Posted on

Promote Conservation and Reduce Energy Costs with Our Ecofriendly Tips and Tools

UPDATED: January 2, 2020

National Cut Your Energy Costs Day 2020 is just around the corner, celebrated annually on January 10. With the start of the new year, and Earth Day not far behind, this is the perfect time to evaluate ways to trim your energy bill and care for the planet in the process.

 

The start of a new year is the perfect time for organizations around the world to join the green movement and adopt ecofriendly habits that will go a long way toward protecting our planet, while helping trim costs in the process. Here, we share our favorite ways to help your company ‘go green’ and inspire employees and guests alike to focus on conservation, making every day Earth Day!

 

Use Electricity Wisely

While turning off the lights may seem obvious, conservation reminders are especially helpful in the office where light switches often are overlooked. Consider installing motion activated light sensors, they’re a great way to keep the lights out until a room is in use. Additionally, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and LED bulbs use up to 75 percent less energy than traditional incandescent bulbs and can last nearly three times as long.  And LED bulbs are nontoxic and recyclable.

Let the sunshine in! Take advantage of natural light by keeping those shades up and the lights turned down. Since 25 percent of the electricity we use illuminates offices across the country, natural light is an ecofriendly and budget conscious choice.

Reduce | Reuse | Recycle

Make recycling easy by placing the proper recycle bins throughout your buildings. While most people are happy to recycle, they’re not always sure where to properly place their recyclables. Clearly labeling recycle bins will make recycling easy for everyone. Recycle signs and decals often include paper, plastic, glass, aluminum, compost, landfill, and even ink cartridges.

Promote Ecofriendly Transportation

Encourage employees to park their vehicles at home and give public transportation a try. ‘Transportation Tuesdays’ are a terrific opportunity for taking a bus, train, subway, ride share, or even a bicycle to work. Set up a bike rack and offer incentives for taking ecofriendly modes of transportation to and from the office. Offering a catered lunch or raffling off a floating holiday to participants are fun ways to show your appreciation!

Go (Almost!) Paperless

Reducing the amount of waste that goes into our landfills – and reducing our carbon footprint – will go a long way toward protecting the earth’s valuable, yet limited, resources. With the digital age and the benefits of cloud storage, going paperless or significantly reducing our paper usage has never been easier. When paper is a must, selecting paper made from recycled materials is a wise choice.

Create an Ecofriendly Kitchen and Break Space

Reducing or eliminating single use paper and plastic in your lunchroom is ecofriendly and good for your budget. Investing in reusable plates, drinking cups, and silverware will keep tons of unnecessary waste out of landfills each year. If your breakroom doesn’t allow for easy dish washing, purchasing biodegradable plates and cups will lessen your environmental impact.

Practice Green Procurement

Sourcing and purchasing ecofriendly office products is the perfect way to move your office toward sustainably produced goods that are made with protecting our planet at the forefront. Recycled paper products, refillable ink cartridges, ecofriendly pens and highlighters, non-toxic cleaning products, and compostable trash bags are just a few terrific options. If budget is a concern, choose just one or two items to swap each month and your transition will be complete in no time.

Even the smallest changes we make together will create a valuable impact on caring for our precious resources and the planet we share. Here’s to a happy, energy-focused Earth Day every day of the year!

Posted on

Water Conservation for Businesses

Running Water Faucet

Earth Over North & South America
Over 97% of Earth’s water is salt water

Of all the water on the planet, roughly 97 percent of it is unusable, or difficult to desalinate salt water. This leaves us with about 3 percent of the total as fresh water, more than 98 percent of which is inaccessible due to being located in ice caps, glaciers, and deep groundwater.1 We are left with a little over 1 percent of fresh water that is usable coming from lakes, rivers, and ground ice. As such, fresh water is considered a limited resource simply because, by comparison, there is so little of it, and when consumption outpaces the natural water cycle, the usable amount decreases, affecting the environment and local populace.

So, what is water conservation?

Water conservation is the process of reducing the amount of excess water used for daily activities domestically, commercially, and industrially through the planning and execution of management practices.

Why is it important?

Maintaining a steady, available supply of usable water affects many aspects of daily activities. Restrooms, laundry facilities, kitchens, and other modern amenities rely on water to function. The wanton and excessive use of water damages the environment. Contaminated water can re-enter the ecosystem and the overuse of a water supply can dry out an entire region.

White & Yellow Sign with Black Lettering that Reads "SEVERE DROUGHT, Please Conserve Water"
Raise drought awareness

Making a plan for conserving water and reducing use can help prevent long-lasting repercussions. The importance of lessening water use in the United States can be inferred from concerns of state water managers who expect water shortages in 40 states by 2023, according to a 2014 Government Accountability Office study.2  Simply and economically speaking, reducing excessive water use means less money that your business has to pay for water. It just also happens to help the environment.

Water Use in Businesses

Publicly supplied water is “water delivered to users for domestic, commercial, and industrial purposes”3 and makes up approximately 12 percent of fresh water usage in the United States.4 According to the EPA, commercial and industrial businesses account for 17 percent of the use of public water supplies. This includes usage in laundry and cleaning facilities, maintenance of medical equipment, kitchen and restroom use, landscaping, and others. Roughly 40 percent of a company’s water use comes from bathrooms and laundry facilities.5 Water use in these sectors is often required, so taking steps towards reducing this utilization would help in decreasing environmental and economical impact.

Steps to Lessen Water Usage

There are a myriad of ways to reduce our water consumption at home, such as:

  • Turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth

    Navy Background with White Icons Reading "Please Help Save Water, Make sure all taps are securely shut"
    Reminder to save water
  • Only washing full loads of laundry
  • Updating bathroom fixtures, laundry, and kitchen fixtures

Similarly, implementing a conservative water usage policy within your business can help reduce your company’s footprint.

Help control water usage by:

  • Monitoring and metering your business’s water usage
  • Updating cooling and restroom fixtures
  • Educating and rewarding employees for adhering to a strict water usage plan

Custom Signs offers a wide selection of conservation signage to remind your employees to strive towards lessening your business’ water consumption. Our brass and plastic signs come either engraved or in full color and can be customized to meet your company’s needs. Take the first steps of your company’s journey towards preserving our water supplies by informing your employees with a custom conservation sign from CustomSigns.com.

References

  1. https://water.usgs.gov/edu/earthhowmuch.html
  2. https://www.gao.gov/assets/670/663343.pdf
  3. https://water.usgs.gov/watuse/wups.html
  4. https://www.epa.gov/watersense/types-facilities
  5. https://www.epa.gov/watersense/best-management-practices