Environmental Sustainability: It's Easy Being Green

Remember - We are the stewards of our planet and as such, have the responsibility to tread lightly on the Earth and prevent the abuse of natural resources. Therefore, strive to be a model of environmental stewardship by incorporating ideals of sustainability into the operations of your dealership and in the daily life of your executives, staff members & partners.

The steps that could be taken up include:

▪	Recycle what you use: Recycle paper, aluminium, plastic, and glass. Recycle electronic and office products, return printer and ink cartridges to the manufacturer, and donate used equipment to the organisations serving the poor in your neighbourhood.
▪	Reduce what you use: Try to make your office as paperless as possible. Absolutely no memos are circulated internally, all correspondence between your staff members should be electronic. Don't even print emails for record keeping, only keep records that are mandated by law in paper format, the rest should be saved in electronic format. Print on both sides of the paper. Turn off equipment when not in use. This means turning off not just the equipment or appliance itself, but the surge protectors as well to avoid phantom power usage. At night, turn off all equipment to conserve. All your lighting is energy saving and your appliances CFC-free and energy-efficient. Even turn off AC when you step out of the office even though in oppressive heat it takes a while for the room to cool.
▪	Use green products: Recycled paper though is four times as expensive but make every effort to use primarily recycled paper and soy-based inks for all your print materials. Also try to ensure that the content you write has a long lifecycle, so that you are not constantly updating and reprinting materials. In terms of physical products used in the office, use melanin crockery and steel cutlery that is washed after its use. Use green or biodegradable cleaning supplies when available even though they are 5 times as expensive than regular ones.

 
Environmental Sustainability: Beyond Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Reusing, recycling, and reducing can help save the earth, but a number of new services cater to companies that want to do even more for the environment. Luckily, they don't all come with a high price tag. Some ideas include:

▪	Switch to green energy: There are number of alternative energy providers in the market today whose fees are not very different from those of your local fossil-fuel power plant.
▪	Build green: Build green from scratch. The benefits of building green from scratch besides saving the environment have been ▪  Lower operating costs ▪  Reduces waste sent to landfills ▪  Conserves energy and water q Healthier and safer for your staff ▪  Reduces harmful greenhouse gas emissions ▪  Demonstrates your commitment to environmental stewardship and social responsibility.
▪	Market responsibly: Engage in Green marketing which means that you do the bulk of your marketing online and when you have no recourse but to print you do it on recycled paper and with soy based inks whenever possible.
▪	Offset your carbon output: Also offset your carbon output by planting trees all over your cities of operation, in your headquarters and in your residences.

 
Need of the hour is that each individual reduces his/her energy and carbon footprint - no matter what business they are involved in!