reusing is a much more efficient way to deal with waste. 

Appoint A Green Champion

The best way to show your commitment to your environment as a business is by investing in it. This doesn’t mean you need to siphon off your profits for tree planting each year (although that could be a great idea). Even just given someone dedicated time within a week to calculate your business carbon footprint and lead any campaigns to reduce the footprint is an investment. A green champion can become well versed in the latest thinking within your industry and ensure that projects are thought through with sustainability in mind. This will prove better in the long run than discovering you have a terrible environmental impact within your supply chain, for instance, and trying to unpick the problem. A green champion can have this cause at the forefront of their mind during planning meetings and can be expected to raise the issue whenever you need to discuss it. 

Finally, remember, as, with any business change, it requires a commitment from the leadership. You need to demonstrate to your colleagues that this is a cherished company value and take reducing your carbon footprint as seriously as increasing your profits.

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.