Recycle and Help Your Small Business Survive

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In 1990, Earth Day resulted in 200 million observing individuals in 141 countries worldwide. Recycling programs were on the minds of everyone in America and abroad. Almost two decades later, apartment complexes still struggle to educate residents on how to sort their recycling rather than dump their garbage in the newspaper bin. Recycling isn’t as far along as many environmentalists would hope. It is serene inconvenient and there are many items produced that collected cannot be recycled. But there are thrifty means of recycling that could promote financial sustainability, especially for small businesses.

Reduce Waste

One of the notorious plagues of small business procurement is the short lifespan of equipment. Primarily in industries that thrive on tools, such as audio recording, construction, computers, engineering, design and even finance, these small businesses grab for the latest modern technology they can earn to be on top of the market, only to need the upgraded version six months to a year later. The extinguish created from quickly-discarded packaging, old CD-ROMS, cheap mice that failed after months of consume or marketing materials sent to registered owners of software to let them know about the next big upgrade are only a small part of the eco-unfriendly trap puny businesses fall into just to keep up with their competitors, and that is just computer software.

While vendor salesmen and online reviews of the new equipment may make upgrading sound ideal, remember that a true commodity in any service industry is the person that can do the job regardless of the tools at hand.

If a housewife can learn the best ingredients and methods to make a cup of coffee that can overshadow the burned, acidic popularity of Starbucks only using a consumer drip brewer, buying thousands of dollars of espresso equipment seems frivolous.

If a street musician can create an album, sell it only online, market himself through social media and word of mouth and make enough at his sold out coffee shop gigs to live, how much longer will crowded stadiums with made-to-toss food wrappers and megawatt power consumption be the ideal setting for a rock show?

Try researching your strategic needs compared to your company’s innate abilities before you resolve you need that original upgrade or fancy toy. Determined, even the most eco-friendly activist gets caught up in the new way to do things. But use the inconvenience of recycling and depreciation to consider holding onto your money, or reinvesting it into the resources that matter more, like your talented humans driving your company’s abilities.

Reuse Your Resources

One of the reasons middle America was strengthened in the 1980s was that middle management surged. By the raze of that decade, companies were looking to save money, so they started consolidating. The divestiture of the Bell Systems monopoly in 1984 has more or less been reversed into an oligopoly through acquisition, now only leaving Verizon, Qwest, AT&T and some local municipality exchanges for domestic land-line telephone service (not including all the new cable phone services and cell phone companies). Acquisitions are most successfully conducted when the two companies share similar functions but complement each other by filling in holes in their abilities. The same can be true for human and equipment resources.

In this economy and looming unemployment rate, anyone who considers consolidating a small business’ human resources could be hung in the streets. Instead of removing small-task workers, consider how they could help other departments not need so much overtime to obtain things done. Or maybe there are tasks that are not getting done that a worker with a light schedule could do. There is no shame in reusing your talent you already have over taking on more workers.

The stout thing about small businesses is that employees can feel more connected to their impact on the business itself. Do some internal marketing on how each employee could help your company sustain its success by chipping in when needed. An accountant who comes in to do filing during a whirlwind client surge means less admin time and no need to hire temps.

Equipment that seems to have no more exhaust could be repurposed instead of being trashed. Old printers and computer equipment could be donated to local community programs, such as Portland’s Free Geek computer recycling and education center; computer equipment and parts are refurbished and then given to needy individuals rather than being melted down into something else. Build some construction equipment and build a historical museum to show your business’ progress over the years. And you may not need a paperweight anymore, but an old printer can prop up books, serve as an inbox for incoming mail, or even be converted into a flower pot.

Find ways to keep that venerable stuff around so it isn’t sitting in a landfill, and you don’t have to buy other stuff that does the same thing anyway.

Sometimes the only thing that gets in the draw of repurposing equipment or employee duties is the work involved in converting such resources into different assets. Who has time to train your salesperson to sort incoming mail or convert your old, hazy monitors into fishbowls? The answer without sugar and spice is that you just make the sacrifice and create your own benefits of the accomplishment of finishing some of these small reuse projects. Make a blog that brags about your latest repurposing effort. Create an office award for the greenest employee. Or even execute a bonus program for employees who deem up a obliging use for the equipment of the month. If it makes sense for your business, make the sacrifice.

At Least Recycle

Being green is the new fashion trend of small business. Often, local markets are overrun with consumers looking to break their ties with the pollution of big business by pledging loyalty to local businesses who prove they can be good to the earth. While in many areas the cost of recycling is not much less than simple garbage pickup, that trend may not last. In the mean time, that little change with no real immediate savings could be a PR goldmine, bringing with it better consumer relationships and new sales opportunities.

Don’t just recycle and leave the “We Recycle” sticker on your door. Try tracking the response from your marketing of your recycling efforts and glimpse if there is a real market value to your newfound greenness. Make a marketing campaign specifically on ways you reduce, reuse or recycle. You could reach some frustrated consumers with money to utilize.

Cooperation Goes Green

One last suggestion is to believe a co-op with competitors to benefit improve the market. A great feature of a free market economy is the inherent strength of numbers. More companies showing their support for green initiatives means more options to choose from. This evening of the playing field could mean you use the popularity of greenness to bring the consumers in, and then remove that competitive advantage to focus on the rest of your talents. As well, co-ops can bring savings in the cost of recycling.

Established businesses don’t have to pay to haul off old equipment if the new guy is looking for hand-me-downs. And who knows, they could be a future acquisition or merger who now thinks of you as a friend. Being green can create networking opportunities you don’t usually find.

And find ways to cooperate with your clients and customers as well. How could they reduce, reuse or recycle when dealing with your company? How about incentives for paperless forms and email communication? Could support inquiries be conducted faster and with less electricity by using social media to follow solutions to common problems, such as a Twitter support feed? See if you could add e-signature options to your sales process, such as DocuSign, to speed up revenue generation and reduce your environmental impact from the printing, transporting and storage of a paper contract.

For small business, being green is both an ethical decision and a cost-saving opportunity. You will know what is right for your company, but consider speaking with business consultants who specialize in greening up your business; they may catch opportunities and risks you may not know yourself.