Now that the stress of the holidays is almost over, it’s time to start thinking about your new year’s resolutions. As a business owner, you probably have goals that you would like to accomplish in the new year, like reducing spending/costs and becoming more efficient as a business. Going green can help achieve both of your goals, and is one of the many new trends that businesses are striving towards. Finding new ways to reduce waste is a challenge for most businesses, but going green means becoming more efficient and reducing costs. We have some tips to help you achieve these goals in the new year!

Eliminate Bottled Water

Grabbing a water bottle from the company kitchen seems quick and convenient, but bottled water can cost up to 2,000 times more than tap or filtered water containers! In 2012, Americans spent a whopping $11.8 billion on bottled water. The environmental impact of water bottles is more devastating than you may think!

Many American water bottle brands actually comes from a place where water is limited–like drought-ridden California. Not to mention water bottles create packaging waste, higher energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The petroleum that is required to manufacture water bottles that are used in the U.S. is enough to fuel 1 million cars for a year. It’s safe to say that getting rid of water bottles in the office will save your wallet and the environment.

Go Paperless

We live in a digitally driven world where we’re able to communicate and transfer information faster than ever before. Technology allows us to send, receive, and work on any sort of file right from our computers without printing anything out. In addition to being financially and environmentally efficient, electronic documents are just easier to find and file!

The average company spends $80 a year on paper per employee. In recent years, the government has been making sustainability a priority by offering tax credits and rebates for going paperless. Let’s face it, everyone is used to paper, but making the switching where you can will save your business time and money.

Recycle

A typical office produces a huge amount of waste. One of the best ways businesses can reduce waste is with recycling initiatives. Recycling at work reduces the amount of waste that goes into landfill sites, conserves resources, saves energy and will also help your business save money.

Recycling not only helps to reduce the strain on landfills, it can help save energy–which is beneficial on both a environmental and financial level. One ton of recycled plastic can save 5,774 Kwh of energy and 7,000 gallons of water.

How Berk is Going Green

At Berk International, we strive to reduce our environmental impact by improving manufacturing sustainability which will help to protect the environment. From installing energy efficient equipment and creating a recycling program to implementing sustainable practices and reducing waste throughout our facilities, we have implemented multiple recycling and energy efficient programs that are now practiced on a daily basis. Berk International is committed to going green.