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3 Environmentally Friendly Alternatives for Everyday Business Items

If you are trying to make your business become more eco-friendly, you may consider how you can recycle everyday products in your office. You and your employees create a lot of waste in the office, so it’s worth going back over your sustainability and recycling strategy.

With that said, one of the ways you could do that is to find eco-friendly alternatives for everyday business items.

Here are three ideas to get you started.

1. Sustainable Pens, Pencils, and Paper

It’s understandable that you may want to take notes in a journal when you meet with clients or just want to organise your day. Over the last 40 years, the amount of paper that is used has grown to 400%. Ultimately, this means that four billion trees are cut down every year in order to create more paper to fulfil the demand. These are the types of actions that are having an effect on our planet.

Outside of switching over to a digital interface for your scheduling needs, there are a variety of notepads and pens that incorporate recyclability and sustainability into their designs. You can get pencils that have been made from recycled materials, including newspaper, or that have shoots inside of them that can be planted once the pencil gets too small to be used. There are also pens that are made from recycled paper and corn starch plastic, or that even use metal instead of ink so they will not run out!

In terms of notepads, you can get notepads that allow you to continuously add paper. This means you don’t need to buy new notepads. You can use recycled paper and add it to the binder to make the book a bit bigger to keep all of your facts together. Make sure all your employees get a notepad that can be added to so that they can continuously make notes and keep up with their daily duties without creating too much waste.

2. Packaging

Every company needs packaging to make sure that their products reach clients without being damaged or broken. Unfortunately, a lot of these packaging materials can contain unsustainable materials that can end up as waste that the customer will just throw out. That’s why you need to think about your packaging solutions carefully. Acopia can help with your packaging, however you can also look at alternative materials that are cost-effective and highly sustainable.

Corrugated carboard or paper-based packaging is great to use to wrap products. There is also biodegradable packaging that can make sure no waste is left behind. This includes starch-based packages or compostable packages that can be placed in soil and become naturally recycled.

3. Drinking utensils

One of the main things that you will notice about your employees is that they will enjoy a lot of caffeinated drinks out of paper or foam cups. These will come from nearby coffee chains on a daily basis. The remains of those coffee cups will cause waste, especially as they will be thrown out every day. So, it may be worth providing your employees some takeaway cups that they can take to their favourite coffee shops to get filled up. As a result, there will be less waste and your employees can still enjoy their coffee boosts.

Another thing you can do is have some cups in the office’s cafeteria or kitchen for your employees to use. You can even ask them to bring in their own office cups that can be used during the day. Make sure that you have coffees and teas available to use. There are many ethical, fairtrade and sustainable coffee brands for you to consider if you want to have a little extra impact. Make sure to pick food and coffee products that incorporate sustainable packaging into their brand. That means there will be less waste in the future for you to throw out. If you need to have straws in your kitchen, make sure to avoid plastic straws. Instead, go for paper options.

Are you ready to make your office eco-friendlier?

We all need to play our part when it comes to making more sustainable decisions that can help protect the planet. Take some time to discuss how you are going to make your office greener with your colleagues. They can help you figure out what you can and can’t do. After all, every office is different and you are going to have individual systems in place when it comes to your recycling. So, do your best and pick the most sustainable products for you!

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