Emissions, eco-friendly, environmentally conscious, small carbon footprint – just a decade ago, these terms were reserved for the hippies at the Al Gore fan club. Now it’s all the rage, and all the benefit to your company’s reputation and your customer’s interests, to go green.
The term may make you or your colleagues want to roll their eyes, but the benefits outweigh the disadvantages at this point. Whether your reasons are as a carbon-conscious citizen, or purely monetary in motivation, changing the way your office performs can be a real bonus from many angles.
When approaching your boss, superior, CEO, or board of directors with this idea, it’s important to be ready. Stick to cut-and-dried logic.
1. Cost savings: developing an eco-friendly office environment has many tax breaks and benefits, and can save a paper-heavy office billions in time lost, employee efficiency improvement, and products generated. Arm yourself with the numbers so that this idea comes off as a realistic one. Cite the strategies of this plan as ways to improve the office, unrelated to political agenda or environmental motivations. These should include:
Creating a paperless office environment – the average CEO wastes about $60,000 in paper and efficiency expenses from lost paper. Don’t be the victim of such a stupid expense.
Saving energy – just defaulting your computers to sleep mode, and unplugging your photocopiers at night can save over $15,000 in energy. That may be all your paying your interns, but wouldn’t you rather have one more intern?
Tax breaks – the latest administration has heavily improved write-offs and breaks for companies who take environmental issues seriously. Don’t miss out.
2. Risk management: regulations are only trending upwards in terms of sustainability. Stay ahead of the curve while the service is not as in demand, because it will surely continue to climb upwards.
3. Marketability: Going green is great press. Customers prefer to work with companies that are environmentally conscious, and it gives them a better reputation, gaining respect within their community. The stats don’t lie.
4. Happy staff: many employees will view the switch to “green” as a perk. Offering staggered hours and allowing some telecommuters reduces cars on the road, and also improves morale. How many friends will the tell about it? Probably more, since they will finally not be afraid to go on Facebook at work!
There are endless reasons for a modern office to go paperless. Convincing your boss does not have to be a political fight, nor should it be. It’s a simple, economical decision with many perks that are only climbing as we advance into the 21st Century.