The Click A Tree Green Business Guide
Tips for more sustainable companies
- AutorIn: Chris Kaiser
- Datum:
- Kategorie: Hacks, tips, knowledge
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The Green Business Guide contains over 40 tips to make your company more sustainable.
And as always, we make it extremely easy for you. All tips are labeled according to effect, cost and effort. The first step for your business is also always included. So it really isn’t difficult to become more sustainable.
The tips are suitable for a wide range of industries, whether for your own business or if you want to help your employer become more sustainable.
Many of our sustainability tips in this Green Business Guide can be implemented in just a few minutes – even at home.
What the Click A Tree Green Business Guide offers you
Not only did we contribute our knowledge, but we also contacted more than 30 top experts in the industry to compile this list of over 40 hacks for responsible businesses.
The special thing about our Green Business Guide is that all tips are rated by category. The color coding shows you immediately which tips are the easiest to implement, which tips will save your company the most money and how much effort you need to put into implementing them.
As a special motivation, we have every tip with at least one superpower. Yes, you read that right, Superpower. They express their ability to drive your company forward in terms of sustainability. These Superpowers will take your company to the top:
Productivity pro: these sustainability tips will turn your team into absolute efficiency machines.
Outstanding image: These sustainability tips will also make you attractive to the outside world as an employer.
Increased sales: sustainability hacks that enable you to generate additional income.
Cost killers: These hacks reduce costs sustainably. Savings can in turn be invested in sustainable purchases.
Companies with a vision for the future: sustainability tips that convey foresight and responsibility.
Happiest team: hacks that make your employees happy. High employee satisfaction strengthens their loyalty to the company.
And because we don’t just want to tell you what is theoretically possible, you can try out our sustainability tips straight away.
It can be so easy to make your company more sustainable.
The Green Business Guide Spreadsheet
Super convenient and easy to use: The Click A Tree Green Business Guide Spreadsheet provides you with a compact overview of all the tips that will make your company more sustainable.
You can filter them as you wish and, for example, concentrate only on the tips with the greatest effect, the least effort and the lowest costs at the beginning.
The Green Business Guide Spreadsheet can also be customized to show only the tips that will ensure a more sustainable lifestyle at home.
And best of all: once downloaded, the Green Business Guide Spreadsheet allows you to access all sustainable tips at any time, even offline. Absolutely free of charge, of course.
So what are we waiting for?
Simply have the Green Business Guide Spreadsheet sent to you by e-mail and find all the tips sorted at a glance!
Introduction and definition: What is a sustainable company?
Let’s start with a brief history lesson and the definition of sustainability.
The origins of the term sustainability date back to the 17th century: Carl von Carlowitz coined the word in connection with forestry.
Von Carlowitz was of the opinion that only as much should be cut down in a forest as can regenerate naturally within a certain period of time. He called this a “smart way of forest management”, a “consistent and sustainable use of the forest”.
It was not until 1992 that a holistic and global approach was developed with the guiding principle of sustainable development.
This calls for economic development to take into account three dimensions of sustainability in order to avoid incalculable environmental hazards and political risks.
The three dimensions of sustainability are: Economic, social and ecological.
What makes a company sustainable?
The aim of a sustainable company is to harmonize economy, ecology and social responsibility. The future viability of a company depends on this.
A few years ago, resource scarcity was mainly perceived at company level as purely an image issue.
It has now become a very real problem for the economy and society – and of course for our planet – as the situation continues to worsen, and we must act now to turn the tide.
Read our article The Twentrees if you want to learn more about the role trees play in saving our planet.
The topic of sustainability is becoming increasingly important for companies. Legislators have also recognized this and have set out a legal framework for emission values.
The 2030 Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals have placed a responsibility on companies with more than 500 employees. Since 2017, they have had to explicitly list their sustainability efforts in their annual report.
However, it is worthwhile, especially for small and medium-sized companies with fewer employees, to operate in an environmentally conscious and sustainable manner.
This is because the structures here are still such that many measures can be implemented quickly and without great effort.
We want to prove that sustainability is also easy for companies and that you can make a big difference with just a few clever changes.
Why are sustainable companies more successful?
Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for companies, and not just for marketing reasons.
Rather, it is a philosophy that can be applied holistically to the company.
Good reasons for your company to become more sustainable:
Operating sustainably, i.e. using resources sparingly, reduces costs for your company.
Fair working conditions, environmental protection and careful use of resources are demonstrably rewarded by consumers:
The I love Sushi restaurant has significantly increased its turnover thanks to its tree roll, which is sold to plant a tree. The campaign has brought the restaurateurs international press attention.
Sustainable production or sustainable added value justifies higher prices, because consumers are quite prepared to pay more for it. This in turn makes companies interesting for investors.
Sustainability is a verifiable quality criterion and strengthens your positive image.
Sustainable consumption binds customers to your company in the long term. If they feel they are doing something positive through their consumption, they become real brand ambassadors.
Transparency is not a problem for sustainable companies. Due to increasing digitalization and social networks, unfair production conditions and environmental sins can hardly remain unseen and are punished by consumers.
A sustainability strategy makes your company more innovative and attractive to employees. Well-qualified and motivated applicants prefer companies with a positive image and a sustainable corporate philosophy.
Young professionals in particular are attaching ever greater importance to a good work-life balance, sustainable resource management and are specifically looking for an environmentally friendly company.
Your efforts lead to loyal and motivated employees, loyalty to your company is promoted and fluctuation is lower, which minimizes the effort and costs of recruiting.
How the Click A Tree Green Business Guide works
To make it as easy as possible for you to become more sustainable, we have rated all the tips in terms of three categories: the extent of their impact, their cost and their effort.
Each tip is assigned three ratings in a traffic light system:
Green: These are the tips that have a high impact, require little effort or cost little, are free or even save money.
Yellow: These tips have a medium effect, require average effort or are associated with costs. Once you have ticked off all the green tips, start on the yellow ones.
Red: These tips can only achieve a small effect, require a lot of effort or cause higher costs. This category is suitable for companies that have already found some sustainable solutions for themselves and want to take the extra step.
The very first step: Get our practical spreadsheet with all the tips at a glance!
Your feedback counts!
And finally, before we start, a message from our team: Your opinion is important to us!
In the Click A Tree Green Business Guide we have collected more than 40 sustainability tips for businesses so far and our goal is to create the ultimate guide for environmentally conscious businesses.
But this is only possible thanks to diligent readers like you. Thank you for being so great!
Please don’t be shy. If your top tip is not listed or you have other feedback you would like to share with us. Just leave us a comment or send us an e-mail.
We are always happy to hear from you!
The ultimate green business guide: 40+ tips for more sustainable companies
So here it is, the Click A Tree Green Business Guide for more sustainable businesses.
As our 40+ sustainability tips come from different areas, we have divided the Green Business Guide into sub-categories. These include -minimalism in the office-, –Nothing works without the team- and -DigitalFootprint-.
You can read in sequence or concentrate on a specific area first. Don’t forget to bookmark the article so that you can continue reading at a later date.
We also recommend downloading the practical Green Business Guide Spreadsheet so that you can see all the tips at a glance even when you’re offline.
The foundation
To create a good basis for all medium and long-term sustainability efforts, a little bit of work is needed on your part. But we promise you, it’s worth it!
With the following tips for more sustainable companies, you can steer your business towards the future and make yourself competitive in the long term.
Your vision statement
Effect: High / Effort: High / Costs: None
It all starts with attitude – and deriving the right goals from this.
At the beginning, it is important to define an idea of what your company should stand for. Develop a mission and vision statement.
A vision is good when many people see it as important and significant. A vision gives employees orientation and creates meaning.
Sounds abstract? Wikipedia is an example of a successful vision statement:
“Imagine a world in which every single person is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge” – [“Imagine a world in which every single person has free access to the sum of all human knowledge”].
Click A Tree was also born out of a vision.
Chris founded Click A Tree because he loves elephants. Their habitat is disappearing and they are threatened with extinction:
” My big dream is to create enough habitat for these wonderful animals to survive. One day I want to be able to show my grandchildren real, live elephants!”
Chris Kaiser, CEO & Founder Click A Tree
The first step: Formulate a vision for your company.
Superpower: Employer of the future, Outstanding image
Support your community
Impact: High / Effort: Medium / Costs: Low
If you are thinking about your company’s impact on the environment, for example how you can offset emissions, start by looking around in your immediate vicinity.
What social and ecological problems are there in your region? What contribution can your company make to combating this? What resources are available to give something back?
A continuous, active social contribution will have a lasting positive impact on your company’s image, boost your sales figures and make you a more attractive employer.
Companies that are active at the location both economically and for charitable purposes and act in a socially responsible manner towards their own employees and business partners are rated as more attractive.
A survey of employers in over 30 German cities conducted by Statista confirms this and names the top employers in each region.
The Bertelsmann Stiftung has launched a platform that networks committed companies and local, business-related players and provides information about opportunities for local involvement.
On the one hand, it offers inspiration for your own commitment through examples and materials, and on the other hand, companies can share their efforts as best practices.
The first step: Get involved regionally now
Superpower: Outstanding image
Set yourself concrete goals
Impact: High / Effort: Medium / Costs: Low
Think globally – if you keep this in mind with regard to your company philosophy, it will have a big impact.
If you can formulate your vision for yourself, derive concrete goals from it – for example, to produce CO2-free within the next 10 years.
It is best to think in big steps and include your own motivation. This is the basis of any successful CSR strategy.
The first step: Getting started with CSR and tips from the German government
Superpower: Outstanding image
Nothing works without the team
To make your company more sustainable in the long term, your team is indispensable.
Involve the team
Effect: High / Effort: Medium / Costs: None
Perhaps there is someone in the team who is particularly passionate about sustainability and would be delighted to become a champion of your sustainability efforts.
Appoint a committee of several people to increase engagement. This way, your employees automatically get to grips with the topic and can contribute their own ideas and initiatives.
Provide your employees with your vision and goals so that their efforts match your company goals.
The first step: Put the search for CSR officers on the agenda of the next team meeting or plan a separate meeting for this purpose.
Superpower: Happiest team, productivity pro
Promotes further training
Effect: Medium / Effort: Medium / Costs: None
Introduce one day a year on which your employees can receive further training on the topic of sustainability.
The virtual academy for sustainable education offers a Germany-wide, free course for sustainable development.
The Bremen University of Applied Sciences project has been funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation since 2011. The Virtual Academy provides free further training for anyone interested in sustainability.
Students can choose from 16 different topics such as “Human nutrition and ecological consequences” or “Sustainable management”.
The first step: To the offer of the Virtual Academy for Sustainability
Superpower: Employer of the future, Happiest team
Team building
Effect: Medium / Effort: Medium / Costs: None
Joint activities promote a sense of unity in your team. What could be better suited to this than activities for environmental protection or for a charitable cause?
If your company is located near a park, for example, pick up litter together and turn it into a team-building activity.
The first step: Inform about sustainable team events
Superpower: Happiest team, Outstanding image
Healthy employees
Effect: High / Effort: Medium / Costs: Medium
No successful company without motivated, satisfied and healthy employees.
We all spend a large part of our time at work. This makes it all the more important to design the working environment in such a way that it is conducive to maintaining our health.
Modern technologies present employees with new challenges in ever shorter periods of time, which can lead to stress and mental strain, which unfortunately often results in secondary illnesses.
According to the Federal Ministry of Health, an incredible 50 million people in the EU are affected. The resulting reduced productivity in the workplace leads to high business and economic damage.
The prevention and promotion of mental and physical health plays an important role in sustainable operational management and contributes significantly to the economic success of companies.
BKK Provita is the first and only climate-neutral health insurance company. Tips on the basics of occupational health management, for example on the topics of exercise, nutrition and stress, can be found in the employer portal.
The first step: To the BKK Provita offer
Superpower: Happiest team, productivity pro
Employee gifts
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
Think about sustainable solutions for employee gifts too, before you worry about whether to give each employee a branded mug or a USB stick this time.
For events such as company anniversaries, weddings, births, birthdays or simply as a Christmas present, you can also give your employees a really meaningful gift, such as a tree!
Lovingly made upcycled handicrafts are also a great idea. Upcycling is the creative recycling of waste materials into new designs. In contrast to recycling, the source materials are upgraded.
Of course, Upcycling Deluxe also offers office supplies such as laptop sleeves, notepads and other products.
The first step: To the creative and sustainable upcycled gifts
Superpower: Employer of the future, Happiest team
You are how you eat
Of course, a Green Business Guide should also include a chapter on nutrition.
Goethe already knew that physical well-being is crucial for our productivity.
“When you have eaten and drunk, you are born again; be stronger, braver, more skillful at your business.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Admittedly, he made no statement about the quality of the food and drink. Today we know that we need to take a more differentiated view.
Our sustainability tips ensure that you can easily and, above all, consciously meet your basic needs in the office.
Our hacks make it easy for you to eat and drink in an environmentally friendly way!
Impact: High / Effort: Low / Costs: Medium
Research shows that a healthy and balanced diet is the key to physical and mental fitness.
We say: Good nutrition makes you sexy and smart.
Our eating habits have a major impact on the environment. Excessive consumption of animal products and meat is no longer in keeping with the times.
Logically, you shouldn’t be completely indifferent to what your employees fill their bellies with. Especially if you have a canteen, a plant-based diet can be encouraged.
Try to offer more vegetarian alternatives than meat-based dishes. A vegetarian menu should consist of wholesome dishes and not side dishes.
Introduce meat-free days. With a little preparation, even vegan recipes are quick and easy to cook.
First step: Easy and delicious vegan recipe ideas
Superpower: Employer of the future, Happiest team
Eat seasonally and locally
Impact: High / Effort: Low / Costs: Medium
A lot of emissions can be saved simply by eating regionally and seasonally.
Pay attention to the menu in the canteen, but also at catering and events, and critically scrutinize the quantity and selection of food.
Sustainable nutrition is regional and seasonal, because regionality saves CO2 emissions through short transportation routes, strengthens suppliers in the region and guarantees the freshness of food. A classic win-win-win situation!
The first step: Get a seasonal calendar to make your menu more sustainable.
Superpower: Employer of the future, Outstanding image
From the tap into the glass
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
Make it easy for you and your employees to drink and provide water dispensers or plenty of water in glass carafes with drinking glasses.
And: ban plastic bottles and cups completely from your office.
Our tap water is of fantastic quality. What could be more obvious than drinking it? This saves money and the hassle of lugging around boxes.
If you like it fizzy, you can simply sparkle it yourself and will hardly notice any difference to mineral water.
The first step: Click here for the Sodastream bubblers
Superpower: cost killer, employer of the future
Coffee with milk and sugar? – Fair please.
Impact: High / Effort: Low / Costs: Medium
We would like to pay special attention to coffee drinkers, because there is great potential for sustainability here!
You take responsibility with fair, sustainably produced coffee. You can buy it for example at
Coffeecircle
. The guys and girls offer an all-round carefree package for offices, including a coffee subscription and individual advice.
You can even borrow your coffee machines here!
The first step: Get a quote from Coffeecircle
Superpower: Employer of the future, Happiest team
Don’t be George Clooney
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
Even though capsule machines are dirt cheap, they are not exactly an environmentally friendly solution for companies. If you already use such machines, there are now suppliers for
refillable capsules
.
If a (new) purchase is on the cards, pod machines are the better choice, but nothing beats good old filter coffee or the French press. For fully automatic machines, you should always opt for an energy-saving model with an automatic switch-off function.
The first step: The most environmentally friendly coffee machines at a glance
Superpower: Employer of the future, cost killer
Less is more – minimalism in the office
A minimalist lifestyle is no longer limited to personal lifestyle.
And rightly so, because it offers great potential to work in a more structured, efficient and stress-free way, especially in the office.
In the Green Business Guide, we provide simple tips on how to gradually make your office more minimalist and environmentally conscious.
Reduces paper & prints smart
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
The aim is to do as much as possible electronically and banish the mountains of paper from your desks. This is also very liberating, looks tidier and helps you find documents.
Collects misprints directly at the printer as scrap paper. Switches completely to recycled paper, especially for internal use, and prints on both sides. If possible, you can also scale several pages onto one sheet.
You can create different print profiles to save you having to search for the right settings several times and set the default settings for your printers.
The first step: Set up default settings for printers
Superpower: Productivity professional
No empty desks
Effect: Medium / Effort: Medium / Costs: None
Workplaces can be shared – with flexible working models with part-time employees and remote work, it is definitely worth checking which workplace capacities are actually needed on site.
If you are not currently expanding and your meeting rooms are mostly empty, you should consider whether you want to downsize.
Otherwise, office sharing is a good way to rent out empty spaces and earn a little extra income to cover rental costs.
The first step is to take stock. Offers surplus workstations as shared offices.
Superpower: cost killer, sales increase
We need to talk about waste
What would a Green Business Guide be without a section on waste?
It accumulates everywhere, everywhere it is too much. We have learned from an early age to separate, avoid and recycle waste properly. This usually works better at home than at work.
The amount of waste we produce in the company is often enormous. Luckily, there is our Green Business Guide with sustainability tips to help you reduce and recycle waste.
No disposable cups
Effect: Medium / Effort: Medium / Costs: Low
Deposit cup systems for the catering trade are already relatively well known, but why not switch to reusable cups for canteens and the like?
Your employees need coffee, of course. But your employees like to drink it from reusable cups just as much. RECUP has the right solution for every business.
The first step: Request your RECUP solution!
Superpower: Outstanding image, employer of the future
Give them the rest!
Impact: High / Effort: Medium / Costs: Low
Whether at catering events, in the staff canteen or during the production of meals – food waste is produced everywhere. Most of the time, the food is still perfect and would make someone else full and happy.
Before the food ends up in the garbage can, you have to bear the costs of disposal, the food is subsequently incinerated and harmful CO2 is released, why not simply have this food saved?
Too Good to Go
is the world’s largest app dedicated to reducing food waste. It connects companies that have surplus food with users who want to consume it.
Just by being listed in the app, more people will become aware of your company and your environmental commitment.
Of course, you can also easily give leftover food to your employees to take home or have it collected via food sharing!
The first step: release surplus food for rescue with Too Good to Go!
Superpower: sales growth, outstanding image
Can it go or is it hazardous waste?
Impact: High / Effort: Low / Costs: Medium
Is waste disposal called that because it causes companies terrible worries?
Manufacturers, retailers and importers – all parties are affected by legal obligations arising from national and international legislation on waste electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and packaging.
The handling of waste is prescribed by law in the following order
Avoidance: If no waste is produced, nothing needs to be disposed of. Companies are obliged to treat the prevention of waste as a priority.
Preparation for reuse: Of course, it is not possible for any company to avoid waste completely. Any waste produced should be reused. Examples include recycled paper, refillable toners and rechargeable batteries.
Recycling: There are two ways to do this: Recycling is the reuse of materials, in which a new product is created from the waste. This type of reuse has priority.
Other recycling: If material recycling is not possible, energy recovery, for example, should be sought. Waste with a high calorific value is used as an alternative to conventional energy sources, which helps to conserve resources.
Disposal: If no other recycling is possible, the simple disposal of waste remains. The waste is then collected and stored in landfills.
The first step: Deutsche Recycling offers help with recycling for companies.
Superpower: Productivity professional
Good climate
The indoor climate is an important environmental factor in the workplace. An indoor climate that is perceived as comfortable has a positive effect on the well-being, health and productivity of your employees.
So there are very good reasons to include tips for a more pleasant working environment in our Green Business Guide.
Just no thick air
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
There are probably few things that fulfill the stereotype of a German more than airing the house. (Except maybe punctuality and transition jackets.) But we recommend it anyway.
If there is a lack of fresh air in the room, open the windows fully and turn down the heating. This is much more effective and energy-saving than leaving the window permanently tilted and the heating on.
Temperature perception is subjective. However, the heating or air conditioning should not be turned up and down all the time.
Agree on an appropriate, permanent room temperature during working hours. Logical: Turns down the heating after hours or switches off air conditioning units.
A timer for the heating is super practical and easy to use. This means that heating is only used when it is really necessary. We have found a very inexpensive heating thermostat that can also be controlled via app.
The first step: Click here to order a thermostat from the store of your choice
Superpower: cost killer, productivity pro
Urban jungle in the office
Effect: Low / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
Plants are not only beautiful to look at and create a cozy atmosphere in your office. The green friends are real energy bombs and extremely useful for your productivity:
They reduce noise levels, act as natural dust filters and humidifiers, absorb pollutants from the air, have a calming effect, promote concentration and reduce symptoms of fatigue. Wow!
When you read this, you can imagine,
how great trees are for our environment?
We recommend undemanding plants such as dragon trees and arched hemp for the office and for anyone without green fingers.
Plantsome makes it easy for you and offers various packages for the office. For those who like gimmicks: In the Plantsome app, you can enter the names of your plants and be reminded to water them.
Your plants don’t have a name yet? Then it’s high time!
The first step: Find your plant package with Plantsome now
Superpower: Happiest team, productivity pro
The energy must flow – but smart
Of course, a complete sustainability guide must also address the issue of energy saving. That is why we cannot do without this topic in the Click A Tree Green Business Guide.
In our digitalized world, energy consumption is a huge item on a company’s balance sheet. The
Electricity demand accounts for around 38 percent of total carbon dioxide emissions in Germany.
in Germany.
If you think smart, you can save money and do something for the environment. Even if some sustainability tips may seem trite, they pay off in the end.
When buying new appliances, it is essential to pay attention to the energy efficiency class, as this can save a lot of energy almost automatically.
Switch to green electricity
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
The main aim of certified green electricity tariff providers is to promote the use of energy from renewable sources and investment in renewable technology. This will stop the production of environmentally harmful coal and nuclear power in the long term.
On average, green electricity is even cheaper than conventional electricity. Guarantees of origin are used to prove that electricity comes from renewable energies. It does not matter in which country the electricity is generated.
Quality seals such as the Green Electricity Label, Ok-Power and TÜV seals can also provide guidance on how sustainably a provider operates.
Naturstrom AG is the first green electricity provider in Germany to be independent of the coal and nuclear industries. According to the medium-sized company, its entrepreneurial activities focus on sustainability rather than returns.
In addition to supplying green electricity, Naturstrom is even building its own green power plants. The environmental organizations Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) and Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz (BUND) recommend and use Naturstrom.
The first step: Get a free quote from Naturstrom now
Superpower: cost killer, employer of the future
Install your own solar system
Effect: High / Effort: High / Costs: High
Photovoltaics is also an issue for companies and tradespeople. Produced electricity can be consumed, stored and/or even fed into the public grid.
Photovoltaic systems are also tax-deductible.
The initial investment costs should of course not be underestimated, but modern solar systems usually pay for themselves within a few years.
The first step: The photovoltaic calculator helps you to decide whether the installation makes sense for your company.
Superpower: employer of the future, cost killer, sales boost
Have power guzzlers recycled
Effect: Medium / Effort: Medium / Costs: Low
Old appliances account for a large proportion of (unnecessary) electricity consumption. Check the consumption of your printers and co. and identify your power guzzlers.
Of course, you shouldn’t scrap all your appliances straight away, but a new purchase usually pays for itself after a short time. The majority of old electronics can be wonderfully recycled.
UN experts have calculated that only around 17.4% of the e-waste generated worldwide was recycled in 2019. In Europe, this figure is 42.5%.
We still think there is room for improvement. Help creates
Europe’s largest non-profit IT company, AfB
.
AfB stands for “Arbeit für Menschen mit Behinderung” (work for people with disabilities) and, as an inclusion company, specializes in remarketing as many appliances as possible by purchasing and refurbishing them.
You achieve a remarketing rate of at least 65%. By 2025, they want to save 200,000 tons of CO2 through IT remarketing and at the same time create 700 jobs, 300 of which are for people with disabilities.
Not only does this give your company a sustainability bonus, you are also automatically making a social commitment by helping to create jobs for people with disabilities.
The first step: find out how you can have old appliances recycled.
Superpower: sales growth, employer of the future, outstanding image
Uses rechargeable batteries
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
Although batteries pollute the environment, are hazardous waste and an expensive disposable item, over 10,000 tons of batteries are sold in Germany every year.
Reusable batteries are worthwhile: repeated use protects the environment and you benefit from lower energy costs.
For all battery-operated devices, it is best to use only rechargeable batteries instead of mono cells.
Provide battery charger(s) in the company, but make sure that this device also has an automatic switch-off function.
The first step: You can find an overview here.
Superpower: Cost killer
You can save yourself the trouble: Stand-by mode
Effect: Low / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
Our rule of thumb: unplug any appliance that you do not use (several times) a day after use! Do not leave any plugs in the socket unnecessarily. Especially not overnight or over the weekend.
Ask your employees to switch off their computers and laptops at the end of each working day.
For new purchases, you should definitely check whether the appliance has a proper off switch, as this is unfortunately no longer a matter of course. You should deactivate the screen saver on all devices. These things are 90s style anyway.
The first step: Put up a nice(!) sign reminding your employees to switch off devices and unplug them.
Superpower: Cost killer
<h2″>Go one better: turn your office into an intelligent office
Make your life easier by equipping your office with smart technology and hardware.
Once set up, our tips in the Green Business Guide will not only save you time, but also money.
Intelligent energy systems
Impact: High / Effort: High / Costs: Medium
The simplest variant is probably timers, (motion) sensors instead of switches. Where there are no light switches, nobody forgets to turn off the light. And of course it is very energy efficient.
This is particularly useful in toilets. And it’s also more hygienic – after all, light switches are the biggest source of germs in the office.
The first step: Here is an overview of sensor-controlled indoor lights.
Superpower: Cost killer
Efficient water systems
Familiar from public toilets – taps can also be controlled with sensors. Installing flow restrictors saves water.
And: every toilet flush should have a
stop function
function. Interesting for men: there are urinals that work without any water or chemicals at all, for example from Urimat.
The first step: Take stock of your sanitary facilities. Which sustainability tips can you implement?
Superpower: Cost killer
Declare war on pendulum madness
Unfortunately, commuting is still a very real problem for many employees. The commute to work is getting longer and longer. At the same time, the number of commuters has risen to a record high of over 19 million in recent years.
There are many good reasons why we should try to reduce commuting. In addition to the benefits for our environment, which are paramount, statistics show that non-commuters have lower divorce rates, less absenteeism and fewer health problems.
In our Green Business Guide, we give you tips that can reduce this problem in your company.
Goodbye presence fetish
Effect: High / Effort: Medium / Costs: Low
So simple, so effective. If your employees can do at least part of their work remotely, the fact that they no longer have to travel to work will save a huge amount of emissions.
Of course, the infrastructure must be provided by you (VPN, laptops for employees instead of PCs, etc.) as well as by the employees (accessibility, workplace equipment).
If you work from home more often, you may even be able to downsize your office and thus reduce operating costs such as rent.
And another advantage: with the option to work from home, employees who “just have a cold” and “can still work” drag themselves to work less and therefore don’t directly infect half the team.
The first step: Follow a few rules for working from home and make it easier for your employees to work from home.
Superpower: Employer of the future, Happiest team, Outstanding image, Cost killer
Environmentally friendly commute
Impact: High / Effort: Medium / Costs: Medium
Of course, the bicycle is probably the most environmentally friendly and healthiest means of transportation that can be used for commuting to work.
This is not always an option for a variety of reasons. Offer incentives for your employees to use public transportation.
A job ticket is a welcome perk for many employees. A change in the law has made it even more attractive from 2020, as the job ticket no longer has to be offset against the flat-rate income-related expense allowance.
Of course, it is also attractive from an employer’s point of view:
Job tickets demonstrably increase the satisfaction and loyalty of your employees to the company. Your CO2 emissions are reduced and a positive contribution is made to climate protection, which also has a positive effect on your image and your personnel policy.
If the car is necessary because, for example, the connection is not ideal. Try to organize car pools. Traveling together also strengthens the team spirit.
The first step: Provide your employees with a job ticket.
Superpower: Outstanding image, Happiest team
Business trips in the 20s
The primary goal is to avoid emissions. As this is not always possible, the Green Business Guide offers you some sustainability tips to reduce your carbon footprint.
Plant trees for bookings
Effect: High / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
If you have not yet introduced a travel policy for your company, formulate standards and rules for business trips. Use tools that reduce or offset your impact on the environment.
One of these is our travel portal B’n’Tree.
If you book business trips via B’n’Tree, you automatically plant a tree with just one additional click per hotel or flight booking – free of charge! Don’t you think? It really is.
The first step: Install the practical B’n’Tree browser extension for Google Chrome. She thinks for you and reminds you to plant a tree for free with every booking.
The second step: Use B’n’Tree for every booking
The third step: Tell colleagues, friends, family, neighbors and anyone who travels regularly.
Superpower: Outstanding image, employer of the future
Sustainable means of transportation
Impact: High / Effort: Medium / Costs: Medium
If possible, avoid flying and prefer train travel (BahnCard100), use local public transport instead of cabs.
There is now also a well-developed infrastructure for the last mile with numerous bike-sharing and e-scooter providers.
If you can’t do without flying, choose the right airline. Some are involved in climate protection projects or optimize their climate efficiency.
The first step: create or renew a travel policy for your company.
Superpower: employer of the future, cost killer
Work equipment
The furnishing of your office and the equipment of your employees also offer you great potential to take responsibility as an employer.
Our sustainability tips will help you to make your company greener when it comes to equipment.
Fair workwear
Effect: High / Effort: Low / Costs: High
If your employees wear uniforms or uniforms, have them made sustainably. Stylish and sustainable workwear of outstanding quality, especially uniforms, can be found, for example, at
KAYA&KATO
.
For other fashion you can find an
overview
of all Green Button certified, sustainably produced clothing. The Green Button was introduced in 2019 as the first state textile label by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The first step: Order (the next) workwear fairly! To KAYA&KATO.
Superpower: Employer of the future, Happiest team
Sustainable furniture
Effect: High / Effort: Low / Costs: High
Manufacturers of sustainable furniture usually use solid wood and largely avoid glued-together plywood, toxic varnishes and plastics. The wood comes from sustainable forestry.
The organic furniture, which is mostly handcrafted in Germany, is durable and therefore better for our health and the environment than from the Swedish giant.
However, wooden furniture is often heavy and difficult to transport, which is not really necessary at home. However, the needs of companies are different – whether for the home office, office, events or trade fairs.
For people who prefer to leave the trees in the forest, there are sustainable alternatives.
Lightweight, flexible furniture systems such as those from MOVISI that can be quickly assembled, rearranged and moved – creative furniture that you can design yourself for living rooms, home offices, offices, trade fairs or events.
The first step: To the modular collections from MOVISI
Superpower: Employer of the future
Shipping and trade
Local procurement and partners
Effect: High / Effort: High / Costs: High
We could now recite a long list of the advantages of local sourcing.
Because we don’t like busywork, we prefer to keep it short and limit our explanations to the most obvious points.
Of course, you reduce your CO2 emissions if individual parts of your production are not flown or shipped around the world several times. A short and direct transport route makes you more flexible and more likely to deliver on time.
Personal contact with suppliers also creates transparency and trust. All parties respect the environmental and occupational health and safety regulations that apply here, which is ultimately also very valuable for your brand image.
Of course, in the end, the lower transportation and packaging costs have to be weighed against higher prices for locally manufactured primary products. This is particularly advantageous for companies that procure in smaller margins.
Hand on heart, how and where do your suppliers and partners produce and do business? When was the last time you researched local alternatives?
Do you know someone in your network who might be interested in sustainability tips for companies? Great, then send them our Green Business Guide!
The first step: Share the Green Business Guide
Superpower: Employer of the future, Outstanding image
Climate-neutral shipping
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
Ask your logistics partner about their shipping options. The market leader DHL automatically delivers all parcels and packages throughout Germany in a climate-neutral way.
For shipments abroad
DHL Go Green
is an additional option that can be booked to send climate-neutral shipments for cents.
So make sure that your intercontinental shipping is also climate-neutral.
The first step: Check out the options of Germany’s Big 5 shipping service providers here.
Superpower: Outstanding image, employer of the future
Reusable packaging
Impact: High / Effort: Medium / Costs: Medium
If you run an online store, you should definitely check your packaging for possible optimization potential. Start small and replace plastic filling material with cardboard.
Reusable packaging is a good way to reduce the growing packaging waste caused by online retail.
RePack is a global reusable system for shipping packaging with a worldwide returns system. The packaging is made from recycled materials.
The first step: Switch your online shop to recycled packaging. Are you unsure? Here you will find convincing arguments for this.
Superpower: Outstanding image, employer of the future
Trees as an extra benefit
Effect: High / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
Have you ever thought about the possibility of linking your goods to a good deed?
Trees are a wonderful way to do this: they create habitats for endangered species, combat climate change and create jobs for local communities.
Three is three good deeds at once!
Of course you don’t have to plant them yourself, we or our experienced local partners will do that for you.
And there are almost endless other ways to integrate tree planting into your sales strategy and thus into your customers’ everyday lives.
But the best thing for you is that you can increase your sales.
The first step: Find out more on our B2B page or write to us directly!
Superpower: sales growth, outstanding image, employer of the future
Compostable packaging
Effect: Medium / Effort: Medium / Costs: Medium
For advanced users: Do you want to go one better when it comes to packaging, but reuse isn’t enough for you? Great!
What is the increase in reuse? Recycle. How great that there is also compostable packaging!
Landpack
is a specialist in environmentally friendly insulated packaging, specializing in chilled goods. They replace polystyrene packaging, such as that used for shipping food or life science products, with high-performance alternatives made from renewable raw materials.
The first step: Contact Landpack for your individual recycling shipment
Superpower: Employer of the future, Outstanding image
Clever & contemporary offline marketing
You can’t (yet) do without offline marketing. This is mainly because most people see it as more reputable and trustworthy than online advertising.
According to studies, printed content is remembered longer than if it was displayed via a banner, for example. Probably because people can remember something better if they have held it in their hands.
Our (digital) Green Business Guide offers you practical tips on how you can make your offline marketing more sustainable.
Download the Green Business Guide Spreadsheet so that you can access the tips at any time, even offline, and don’t forget them straight away…. ;
Flyers and brochures
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Medium
In general, you should of course reduce the amount of printed advertising material as far as possible. If you still regularly print flyers and the like, use recycled paper.
TheUmweltDruckerei certainly has the right solution for you for climate-neutral print products. Sustainability is viewed holistically here.
Recycled paper is standard without exception, vegan organic inks based on vegetable oil are used for printing, the electricity comes from renewable energies and production and shipping are climate-neutral. Any questions?
The first step: Towards climate-neutral printing
Superpower: Employer of the future, Outstanding image
Reduced, sustainable give-aways
Effect: Medium / Effort: Medium / Costs: Low
When it comes to giveaways, less is more: Fortunately, the days of lugging home bags of (pointless) promotional gifts from events are over.
Ecologically responsible giveaways should be both practical and made from recyclable materials such as bamboo, wood, cork or felt.
In addition to the smaller specialized stores, the large promotional product suppliers now also have a section with ecological alternatives.
The first step: Show me the sustainable giveaways
Superpower: Cost killer, Outstanding image
Questioning events
Effect: High / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
Which events and trade fairs are important, and how many employees really need to attend them? Do you still need the large exhibition stand with additional support staff and the entire team on site?
It is worth taking stock after each event and questioning the necessity of the “regular events”.
Many smaller meetings can now take place digitally. Try Zoom meetings.
The first step: Request a demo directly
Superpower: cost killer, productivity pro, employer of the future
Give yourself a break! With the Click A Tree Green Business Guide Spreadsheet you have access to our 40+ tips for more sustainable businesses at any time.
Download the sheet for later and don’t forget any more tips.
Digital Footprint
Every search query, every streamed video, every type of cloud computing is responsible for an ever-increasing global demand for electricity – and thus for rising CO2 emissions.
In the Click A Tree Green Business Guide, we provide sustainability tips that can reduce the scale of this increasingly important problem and/or provide carbon offsets for your business.
Use a sustainable search engine
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Low
The WWF Panda Search is a search engine like Google. The difference is that it invests the advertising revenue in WWF projects.
For you, this means nothing more than setting up WWF Panda Search as the default in your browser and using it to search the web as usual.
Search results are now generated by Panda Search and the ads that interest you now benefit our entire planet instead of a single company.
The first step: Set up Panda Search as the default search engine.
The article also contains further tips on how your browser can plant trees for you – why not share it with your team right away?
Superpower: Employer of the future
Reduces e-mail traffic
Effect: Medium / Effort: Low / Costs: Medium
Every 1 MB e-mail sent consumes around 20 grams of CO2. If you send ten emails a day for a year, that’s the equivalent of driving 500 km by car.
Studies also show how inefficient e-mail communication has become and how it disturbs the recipient’s concentration. Visual or acoustic signals are added when new messages are received.
The simplest solution to save CO2 and work more effectively at the same time is obvious: write fewer emails!
But how can this be implemented in the company?
Google Workspace offers a simple solution, for example, with the option of working on a document in parallel with colleagues or external partners.
Changes can be tracked in real time and discussed via the integrated chat or comment function – all without additional e-mail traffic.
The first step: Take a look at the Google Workspace solution
Pro tip: Any e-mail longer than five lines should be clarified over the phone. The same applies to appointments, as this avoids unnecessary writing back and forth. The Calendly app can help you find appointments.
Superpower: Productivity Pro, Happiest Team, Employer of the Future
Goes for a green e-mail provider
Effect: Medium / Effort: Medium / Costs: Low
A secure, sustainable e-mail provider for business customers is mailbox.org. The energy-saving servers in the Berlin mailing service provider’s data centers naturally run on green electricity.
Important for your business: Encryption is a top priority at mailbox.org, both when accessing the mailbox and when exchanging emails with other email services.
There are special tariffs for companies that offer more storage space, separate mail accounts and shared document storage, among other things.
The first step: Request advice or move to mailbox.org
Superpower: Employer of the future
More sustainable business tips?
These were our 40+ business hacks that we have compiled in a compact Green Business Guide to make your company more sustainable.
Thank you for valuing our beautiful world and doing your best to make your business more sustainable. By doing so, you are actively helping to make our world a better place.
Have we forgotten one of your best eco-conscious tips for companies? Leave us a comment here so that we can include it in the next update of our Green Business Guide.
Last but not least: Get our spreadsheet to get all the tips in one place and make your business more sustainable.
Thank you for being so great!