Five ways businesses can celebrate earth day
April 22 is Earth Day. It represents a global movement to inspire, challenge ideas, ignite passion, and motivate people to take action on environmental issues.
The event has come a long way from its founding in 1970 and it is now celebrated by more than one billion people around the world each year. But Earth Day isn’t just for individuals; businesses can get involved too. Here are some ways your business can celebrate ‘Happy New Earth Year’:
1. Switch to 100% green power
It costs a bit more than dirty power, but switching to green power is an incredibly effective way to really slash a business’s carbon footprint. The warm inner glow of knowing that your power use isn’t contributing to climate change is worth every cent.
2. Go solar
More than one million Australian households make their own green power on their rooftops, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving money, too.
Now the action is moving to businesses. The quickest payback on a solar power system usually occurs when businesses can use all the power they generate on site, but even where that’s not the case, solar power can produce a very attractive return on investment. And yes, many customers prefer to buy from suppliers that are visibly doing their bit to combat climate change.
3. Upgrade equipment
Old motors, chillers, boilers and other equipment could be costing your business heaps. It can be financially and environmentally rewarding to upgrade old equipment, even if it hasn’t reached the end of its working life. Look out for government incentives in your state.
4. Change your light globes
Are you still lighting up your business with energy-hungry halogen down lights or old-style incandescent light globes? Swap them for LED lights and slash your power bill. What’s more, state-based energy efficiency schemes may mean you can upgrade your business lighting at little or no upfront cost.
5. Discover a whole world of recycling
In addition to the items that we are used to putting in our recycling bins, a whole heap of other things can be recycled through other programs and it’s easier than you might think. Just a few examples are:
- Battery recycling
- Recycling fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lamps
- Recycling old printer cartridges
- Polystyrene foam
- Computers, phones and other e-waste
Services vary across our big brown land, so find out more at businessrecycling.
Earth Day has been built around the contributions of individual people, so imagine what can be achieved when businesses get on board and leverage their resources.
Happy Earth Day, everyone.
