Member Article

Grow a lean green business

With Suzanne McCreedy of Business Link

As the impact of the economic downturn becomes an increasing concern for business, there’s never been a better time to review your working practices and pinpoint areas where efficiency savings can be made. Being smarter in your use of energy is a practical way of starting to make those all important savings.

Begin with simple measures such as fitting energy efficient light bulbs and turning equipment off when it isn’t needed. Conduct a site audit to examine your use of resources, such as heat, energy or water. Carefully examine all stages of your processes and look for ways to cut energy use and increase efficiency.

A key consideration is to ensure your heating systems are not being used unnecessarily. Consider whether waste heat from equipment or processes can be captured and used elsewhere in your business and ensure machinery is being powered down when not in use. A staggering 330 million tonnes of waste is produced in the UK each year. Your business can cut the cost of its waste disposal by introducing a paperless office culture and encouraging employees to avoid printing work unnecessarily.

Think about minimising the contents of your wheelie bin by reusing materials and items as much as possible. You could also consider a recycling rota, composting or energy-from-waste, which involves incinerating waste to produce electricity and heating.

Business Link can provide a range of resources to help you streamline your business into a sustainable enterprise. For instance, our new free business guide to energy efficiency can help firms to reap the business benefits of being environmentally aware.

To request a free guide contact 0845 600 9 006. We can also provide specific advice on how to conduct your site audit or introduce an environmental management system to monitor and report on your environmental performance. Business Link’s substantial team of expert brokers, operate across the region in local access points and on a mobile basis. For further information about Business Link visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/northeast.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by BENE .