Critical Tips for Becoming a More Environmentally Friendly Business in 2021

Looking after the environment is something that is ingrained into our minds from a young age and is something that we care about deeply as a species. With the effects of climate change and global warming become ever more apparent with each year that passes us by, questions may begin to form in our minds as to what we can do more of to slow down this process and ways we can change aspects of our lives to be more environmentally friendly.

While we are confident that many reading this will be doing things in their personal lives to be an eco-warrior, some things can be done as an employer and an employee when wanting to be more environmentally friendly.

If you are searching for ways to be more environmentally friendly, then you are in luck. We have compiled a list of ways that you can do just that in 2021; get yourself comfortable and read on to begin the first steps of your greener journey!

Monitor Your Energy Usage

It goes without saying, but finding ways to save on energy to reduce your impacts on the environment and your energy bills, is one way to be more environmentally friendly. Not to mention, there are various ways that you can monitor your energy usage, both personally and as a business.

Being able to monitor and analyse your business’s energy data is one way of doing this and can be done through the use of APIs in energy. APIs, also known as an Application Programming Interface, allows developers to integrate this particular programme into their own to provide energy data and services. APIs enable businesses to link and communicate between two different platforms, for example, connecting your business’ servers with those of your energy provider to analyse your data.

In this instance, businesses will be able to integrate energy APIs into their existing programmes to see the business’s energy usage overall. Companies like re.alto have created guides and other resources to assist businesses like yourself when using APIs within their business and how to use them successfully. To learn more about APIs in energy, head to the re.alto energy API hub.

Monitoring your energy usage gives you a better idea of the costs associated, not to mention whether your energy provider gives you green energy. With this in mind, this leads us to the next point.

Use Alternative Energy Sources

It goes without saying, but specific energy sources contribute far less carbon to the atmosphere than others. Most energy providers at present are transitioning and pledging to their users that they will begin to provide green energy more often as we move forward. That’s if they are not already doing that at present. You can do a lot for the environment by switching to renewable energy.

Not only does this drastically reduce the amount of carbon that is created when providing your business with power, but it can also have an impact on the cost of delivering your company with that power in the first place.

With that in mind, when wanting to be a more environmentally friendly business, one of the first things you could do is check to see whether you are in recipience of green energy from your provider, and if not, who you could swap to, to get this. As and when you have established this, you should be able to switch providers when appropriate.  

Using green energy within your business is an excellent and effective way of being environmentally friendly and will make a drastic difference in your overall carbon footprint as a business.

Cutting Down on Resources

Particularly when thinking of business resources that may not be environmentally friendly, minds may first turn to the use of paper. It is no secret that hundreds, if not thousands, of trees, are cut down every year to create paper. That being the case, this is a business resource that you could cut down on using to be a more environmentally friendly business.

By transitioning to the online world – if you have not already done so – and eliminating the need for paper within your business, you are making a noticeable difference in how green your business is. Not to mention, using online and cloud platforms to complete projects and documents can make group work and collaborations on projects a lot easier.

Using paper documents solely for items of importance is ideal when wanting physical copies to store, and naturally, it would depend on the nature of your business as well. While this is an effective way of being a greener business, it is just one of the many ways that you can go about it.

We hope that you have enjoyed reading this piece about being a greener business and using green energy and are feeling inspired going forward on what you are going to implement in your company to do just that. One thing to remember, no effort is too small. Making changes, both big and small, is sure to have an impact on the carbon emissions from your business.