Conservation Efforts on the Rise in the Business Community
 
Oct 04, 2016
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A lot of column inches (and pixels) have been dedicated to the different methods businesses can use to reduce their carbon footprints and practice more sustainable ethics. By now we all know about going paperless, having a water dispenser instead of bringing in bottles, etc. We’ve heard endless amounts of information about LED bulbs and low flow toilets. These are the simple things. But what about the harder stuff?

This is where businesses really have the chance to make a difference in their environmental impact. If you are a business owner who also owns the structures and property on which that business operates (sorry renters and lessees, there isn’t a whole lot you can do without risking violating your lease agreement), here are some of the steps you can take to dramatically reduce your carbon footprint and make your company more sustainable.

Upgrade Your Plumbing

Unless you’re building a structure from scratch--which allows you to make every single decision about every single material used during construction--you’re likely dealing with some old and potentially code-breaking pipes. While most structures switched out their lead-based pipes for PVC and steel a long time ago, there are still better and more environmentally friendly options out there--especially for companies that engage in industrial work.

Advancements have been made in industrial wear tech to fit important materials with a chromium carbide overlay. This overlay is designed to withstand massive amounts of abrasion and stress without a reduction in performance. It helps piping and other fittings to last longer without leaching materials into the surrounding environment via corrosion or breakage.

Repurposing Roofs

There are a couple of ways that you can put your roof to work for your business and for the environment. Installing solar paneling is one very popular option. Converting your existing roof into a green roof is another.

One of the reasons that solar power hasn’t had as much success as we’d hoped is we haven’t figured out yet how to make the panels required to harvest the sun’s energy small. Sure we’ve made them slightly smaller, but the fact remains: if you want to be able to see any difference in your power consumption and actually reduce your dependence on the municipal power grid, you’re going to need some big panels that take up a good amount of space. This is where your roof comes in: installing the panels on your roof allows you to harvest the sun’s power without having to purchase additional lot space or convert what might be much needed free range land into an individual solar farm.

Green roofs are another way to use your roof to improve your company’s sustainability and environmental friendliness. A green roof, or living roof, is one that is covered in vegetation (that is planted on a waterproof overlay for your building). Some green roofs have drainage and irrigation built into them. Some even have small shallow ponds for processing greywater. These roofs help lower the temperature of areas both urban and industrial, reduce companies’ dependence on municipal water supplies, provide habitats for wildlife, help insulate their underlying buildings and improve the views of those who work around you. Advancements have been made to keep the weight of these roofs to a minimum and the maintenance required to keep them functional is about the same as what you would do to a standard yard or garden.

Work With Green Companies

Whether or not we want to admit it, the business world is a symbiotic one. No company operates completely independently. It buys supplies from somewhere--paper, electronics, etc. One fantastic way to help spread “green business” is to work only with those companies whose practices are sustainable and environmentally friendly. For example, there is a company in New York called Evocative that uses mushrooms to create organic and completely biodegradable packing materials (to use in place of styrofoam or air pillows). You can have your specific packing materials custom designed to meet your exact specifications and they’ll keep until they are tossed outside--the materials don’t break down until they are exposed to sunlight and other living organisms (like the bacteria found in soil, plant materials, etc).

Working with companies like Evocative, in addition to helping reduce your own company’s emissions, helps build these companies up and improves their visibility. The more businesses we have that offer eco-friendly and sustainable tools, the less everybody will depend upon mining and other environmentally damaging supplies.

Going green isn’t just about making small changes, though those do help. It is about making the biggest changes you can. These changes have a domino-like effect and encourage your colleagues and competitors to make similar changes themselves. And that is the best case scenario for everyone.

Written by Jane Brown