SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

The seven C’s to reduce waste and save

Waste

Reduce your expenses by reducing your waste – the seven Cs.

Well-planned events and quality marketing materials are popular ways to raise funds, boost morale or raise brand awareness. However, events and marketing expenses can add up quickly. Despite the preparation involved, much of what is prepared and provided may end up in the bin soon after. The good news is that there are number of ways to reduce the amount of waste generated by your business activities, without compromising on the quality of your events and campaigns. The bonus – they will also reduce expenses. Here’s how to start.

Quick win

Set your printer to double-sided printing by default to use 50% less paper.

What?

Coffee cups

Problem: Do your bins fill up quickly with empty coffee cups? Paying for bin services and cleaning contractors to empty bins can be expensive.

Solution: Reduce coffee cups in your bins to save on costs. Encourage staff and customers to use reusable keep cups and install a free cup recycling service such as simply cups. Simply cups install the cup collection station, and arrange the pick up service for you, to make it easy for you to recycle.

Cans

Problem: If you run a hospitality venue, bottles and cans can pile up quickly.

Solution: Get paid for your waste through the container exchange program! Volunteers, staff and students can also bring cans and bottles from home to raise funds for your organisation. Save time with a collection service such as Recan.

Copies

Problem: Copy paper is a common business expense, and an area where a lot of wastage occurs.

Solution: Set your printer default settings to double-sided if you haven’t already. This way you will use 50% less paper without having to think about it!

Other solutions to this problem include:

Display signs above the printer to encourage staff to think twice about printing.
Make sure all people using the printer can view the job queue and cancel jobs. This way your team can see what they have already sent to the printer, and avoid duplication.

Cardboard

Problem: When shipments and deliveries arrive to you, they can often come with huge amounts of unnecessary packaging. Unless you have a way to process or reuse this on-site, this packaging soon becomes waste that you may need to pay to dispose of.

Solution: Ask suppliers to minimise their packaging to only what is necessary. If you have large quantities of cardboard packaging to dispose of, avoid paying the waste levy for this waste by getting a dedicated cardboard bin. You could also consider purchasing a cardboard perforator or baler, composting in commercial compost, or even selling your cardboard.

Clothing

Problem: Company branded uniforms for new team members are a cost to your business. Paying for secure disposal of old branded uniforms can also be expensive.

Solution: Allow staff to wear their own clothing, in line with your dress policy. If you want to include your logo in the uniform, consider items that can be passed on when a team member leaves. Think: branded hi-visibility vests or aprons.

When?

Conferences

Problem: Plastic water bottles fill up your bins, and can end up in our city’s waterways if they aren’t disposed of correctly.

Solution: Offer chilled tap water in jugs instead of paying for bottled water for every individual to keep our city clean, and reduce your catering expenses.

Campaigns

Problem: Commissioning new marketing material, such as flyers and signs, for every new campaign is expensive. It also generates large amounts of waste that may not be recyclable.

Solution:

Ask your printing company if they can re-skin your pull-up banners so that you can reuse the base.
Consider digital ad campaigns

Bonus tip!

Celebrations

Problem: Party favors, decorations and novelty gifts that are used only once are harmful to the planet and generate repeat expenses year on year.

Solution:

Show team members you care with digital cards. People can add their own messages and photos. This is a great option to make card signing easy when people are not on-site all the time.
Choose durable, easy to store Christmas decorations rather than flimsy disposable ones. This avoids repeat expenses every year and will probably make the clean up much quicker and easier.

Embracing a low-waste mindset in your day-to-day activities and in your yearly calendar, can drive efficiency and offer immediate cost-savings. It’s a bonus that these low-waste actions can also boost your reputation by demonstrating a commitment to sustainability!