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04/03/2023 By Jason Bean Leave a Comment

How To Promote Sustainability as a Small Business Owner

When you start a business, you should ensure that its practices reflect your values. If sustainability is important to you, you can take steps to reduce your company's environmental impact while maintaining profitability and building a positive reputation. Today, Bnpositive Communication and Design shares some tips and resources to help you get started.

Prioritize Sustainability From the Start

You can make environmental responsibility central to your business from the beginning. When developing the idea for your business, research various sustainable options. For example, you can open a shop that sells eco-friendly household goods or start a company that offers green landscaping services. Look into your local market and find a niche that matches your skills and interests.

When creating your business plan, include a mission statement describing the purpose and goals of your company. A business plan should also describe the structure of your company. Forming an LLC is a good idea because you can limit personal liability while still being a flexible small business with simpler taxes and manageable paperwork.

You should research your state's unique regulations because the rules can vary. Save money by filing your own paperwork or using a formation service instead of expensive legal services. However, not all formation services are the same, so check reviews to make sure you’re getting the best deal.

Create an Eco-Friendly Workspace

Whether you work from home or operate your business from a separate building like a store or office, you should try to create a green work environment. For example, research shows that leaky faucets and running toilets can waste gallons of water daily, so you should not procrastinate repairs in the washroom and kitchen.

Also, if you’re involved in ecommerce, it’s obviously very important that your customers be able to browse and purchase from your site with ease. Luckily, you can try this platform and help to streamline the process for all involved, thus increasing customer satisfaction while maximizing efficiency.

In addition, you can encourage recycling by placing bins in convenient locations, such as near the printer or copier. You should also invest in reusable office supplies, like pens that you can refill. When buying furniture, look for second-hand and refurbished pieces. You can even use recycled materials and indoor plants to make your decor reflect your values.

Digitize and Reduce Paper Use

Paper may not seem expensive, but it has a significant environmental impact. Your business can take steps like using double-sided printing and unsubscribing from mailing lists to reduce paper waste. Digitizing documents and records can also help you use less paper. You can find digital alternatives for tasks like bookkeeping, maintaining records and sending faxes. You can also use paperless billing and invoicing. Select a pre-made invoicing template and add custom colors and a logo. Make sure you include your business's name and any relevant text. Then, you can create an invoice template that is consistent with your brand.

Improve Energy Efficiency

Making energy-efficient upgrades is good for the environment and your business's finances. You should shut down electronics and other energy-drawing equipment when not in use. Furthermore, consider replacing your lighting with more efficient LEDs. You can also significantly reduce your heating and cooling costs by fixing windows, sealing leaks and adding insulation. Keeping your HVAC system clean and well-maintained is a good idea, too.

Promote Your Green Values

Surveys show that customers value sustainability and look for companies with eco-friendly values. Featuring your green practices in your marketing and branding efforts can help you reach consumers whose environmentalist values align with your own. You should use recycled and sustainable materials when possible. Communicate the steps you take to reduce consumption and lessen your impact. Finally, listen to feedback and be willing to look critically at the entire supply chain that impacts your business.

Sustainable business practices, from energy-efficient building upgrades to paperless digital invoices, allow your company to make a difference. You can make eco-friendly changes while growing your business and your brand.

Bnpositive Communication and Design has been helping businesses and individuals with their technological needs for over 25 years. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

03/17/2016 By Jason Bean 3 Comments

LED Bulbs – Putting Cash Back into Families Pockets

Time was when incandescent bulbs were the default lighting choice for the home. However, incandescent bulbs are notoriously inefficient. Ninety percent of the energy entering the bulb ends being spent on heat. The other ten percent goes to lighting. Needless to say, consumers pay a lot for electricity on standard bulbs that needs frequent replacing.

Most would be surprised to know that the technology behind a home white light bulb was revolutionary enough to win a Nobel Prize, but it did. What makes LED bulbs so exciting? The efficiency and lifespan are two major factors.

A 6 to 8-watt LED bulb produces about 3.4 BTU's of heat per hour. An equivalent 60-watt incandescent bulb produces 85 BTU's per hour. The low BTU percentage of an LED bulb means that almost all the energy coming into it goes into lighting. With that kind of efficiency, it's easy to see why LED bulbs cost much less to operate than standard bulbs.

Next, there's the lifespan. An average incandescent bulb will run for approximately 1,200 hours. The average LED bulb will run for approximately 50,000 hours. It would take about 42 standard bulbs to last as long as one LED bulb. Combined with the lower electricity demands of an LED bulb, the savings are staggering.

For lamp users that like the option of a dimmer switch, LED bulbs like an e12 bulb offer that option. They are also more rugged than standard bulbs, which means they won't shatter if bumped. Cold weather is no problem for LED bulbs either. The have been shown to perform dependably in very cold temperatures. A residential electrician can help you get the right bulbs, as well as wire and configure them as you see fit. Giving your home nicely thought out custom and personalized lighting can make quite a difference. Therefore, look up services that provide electrical installation in Decatur, GA and nearby areas to get them installed.

Now that the advantages of LED bulbs has been explained, a true financial comparison is in order. In a house using thirty 60-watt bulbs, the average annual energy cost will be around $330. Thirty equivalent 6 watt bulbs will cost around $33. This is only the expense for electricity and does not count lifespan.

Factoring in lifespan, LED bulb savings rise precipitously. In a house using 25 bulbs, over the lifespan of 50,000 hours, the savings approach $6,700 over incandescent bulbs.

Consumers looking to buy a new computer, dining room set, or beds for the kids, can save up for these and other items quickly simply by switching to LED bulbs. The electric company gets enough money already. Give LED bulbs a try and keep the money in the family. Contact a professional electrician if you need help installing the lighting fixtures in your home.

01/28/2016 By Jason Bean Leave a Comment

How to Keep Your Cell-Phone Bills Down

Owning a cell-phone can be expensive, especially if you are a slave to the latest handsets and simply have to own the newest model. It can also be expensive making calls and using the internet if you are not careful. If your employer picks up the tab, you won't be too concerned, but if it's down to you to pay the bill every month, you need to start looking at ways to keep the costs down. So what is the best way to do this?

How Do You Use Your Phone?

Usage is very important. Some people make hundreds of calls, but rarely use their phone to access the internet. Others practically live and breathe Facebook and can't bear to be disconnected from their favorite social network. How you use a phone directly affects the tariff you need, so it is worth shopping around to find a tariff that works best for you. Our phones, among other technologies, can also do their part to keep us healthier!

Stick to Wi-Fi

Making use of Wi-Fi wherever possible will significantly reduce your cell phone bill at the end of the month. Data usage is responsible for a large percentage of most people's cell phone bill, particularly if you are logging into 4G networks. Restricting your internet use to Wi-Fi will save you a fortune. Or you can even get a NZ sim card which allows you to have internet worldwide at a cheaper price.

You can use public Wi-Fi hotspots when you are out and about, but at home make use of your home internet connection. Obviously you need to make sure you don't have any restrictions on your home broadband, because downloading music and large data files on a smartphone all count towards your monthly download usage.

For this reason, check what your current internet package is at home and if there are any restrictions on how much you can download in any given month or the Wi-Fi signal is poor, look for a different internet provider or visit https://www.attinternetplans.com/ to see what plans they are currently offering their customers.

Download a Usage App

It is easy to get carried away downloading music or spending hours on Facebook, but all this data usage adds up. Using free Wi-Fi is the most sensible solution, but sometimes this isn't possible and you won't have access to Wi-Fi. So if this is the case, download an app to help you keep a close eye on your data usage. That way you will have advanced warning when you are getting close to your limit.

Make Free Calls

Calls can be expensive, particularly if you are calling over mobiles. To keep these costs down, use apps such as Skype and WhatsApp to make internet calls instead. As long as the other person has the app installed on their phone, calls will be free. And even if they don't, calls will be cheaper than they otherwise would be.

Use Instant Messaging

Text messages can also be expensive if you don't have them bundled up in your monthly fees, but free messaging apps cost nothing, so use these instead if possible.

Don't spend more than you have to - if you follow the tips above your bill will soon come down.