Earth Day may be behind us already, having taken place April 22, 2015... but that doesn't mean businesses can't aim to deliver Earth Day approved actions everyday of the year. Whether it's changing your existing shipping habits or offering digital receipts versus paper, there are countless ways small business owners and large business owners alike can achieve more Earth friendly business success.
Green Shipping
Let's face it... when you think of shipping anything, you don't think of being "green". But being "greener" is certainly possible.
One of the easiest ways you can be greener with your shipping & fulfillment processes is by using recycled shipping materials. Gone are the days of Styrofoam packing peanuts as your only option for fill materials. You now have inflatable bags of air, paper wraps, and even old newspapers as great alternatives to the environmentally-harmful foam peanuts. Most boxes from the three major carriers—UPS, USPS, &
FedEx —use recycled materials in their construction, and there are many other outlets that offer recycled packaging materials if you need something a bit more custom," shares Erika Jarvi, a Marketing Manager at ShipStation.com - a web-based software designed to help eCommerce retailers process, fulfill, and ship their orders from marketplaces such asAmazon.com and shopping carts using top carriers such as UPS and FedEx.
Expanding on this, Jarvi explains that some ink used to print labels isn't what it use to be.
Another easy and cost-saving way to be greener is by using a thermal label printer. These printers don’t use ink, so there’s no cartridges to buy or additional waste products. Thermal labels can also eliminate the need for packing tape if you were previously using non-adhesive labels from a desktop printer.”
Digital Receipts
Ink isn't just used for shipping, though, and more and more businesses are finding the perks of using digital receipts as an alternative to printed receipts.
Dax Dasilva, CEO of point of sale company Lightspeed, explains how emailed receipts can benefit the environment.
For many reasons - including environmentally - we think its really important that a point of sale system provides the option to email your customer a receipt instead of printing it out. Usually, printed receipts are not recyclable due to the paper they are printed on - so it is best to encourage e-receipts within your business to help save paper and reduce waste," shares Dasilva.
Shrinking waste by reducing the need for paper receipts and eliminating cartridges from landfills by using thermal ink as a printing alternative are two great ways to help our Earth, but let's be selfish for just a minute... customers gain from digital receipts, as well. Consumers can track their receipts more easily when delivered via email, and the ease of not having to actual carry a receipt in hand - or stuffed in a wallet, pocket or bottom of a purse - certainly has it's perks. The catch? Not all customers will see it this way, so it's important to have both options available for customers and let them decide which way they want to receive a receipt from your business.
Bag Alternatives
If your business offers a product that customers carry away with them - whether it's clothing, home goods, medical supplies or anything else - consider if your customers really benefit from these items being placed in your own bags or boxes.
I purchased a couple re-usable bags a few years ago that I have faithfully used for my grocery shopping ever since," shared Eric Stephen, a Colorado based Account Executive. "I'd like to think while my action was pretty simple, it has at least saved a tree or two and better yet, has eliminated plastic bags from ending up in landfills."
As a business owner, you can help encourage this from your consumers by both offering re-usable bags for sale near your point of purchase, or even charging consumers for bags or boxes if they don't have their own. While this may not be suitable for all businesses, those that it does make sense for can help lead the way in making consumers more aware of the impact plastic bags and shopping bags and boxes in general have on the environment. According to a recent article by the Live Strong Foundation, Californians alone use 19 billion plastic bags every year - and this is a state that actually implements some regulations to plastic bag usage.
In Conclusion
While most businesses demand the use of shipping, printing and packaging - all businesses can choose just how much or how little they care about making choices that can benefit our environment... even if "just a little". Earth Day or everyday? It really does come down to the decisions we make year round... so consider making everyday an Earth day.
