The Sustainability Of Remote Business

Julie Starr • May 20, 2020



A lot of businesses have had to live, at some scale, with remote working as a reality rather than an option. However, it has shown many businesses the benefits of going remote, not just for the productivity and work-life balance of the team, but also for the sustainability of the business. Here are four key ways in which a remote team could be a more sustainable one.

Cutting the commute
While some remote workers might be considered “digital nomads,” and are constantly on the move, this isn’t the case for most remote workers. In fact, most people working remotely will do so from their home, meaning they lose all the environmental impact of traveling back and forth from the office every single day. To see how much your business could help cut the carbon emissions of your team, there are commute emission tracking websites made to precisely that purpose. You can see just how much greener your business could be by cutting the commute alone.

Downsizing the office
There are a lot of ways that an employer can help make their office a greener place. However, the fact is that such a concentration of resources and people is likely to be a place where a lot of waste is generated. With remote working, you don’t have the waste of the office to deal with. You can still maintain the professional image your business needs with a virtual physical address , too, if you’re worried about how not having an office would impact your business. Similarly, without an office, you don’t need to purchase all the technology to equip your workers to do their job there, either. In a remote set-up, most employees will work with their own tech.

Passing on the paper
 One of the resources you’re going to cut down most on when going remote is the amount of paper purchased and used. Going paperless is one of the biggest steps an office can take towards going sustainable. In the average office, it’s estimated that 70% of all the waste produced is mixed paper products. As recyclable as it is, not all of it will be able to be reused and when the average office goes through about 2 pounds worth of mixed paper a day, the remote paperless option can be a huge improvement.

Empowering remote employees
 The one potential disadvantage of going remote in your business is that you don’t have the ability to influence the environment of your workers or to get them to work in a more sustainable workspace. At least, you don’t have that option directly. You can, however, incentivize them to make their own home office a little greener . For instance, you can introduce a scheme by where they can purchase some green home installations, like LED bulbs, at a discount through the company.

Another great way to empower your employees to lead the way to sustainability while working from home is to create sustainability programs. It is common for companies to have multiple employee programs that are voluntary; however, if you want to achieve sustainability, consider having a program related to this and making it mandatory for all employees to participate.

Including your workers regardless of location is an incredible way to ensure everyone is on board and adheres to measures. Also, ensure you enact the proper communication channels for employees to air out their views, get assistance and advice where need be, and suggest better methods.

Lastly, to empower your employees effectively, it would be wise to reward all efforts. Nothing is as great as celebrating success, no matter how trivial it is, by rewarding efforts. It can be as simple as sending out business thank you cards to anyone who promoted sustainability, be it your employees, sponsors, or community members. You can also give the requisite recognition honors to participants.

From cutting the carbon emissions of traveling to reducing paper use as best as possible, it’s clear that remote working could be the future of the sustainable office as we know it.

Fresh Content: Where Do You Get The Green For Your Green Business?

By Julie Starr • 19 Apr, 2024
If you’re looking to start up a business that puts environmental responsibility at the forefront of how it operates, or that aims to offer new eco-friendly products and services to the market, then you need to make sure you have a plan for it. In part, you need to think about where the money is going to come from to help you get the business up and running. Here, we’re going to look at a few examples of places you can get the funding your green business needs. Finding like-minded investors A lot of capital in the startup spaces comes from investors who will take the time to look over a host of prospective businesses that are looking to get their start and will choose those that best align with their goals. Finding an investor isn’t always easy, so start by networking in the right professional spaces, especially those that might built specifically for entrepreneurs and business owners in the green sector. There are websites that can help pair your business up with investors, as well, but this can be a fairly competitive space. You want to have the room to be able to talk to potential investors about the profitability of your business, as well as the values and dedication to eco-friendliness that drive it. Getting hold of some credit The other traditional means of funding any business is to get a loan that can allow you to cover all of the necessary upfront costs, and running costs until you’re able to get yours up, running, and making money. Banks were the typical method of borrowing money like this, originally, but as banks got bigger, they lent less to smaller businesses, and as such, commercial funding solutions rose up to take their place, to some degree. If you’re going to try to borrow money, then you need to ensure that you are completely prepared for the application process, which can necessitate a business plan, which is designed, in part, to help show the viability and path to profitability to any lenders. Finding green grants and other financial incentives The push towards greener businesses and more sustainable industries isn’t something that’s only on the minds of a few business owners. There are always state-funded and non-profit-funded initiatives that aim to help those with green businesses on their mind get their start. You should take a look at the range of green business grants and other funding options set up, be it locally, in your state, or federally. Some of these funds and grants will be set up for businesses tackling climate change, ecosystem change, and environmental waste in specific ways, but there are always more grants to keep an eye out for, so make sure you learn how to write a grant proposal well. Finding those who are like-minded, either in seeing the profit potential in your business, or in getting behind the values of it, can help you not only get the funding you need, but it can lead to very advantageous relationships in the future, as well.

4 Ways to Make Sure Your Business is as Safe as Possible

By Julie Starr • 17 Apr, 2024
If there’s one thing that all business owners have in common, it’s that you want to have a successful business that rakes in the profits. However, some business owners then start to ignore the importance of safety in the workplace. Having a safe business is integral to the health of your employees which in turn, affects the success of your company. And, when it’s overlooked or not implemented properly in your business, you’re actually risking how well your business functions. Not having the right business safety protocols in place can and will affect productivity, cause injuries, cause losses, and even put you at risk of major action being taken against you in a courtroom. So, if you want to make sure that doesn’t happen to you, take a look at these safety tips that you should implement into your business. Have clear equipment safety procedures If you run a business within an industry that uses machinery for things like manufacturing and construction, then it’s so important to make sure you put in place some safety guidelines to govern the use of that equipment . Make sure that the safety guidelines are clear and very easy for everyone to understand, and without the risk of any confusion from anyone on your team. And remember to make sure that the machinery is only used for its intended purpose. Doing that can help you avoid any operational misuse that could end up in someone getting hurt. Also, there are lots of pieces of machinery like forklifts that need the user to have special training. So, if you allow someone to use machinery without the necessary training, you’re putting their health and safety at risk, not to mention the lawsuit that could be filed against you. That’s why it’s important to make sure your equipment and machinery safety procedures are clear for all to see at all times. Make sure there are clear safety rules Alongside making sure that your machinery and equipment safety rules are always in clear view, you will also need to make sure you publish important business safety rules. You’ll need to think about everything, from safety compliance to health, and you’ll need to make sure all of those rules are alway available to your employees. If you’re unsure on what’s compliant in your industry, or you simply want to make sure you’re not missing a trick, you can use isnetworld compliance assistance to make sure you’re running things how you should be. And, where necessary, these rules should be placed in multiple locations of the workplace to make sure all employees and any visitors are aware of your safety procedures. You should also make sure you’re regularly reviewing and updating these rules and procedures and let your team members know what changes have been made, even if they’re only minor changes. Make everyone accountable for each other’s safety While it’s important for you to make sure you, your team, and anyone else that visit’s your business location are safe at all times, there’s only so much you can do. Everyone needs to be held accountable for their own safety, so it’s important for you to create a culture of awareness in the workplace. You’ll need to start by encouraging them to follow the rules you’ve put in place, and you can do this by giving them the equipment and materials they need to work in a safe manner. You should also encourage everyone to be accountable for others safety as well, and this can be done by making sure safety equipment is left in the right place, or by making sure things are cleaned after use to prevent any damage. For example, making sure knives in the kitchen are cleaned well and not left somewhere that could be dangerous to the next person in the kitchen, such as the sink. Provide first aid training Finally, if your business uses any type of machinery or equipment where someone could get hurt, you should always have someone on hand to provide first aid if needed. That’s why it’s a good idea to make sure everyone has first aid training in case something does happen. There are loads of first aid training companies out there that can come in and teach your team members as a group, and they will certify them afterwards to show they’ve learned what they need to. It might be a cost you don’t particularly want to front, but it might just save the life of you or one of your workers.
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