The way we treat our environment has a direct impact on the future of our planet. Earth Day acts as a great reminder to make sure we are doing our part to protect the Earth we live on and make the world a better place. In an effort to help the environment, more businesses are switching up their practices to minimize their carbon footprint and promote a healthier, more sustainable future for their company. Many customers are choosing these businesses over those that don’t put in the effort. Thankfully, making the Earth a better place doesn’t have to be hard. In honor of Earth Day, we’ve compiled a list of 7 simple ways your company can go green and market your business responsibly.
Start With Staff
Going green starts from within your organization. Educate your employees on the importance of being environmentally conscious and encourage them to do their part by recycling both at the office and at home. Providing recycling bins around your office space will make it easy for your staff members to participate. You can even reward team members who are going above and beyond! When implementing new, eco-friendly habits into your company, it is important to lead by example. If your staff members see managers demonstrating green behavior, they will be more inclined to do the same. When everyone in the company works together, green business practices become the norm instead of a burden.
Go Digital Where You Can
Digital marketing leaves a lesser impact on the environment by eliminating paper use from printed advertising. Whether it’s social media or email, there are a plethora of digital marketing solutions to choose from with new tactics constantly emerging. Aside from being better for the environment, there are many reasons your business should be utilizing digital marketing. Check out our blog post 5 Reasons to Start Digital Marketing to learn more. If you’re ready to make the switch, let Amplified Digital’s team of experts guide you to the right digital marketing solutions for your business. Contact us today!
Opt for Green Giveaways
Promotional items and tangible giveaways are a marketing staple for many businesses. When creating branded items for your company, choose green giveaways like reusable shopping bags, recycled pens and notebooks, or eco-friendly tumblers. These giveaways will not only show that your business is environmentally conscious, but will also encourage your customers to use these eco-friendly items in their everyday life.
Use Recycled Paper for Printing
If your business is trying to go green, evaluating your printing habits is a great first step. The average office worker in the United States uses 10,000 sheets of paper each year. Although it’s nearly impossible to eliminate all printing, your business can still make an effort to go green by opting to print on recycled paper. Many printing companies have jumped on the sustainability bandwagon and offer the option to have your marketing materials printed on recycled paper. So, whether you’re printing internal documents or professional flyers, brochures, and business cards, choosing recycled paper is a simple way to help your business go green.
Make Your Events Eco-Friendly
Events can be an effective way for your company to get in front of new customers. If you’re participating in an in-person event, make your event footprint is as sustainable as possible. Instead of reprinting banners for every event you participate in, reuse as many printed materials as possible. You could even try digital signage for your business! If the event offers food and drink, find ways to cut back on single-use plastic. Instead of plastic utensils and water bottles, choose reusable water bottles and biodegradable utensils. Small choices like these can help lessen the environmental impact of the event.
Support Environmental Organizations and Charities
An easy way for your business to help the green initiative is by supporting environmental organizations and charities. Whether that means making a donation to the charity of your choice or volunteering your time at an environmental organization, you will be making a difference through your business’ support. Make it a company-wide initiative and host a volunteer day where your staff members work with local organizations to clean up trash or plant trees in the community. This can get your team out of the office for the day and build team camaraderie while also doing some good for the environment.
Offer Green Discounts to Customers
To encourage your customers to get into the green movement, you can offer special discounts to those who bring in their own reusable items. For example, if your business has a store front, you can reward customers who bring in reusable shopping bags, which would decrease the number of paper or plastic bags used by your business. Similarly, if your business is a coffee shop, you could offer a discount to customers who bring in their own mugs to decrease the use of paper or plastic cups at your facility. Incentivizing customers to bring in their own reusable items both helps the environment and cuts back on your organizations cost for these single-use paper or plastic items.
We hope this list inspires you to make your business more eco-friendly and market your company in a more responsible way. Share this list with a coworker and come up with a plan to implement simple changes to lessen the environmental impact of your business.