Businesses of all sizes are in a constant battle to be better, faster, and cheaper than their competitors. Alongside this battle is a race to leave the least impact on the earth, since the culture of today is starting to grow an environmental conscience. Your business does not have to revolve around healthy eating or renewable energy for it to give back to the ground it sits on. Even little changes, like taking out a third of your lightbulbs or painting the roof white, can help in the global endeavor to reduce greenhouse gasses and slow down global warming.

There are a variety of changes a business can make to their practice to save some leaves that also save some dollars, from easy additions to the routine to total overhauls of the system.

The Three R’s

Reduce, reuse, recycle: it’s a mantra every elementary schooler knows. Reducing paper costs with digital filing systems, investing in more efficient lighting and heating and air that last long and use less energy, and recycling or composting anything that can qualify is a big step in the right direction. You can even donate overstocked office equipment to get a tax reduction, as Triplepundit.com reports. The average company generates 350 pounds of paper waste per employee per year, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, so taking every step to turn that into a reusable product saves another tree.

The Workspace

An efficiently designed workspace promotes productivity, efficiency, and the morale of the employees. Using natural light to augment artificial cuts down on the number of lightbulbs needed, especially if you use LEDs instead of fluorescents.

They can be more expensive, but in the long run they can save a business thousands of dollars per year. Having good insulation in your walls, like in your home, cuts down on the energy emitted by the building and eases the strain on the heating and air conditioning systems to keep up with the weather’s fluctuations. Buying well-built facilities designed with the environment in mind will also keep costs low and conserve resources, so they go to the people within the walls instead of staying trapped in unused crawl spaces.

The Equipment

Another step that can be taken in degrees is to buy materials to stock your office with that were made with and intended for environmental conservation. Care should be taken to pick furniture built with sustainable sources, and electronics that use energy wisely and can run on as little power as possible. The type of hardware that gets installed can be eco-friendly, as well – programs that can help reduce paper waster, monitor your energy output, or allow for easy communication to cut down on the travel necessary to collaborate are all options to consider. Telecommuting for all or part of your working hours reduces facilities costs and greenhouse gases while boosting team morale.

The Commute

Giving your employees the option to work from home is not only good for your bills and the environment, but good for the happiness of the workforce. Closing the office for two days each week could save an average of $11,000 per year, according to Entrepreneur.com. The carbon footprint just for each employee’s commute to and from the office generates about 7,100 pounds of CO₂ each year, as Business Insider reports, with a five-employee company generating as much emissions as a family of four. Working from home not only fights those factors, but helps employees achieve a work-life balance, promotes creativity, and reduces employee turnover by 45 percent. With collaborative software like Bluejeans, which provides video conferencing, mobile and desktop options, and traffic statistics for use, the transition from an in-person central location to a network of home offices can be as seamless as any other major business innovation.

The Advantage

While some environmentally friendly upgrades, like changing the type of cleaner fluid the janitorial staff uses or adding a recycling bin next to the printer, can be obvious and easy to make, other changes can be harder to convince the business to adhere to. Large companies like Yahoo and HP have banned telecommuting to increase collaboration, and erecting a state-of-the-art building is not feasible for a small business just getting its feet under it. The idea that telecommuting is not conducive to working together is no longer true, though, now that the Internet and smartphones exist, networks like Bluejeans exist, and any employee with a company-provided smartphone is telecommuting in some fashion. Designing your business’s workspaces, products, supplies, and methods of getting stuff done to promote efficiency will reduce the physical imprint left by the business while still leaving a legacy of good work behind for others to follow.