Adjust PS is frequently being approached for help and support by businesses who are increasingly being critiqued on their treatment of green and environmental issues. Often the most highly visible aspect of a green business plan includes purchasing and the supply chain. Suppliers are being held to a higher standard, subjected to greater scrutiny and expected to respond to these challenges.

Procurement solutions to the environmental question can be achieved using business models already in place. These types of systems and processes are already applied to cover non-green issues when firms are dealing with their suppliers. Supplier audits already include checks for compliance with other regulations governing workforce diversity, workplace conditions, etc, so that the same model can be applied to cover environmental standards. Requesting environmental information is asking suppliers to become more accountable and then this information can be put into a balance scorecard to measure their performance, creating an incentive for them to improve.

By involving suppliers early and often in product, process, and strategic decisions that impact them, it is possible to reduce the potential negative fall-out from any changes. Add suppliers to planning teams to implement design for environment initiatives and, within your own company, seek to collaborate at multiple levels, involving the technical personnel that plan and manage day-to-day operations.

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Not only do businesses have a social and environmental responsibility to be as green as possible, many businesses are finding that their employees have a strong and compelling desire to do what they can to reduce their environmental footprint. There are now so many ways businesses can ‘go green’ – environmentally friendly shopping bags, education and energy-saving devices are just some of the ways businesses can make changes and implement environmentally sound practices.

In many work places, recycling, reusing and reducing have become ingrained in work culture and practices. Employees generally feel positive and motivated to engage in environmentally friendly behaviours. However, in order to make changes that are effective, they must be simple, easy to implement and simple and easy for people to follow.

Here we give ten straightforward ways for businesses to behave in even more environmentally friendly ways.

1) Cutting back on the electricity used in the office is one way for a business to be more green. A range of eco-friendly products are available, including LED lamps that are approximately 90% more energy efficient in their use of electricity than incandescent bulbs.

2) Consider using specialised software products in your business that are designed to switch off computers at the end of each day or reduce the number of pages that are printed when printing directly from the web. Programs such as these are significant in reducing energy consumption and other wastage and are easily participated in by employees.

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