Whenever you think of manufacturing, you tend to think about the CO2 that those large industries and companies put out whenever they complete their products.
Thankfully, many companies and corporations are starting to look into ways to reduce their carbon footprints, and the actions they are taking run the gauntlet from big movements to smaller changes, all of them devoted to making their companies much better for the earth.
Here are some of the best steps that manufacturers are taking for the environment, and if you own a business you can start to emulate these changes too!
- Monitoring Their Energy Use
The first step that many manufacturers are starting is just monitoring their energy use. They need to get a big picture of what part(s) of their business is using the most energy, and then that allows them to see what they need to do to reduce the energy they are using or how to replace the energy they are using with eco-friendly replacements.
Another part of that monitoring is reviewing the logistics of the business. Large manufacturers have to rely on trucks and raw materials being shipped from various other places in the world that might not be very close to the business.
If your materials are traveling a very long way around the state or country, you might need to see if you can replace your long movement times with a local supplier or maybe group some of your orders into one truck to prevent having a lot of different trucks on the road at once.
- Reducing Packaging and Increasing Recycling
Recycling doesn’t just need to be throwing things in the blue bin, in many cases you can actually make some money on your recycling as well. There are plenty of websites where you can sell certain types of recyclable items.
You can sell ferrous and non-ferrous metals for example, so if your business produces a lot of those materials, then you might be able to make a bit of profit from any excess that you create.
A lot of energy goes into packaging for products that will just go into the landfill once they get into the hands of the customers. Additionally, the creation of packaging also costs a lot of money financially, money that could often be put back into your business.
While you might have to put some packaging around your items to make sure that they are packaged securely or are able to be preserved for the trip, you should try to reduce any unnecessary packaging.
Along with making sure that extra packaging is reduced, you should also make sure that the packaging you have to use is made out of recyclable material. A company should do its best to make sure that as much as possible from its process can be recycled and reused, and your business should too.
- Using Energy Efficient Materials Around The Office
Finally, having things like energy-efficient light bulbs and smart thermostats or toilets to save on water and energy usage can be very helpful for your business. Don’t be afraid to overhaul your business with energy-efficient materials to save on both energy and water, because that is what plenty of other companies are doing.
Plenty of businesses are working to reduce their carbon footprints and your business can too! You will spend less money, save the earth, and also continue to improve your business and sales, and with a much lower carbon footprint, you can be confident that your business is joining the ranks of thousands of companies that are going green!
