Title: How to make your small business environmentally friendly

In a chaotic and crazy world, how do you run a small business? It is so difficult to keep a small business going for a number of reasons. The economy is tempermental and could destroy your business overnight. Furthermore, you know that you have little capital and that it could be difficult to find good investors. With little growth and not much history it could be very difficult to find anyone who would want to invest in your small business. Because of these difficulties you know that you need to cut costs and be very careful about how you use money. However, you also know that you need to help our business develop a good image. What are some of the things that people care about most these days? One answer is that we care about the environment and environmental problems. We like to think of ourselves as helping the environment. A person that does so is seen as foreward thinking and caring. Businesses that care about the environment are also seen as creative and caring. So how can you make your business environmentally friendly? Won't it be too expensive for a small business that has very little extra money? It can be expensive if you make major changes, but not all environmentally friendly changes require a complete overhall of a business.

Consider these few simple changes that won't cost you much at all:

1. Use recycled paper and recycle all of your paper. When you buy recyled paper you support companies that recycle and hence promote recycling. When you recyle paper you do the same thing. Waste is always a thief when it comes to business, and this is certainly the case with the environment.
2. Turn off any equipment or lights when not being used. There is an amazing amount of energy lost in offices and factories around the world because lights are left on. Computers left on can waste tremendous amounts of energy. This is not only a great way to help the environment, but also a very good way to save money. Energy is very expensive and will probably only get more expensive. Do yourself and the earth a favor by turning things off that you are not using.
3. Communicate ellectronically. If you can afford to do so, switch paper based communications for electronics. If you can send emails to everyone do so. Paper is expensive and so is the ink used to print messages on it. The more paper saved the more trees are saved. Ink can also be environmentally harmful.
4. Double side your documents. Most messages or documents are printed on only one side of a page. This is a terrible waste of paper and money. Cut your printing costs in half and waste much less paper.
5. Install lights in your office or workspace that conserve energy. Large electric lights can be very expensive to run. Find lights that will get the job done but that cut down your energy costs. Realize that many older buildings or offices will have inefficient appliances and lights. If you cannot afford to replace these see if there are ways to upgrade them. This will greatly help your business and the planet.

These are just a few of many possibilities for making your business greener. Be creative and you will be able to come up with many more. Remember that you can also use this to advertise your business. Let people know that you are a green business and let this help your business grow.

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