Why There Is Zero Excuse For Not Being An Eco-Friendly CEO

We all want businesses to be more environmentally-conscious about their impact on the world. But, what do we mean by this statement? We don’t mean the business as in an entity, we mean, the people in the business. And who calls the shots? YOU do! We’re talking to CEOs specifically on this one. How can any enterprise become greener and less harmful for the world, without action from thought leaders like CEOs? They are the ones calling the shots, they’re the ones who can put policies into action. In this day and age, with the number of choices, there are zero excuses for not having a more eco-friendly business.

Ethical Sourcing

The very bottom line when it comes to ethical sourcing is, always buy locally-sourced! Very often you will find mass-produced products to be made in large factories, where not only do they treat their workers poorly, but they don’t care about ethical sourcing. Companies that are trying to make a quick buck in places like China, will use leather that isn’t from a cow. They could be using dogs! Deepak Agarwal has written in great detail about ethics in business, and he highlights how PETA exposed the practice of dog slaughter in China, in order to retrieve their skin for leather products. Imagine you are a customer who is walking around, with a dog leather wallet or purse!? It’s disgusting and disheartening. However, if we all source materials locally, helping small businesses, we would stop these places in China from their practices.

Natural Eco-Friendly Materials In Offices

Why are offices so cold? It’s because there are so many things made out of synthetic material. Sofas made out of polyester, carpets made from nylon, tables made from glass or plastic, etc. none of these materials will hold heat for as long as natural materials. Consider fitting a woolen carpet. It will trap the heat in your office, and slowly release it instead of rapidly losing warmth as synthetic manmade materials do. You should replace your trendy glass desks with reclaimed wood. This is wood that would be thrown away, but with a little elbow grease, it has been brought back to life. Give your workers a choice of faux leather or cotton fabric office chairs. The latter is more comfortable and better for the environment. Look around your office, what could be replaced with a natural material?

Lean Management

Originating in Japan, this practice of making businesses function better, more efficiently, less wasteful, and eco-friendly should be your modus operandi. Lean management as it’s called, looks into how a business operates, from top to bottom. It’s a truly holistic approach, which sets out a few markers to behold. Firstly, the practical side of your company will be improved. Moving the items your employees regularly use, closer to them, cuts a few seconds a day of their machines being left on without being used.

Over a year, this can amount to multiple hours. Another part of this philosophy is to make sure your business is shortening the communication lines. Rather than waiting for an email in order to get a reply sufficient enough to move onto the next task, a team can just have direct access to another department. You can do this by moving departments into the same office space, sharing tables, and or desks together. It cuts down on the power required throughout the day and saves the environment from more harm.

More Plants

This might seem trivial at first, but, why aren’t there more plants in your office? It will benefit your employees’ mental health, but there would be more oxygen in the working area. This would prevent the need to vent the office every day and therefore waste heat. The plants will absorb carbon dioxide at night and produce oxygen for the morning. As we know, when employees are calmer, they’re more focused and able to perform tasks with less time that is lost. The plants you place in your office space will also encourage your workers to feed and water them, instilling a sense of responsibility to the environment around us and acknowledging that it is living just like we are.

With the number of options, there are zero excuses for why you are not behaving more eco-friendly at work. Your business has the ability to adapt and take on better ethical changes.