Over the past few years, we have become increasingly more conscious of how we can become a more sustainable business, not only this, we also advise our Clients of how they can make their warehouses more sustainable and eco-friendly during the initial planning stages.
We have recently implemented some of the tips below, to help make a difference and we also decided to switch our STS fleet of cars to electric. Between us, we drive thousands of miles a year and we are becoming increasingly concerned with the impact this was having on the environment. Research estimates that an electric car powered from today’s grid could emit between 15% and 40% less CO2 over its lifetime than a similar-sized petrol car, saving around 80 – 90% on fuel costs.
We now have onboard a Tesla, Kia Niro and Toyota Rav 4.
Top tips for creating a more sustainable warehouse and office:
- Go paperless – Try and limit unnecessary printing, if you really have to, consider using 100% recycled paper and print on both sides of the paper
- Reduce plastic – Swap single-use plastic cups or water bottles with reusable water bottles. If you are looking at branded options, make sure you use a company that use eco-friendly inks.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle – A phrase we are all familiar with, make sure you have clearly labelled and easy to find recycling bins.
Non-toxic cleaning products – Switch to eco-friendly commercial cleaning products, they do not contain all the harsh chemicals and they work just as well! - Lighting – There are a few options to consider with lighting, ideally one of the most cost-effective solutions is to install motion sensors, so you only use the light you need. Consider removing all incandescent bulbs and replace with compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) and LED lights, these are the best eco-friendly lighting options for your office. When you can, use natural light as much as possible.
- Computers – Turn them off when they are not in use! Also, keep computer equipment updated; new computers and monitors are more energy efficient than those more than a few years old.
- Heating/Cooling – Make sure your heating and cooling systems are serviced regularly and turn off your thermostat overnight to reduce costs. During the winter months you will never achieve the perfect temperature for everyone but consider making small changes that will have an economical impact.
- Have at least one large plant!