How Green is Your Office?

Even in today’s economy, 35% of consumers are willing to pay more for green products, an increase from 33% a year ago. As many as 82% of consumers report that they consider a company’s environmental record before buying. Still, some green initiatives cost more upfront.
So when can you justify green procedures in your office when you have to think about the bottom line?

• When going green improves the consumer’s experience. If you can present your eco-friendly changes as an upgrade for your customers, you’ve got two benefits from one change. For example, many consumers prefer online transactions, which also help reduce paper in the waste stream. With paper accounting for 40% of the waste in the U.S., any step that reduces paper waste also makes a difference. What’s more, a reduction in paper use also reduces the number of trees needed to produce the paper.

• When going green saves you money. Have you thought of used office furniture? You might not think of using refurbished cubicles and workstations as an ecological choice, but it is. The used office furniture that would otherwise end up in a landfill ends up in your office instead. The resources that would have been needed to build your new office furniture don’t have to be used. At the same time, you save significantly. While hand-me-down desks might not sound good or even practical if you imagine haunting thrift stores and garage sales to get them, used furniture companies like EthoSource can change the experience completely. These used furniture dealers find what you need, fix it up, and bring it to you.

• When going green improves sales. If your environmental responsibility earns you customer loyalty, good press, and admiring words from customers at Twitter, you may find that your green efforts pay off far beyond the initial investment. The trick is to make sure that people know about it. You’ve changed the way your company fleet operates to reduce fuel usage? That should go in the company newsletter. You switched to reusable dishes in the break room? Send out a press release detailing the change as part of your commitment to going green.

Calculate the possible ROI for making some environmentally savvy changes in your office: energy-saving appliances, environmentally friendly building materials, recycling. You may be surprised by the number of opportunities you have to make a difference in the environment without doing any harm to the bottom line. As for the changes that actually reduce costs, like reducing waste and reusing resources, make those changes immediately.