Going green has become the new battle cry for a lot of businesses, especially in the manufacturing and raw materials sectors. As the general public are becoming more conscious of the environment, they are beginning to ask businesses, both big and small, what they are doing to reduce their carbon footprint. Not only does changing your business model to make it more eco-friendly gain you more favour with the general public and your clients, but it can also earn your business certain tax credits and save you money on your overheads to boot. What’s not to love? Below are a few ways that you can alter your business to make it more eco-friendly and start reaping the rewards that come with that.

Efficiency

Every business owner knows the benefits of efficiency. From getting the right staff for the job to maximising useful operational time, the benefits to your bottom line are many. But we’re not talking about operational efficiency here; we’re talking about energy efficiency. Just by investing a small amount into the physical aspects of your business you can reduce your carbon footprint, reduce your energy bills, and publicise that information to your customers, showing them that you are a responsible business. A traditional light bulb emits only 30% of its energy as light; the rest is emitted as heat. That’s a huge amount of energy wasted, especially if you are also forking out for an expensive air conditioning system for your workspace too. Switching to fluorescent or LED lighting will keep the workplace at a more manageable temperature whilst also keeping your energy bill down. You should also monitor the amount of time your machinery is on compared to the amount of time it is being used. Even having certain items on standby can eat up electricity, and you’d be surprised how much energy is wasted in this way.

Waste

In the manufacturing business, waste is par for the course. But that doesn’t mean you can’t minimise it and save yourself a bit of money. Simple things, like changing the cutting pattern of your jigs to maximise material usage, can have a small but marked impact on the level of material you waste. Reusing any scraps where possible is also another great way of reducing wastage and increasing your profit margin. You could also look into local metal collection to make sure that any unsalvageable waste is put to use in an environmentally friendly way. By recycling any unused material you are effectively reducing your waste, as this material is being used elsewhere.

Packaging

Packaging can cost a huge amount of money, and in many cases can actually account for a significant proportion of a product’s end cost. Simple things like reducing the size of the packaging, or modifying the shape so that large numbers of the product can be shipped in a minimal amount of space, can cut down on transport costs and reduce to a lower carbon footprint. One UK supermarket even reduced the diameter of the central cardboard sleeve of their toilet roll by 11mm, allowing for a reduced amount of packaging and increased number of units per trip, equating to a 140-tonne reduction in carbon emissions across the fleet. It just goes to show that small changes can yield big rewards.

By making your business more eco-friendly, you are not only proving to your customers that you are conscious of your impact on the environment, but also saving yourself huge amount of money in costs.