Make your business environmentally friendly

In this guide:

The environment and your business

Making your business environmentally friendly should save you money on electricity, paper and other resources - money that you can reinvest in your business.

Assess your impact

You should assess your current impact on the environment. The Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) can help you to find and fix inefficiencies in waste, water and energy with their free ecoBiz program.

Get everyone involved

Set up regular discussions with employees so they can suggest ideas to help your business help the environment. This boosts morale and generates goodwill as every person in your business can contribute to your environmental goals.
Tell your customers how your business is environmentally friendly so they can make an informed decision to choose you over your competitors.
Contact your suppliers and ask them to help you. Do they offer a discount if you order in bulk and reduce the frequency of deliveries? Can you return their packing materials for them to re-use in exchange for a discount on goods?

Make green purchasing decisions

Almost everything your business buys uses energy and resources, and creates waste. Sustainable purchasing is a great way to reduce your impact on the environment. Ask your suppliers if their products are made from recycled materials. Research which suppliers have the least impact on the environment.

Spread the word

Make your environmental policy clear to new staff at induction so they know what they can do to help.
Use signs around your business and on your website, packaging and invoices/receipts to tell customers what you are doing to help the environment.
Encourage suppliers to help you; for example, your email sign-off could include a request not to print emails unless necessary.