Can Business Be Sustainable?: 5 Eco Friendly Tips

Can business be sustainable?  Today's author shares five tips that can help businesses big and small become more eco friendly and greenify their practices!


a sustainable computer tower in an eco friendly office


How can business be more eco friendly?


Business can be more eco if simple decisions are taken. Don’t think about recycling entire landfills or completely switching your laptop to a wooden box.

Simple Advertising wrote this blog to help you understand easy-to-replicate techniques to keep our business practices more sustainable. This is because even digital marketing companies can do something for their community.

Let’s get going, then! These are 5 ways to make your business more eco-friendly.



1] Introduce green space


We relocated office in January 2021 only to discover we were right next door to a flower shop. The final product? Just see for yourself.

Introducing green to your office isn’t just a classy interior design choice. It’s a proven way to increase productivity and happiness, reduce stress levels and, most importantly for the environment, they will clean the air we breathe as we work in this confined space.

How beautiful are plants? Just give them some sunlight and water and they become leafy air fresheners. Benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene are just some of the nasty chemicals plant remove from the atmosphere.

Obviously, this is without mentioning carbon dioxide. Indoor plants can improve air quality by up to 25%, making it the obvious choice for any business looking to be more environmentally conscious.

So, you want to make your business more eco-friendly? Look after a plant. Or, if you have space and resources, plant a tree.

And yes, writing that sentence just made me realise you can plant a plant, but you can’t tree a tree.


2] Let employees work from home

Work From Home is all the rage nowadays!

Simple Advertising allows its employees to work from home, at their discretion, due to the core values the business was founded on.

Obviously, COVID helped the Work From Home movement gain more momentum, but the notion of its positive effects on the environment have been known since 2014.

Carbon Trust discovered that increasing the amount of people WFH would save the UK nearly 3 million tonnes of carbon a year. Now, that is a success.

Seriously, what is the point of trapping your employees in an office if they don’t want to? Long commutes, annoying traffic, pollution and more pollution. With the future predicting less and less demand for offices, we choose to keep our mindset open and our work culture innovative.
And at the same time, this is a great way to look after the environment. Everybody wins.


green plants in an office for a more eco friendly environment


3] Reduce paper

Obviously, not all businesses can reduce the amount of paper they use. However, would it be a wild prediction for me to make, if I were to say that 90% of all paper in most business will end up as scrap?

Just think about it:

  • Notes

  • Letters

  • Documents

  • Newspapers

  • Old books

  • Journals


And the list goes on and on.  Every sheet of paper comes from the spoils of a chopped down tree, and the effects of deforestation are very well-known.

Want even more practices you can implement to ensure your business is more eco friendly?  Try taking notes digitally.  Not only does this save on paper, but it will allow you to immediately share your notes with whomever it may concern.  Or maybe consider opting for email over physical letters. The same applies to eBooks, news and more.


4] Support other eco-friendly businesses


Whether your business deals with B2B or directly towards consumers, you can encourage sustainability by supporting businesses that follow the values you wish to see in yours.

Of course, we aren’t supporting the idea of refusing business with any company not following the same standards as yours. Often, small businesses cannot stay afloat if they choose to be picky with their customers.

However, it’s enough to actively seek and promote those businesses that follow healthy practices. For example, we are the proud sponsors of EcoTechnology Solutions, the only repair company committed to reducing eWaste while still delivering high-quality products.


5] Lower plastic usage


We often don’t realise how much plastic is, well, everywhere. Chances are, you can look anywhere and find something that is made of plastic. Your clothes and accessories. Your laptop, pens, maybe even pencils. Your decorations. Potentially, your bed, if you are reading this while in a bedroom.  Maybe even your desk.

The truth is, plastic is so common it’s sometimes almost impossible to avoid. But this shouldn’t scare you. Changing a plastic desk to a sturdy wooden one can be a great first step. Then, why not switch pens to pencils, for taking notes? Why not decorate your office with wooden plaques, rather than plastic ones?

Simple steps such as this one can help reduce the behemothic quantity of plastic that is thrown to waste each year.


[Blogger Note: There are so many ways you can get your office involved with sustainable initiatives, and Plastic Free July is the perfect time to start.  Consider starting a reusable station in your staff kitchen and have a selection of cups, mugs, plates, and cutlery available for lunch breaks and tea time.  Ask your colleagues about a carpool set up.  Look into opportunities to switch energy providers so renewables power your computers instead of fossil fuels.  There are an infinite number of possibilities!]



Matthew Dorrington, Simple Marketing


About the Author

“If we all do our best to look after the environment, then the environment will look after us.” - Matthew Dorrington, Managing Director Simple Advertising Limited

Simple Advertising Limited is a Digital Marketing agency in Kent that offers SEO, web design, social media, and copywriting for start up companies and forward thinking businesses.  You can find their services here, or check them out on social media!


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