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Carbon emissions are a hot topic these days, with the likes of Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion grabbing headlines seemingly every week.

However, beneath all the sensationalism lies a very clear message: pollution and climate change are very real issues that the world needs to address.

But why wait to take action? As Benjamin Franklin once said, don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

Tips for Reducing Your Company's Carbon Footprint

Reducing your carbon footprint doesn't necessarily mean you need to live off the grid in a self-sustainable cabin in the woods. It can be as easy as making a few small changes around the office.

Ready to get on the road to a greener workplace? Here are 3 great tips for businesses looking to shrink their carbon footprint into a baby step.

1. Go Digital

Perhaps the most obvious suggestion on this list, the first port of call for any business looking to reduce their carbon footprint should be to ditch paper and other physical mediums in favour of digital communications.

Giving up hard copies and focusing on digital documents can reduce waste dramatically, eliminating mounds of paper office-wide and saving space in the process.

For example, if you're seeking ISO 9001 certification for your business, you can reduce waste by working with a digital certification body instead of going the traditional route. Digital certification means fewer auditors on the road and less CO2 in our planet's atmosphere.

2. Recycle Waste

Whether your business is big, small or somewhere in between, your company can and will produce a variety of waste.

Introducing recycling points into the workplace is a logical step to help minimise any office waste that's created throughout the working day.

Meanwhile, even office appliances and hardware can be recycled when they come to the end of their working life, so think twice before you send that old photocopier or PC to the tip.

3. Video Conferencing

Thanks to modern technology, communication has come on light-years over the last two decades, meaning that travel is becoming increasingly unnecessary.

Where possible, it may be worth scheduling a video conference call instead of a face-to-face meeting, particularly if the latter requires lengthy travel.

Not only will it save considerable amount of time and fuel, it will also save your business money in the process. If that isn't incentive enough to go green, we don't know what is!

Find a USAS-accredited digital certification body >>

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As time goes by, consumers are becoming increasingly educated about the environment and the impact that human activity has on the Earth.

In 2014, a global survey showed that 55% of consumers are willing to pay higher prices for goods and services from businesses with environmentally-friendly business practices. By adopting eco-friendly practices, you will be enhancing your bottom line as well as the environment.

However, all of your efforts to go ‘green’ must be genuine if you want to advertise them. Consumers have the ability to penalise and punish organisations deemed to be misleading them with false claims of sustainability (known as ‘greenwashing’).

So, what can your business do to become more environmentally-friendly? Here are three simple steps to get the ball rolling:

1. Go digital with your documents – Going digital means less paper. Paper makes up around 35% of the planet’s waste stream, so by using as little paper as possible, you can help to reduce this waste.
   
   
2. Pull the plug – When the office is closed and everyone has gone home, switch off everything you possibly can before you leave. This includes computers, monitors, printers and other gadgets.
   
   
3. Work with other green companies – With such a huge emphasis on eco-friendly practices, working with like-minded businesses is a great way to promote your own green efforts. Building a ‘green network’ to make your whole supply chain as environmentally-friendly as possible can go a long way.

READ MORE: What are we doing to help the environment?

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Achieving ISO certification can be a long and arduous process that’s not only time-consuming but habitually inefficient.

Naturally, any one of those terms will likely be met with widespread disapproval from any self-respecting business owner. After all, who wants to willingly subject their business to laborious inefficiency?

Luckily, there is a new way to go about ISO certification and, much like the rest of the world these days, it’s digital, it’s online and it’s undoubtedly the future.

Better still, the future is already here!

Company Benefits of Digital ISO Certification

Digital ISO certification provides businesses with an efficient and economical way of attaining ISO accreditation online. Gone are the wearisome days and costly delays associated with the physical accreditation process, instead replaced with unobtrusive integration and online efficiency.

From a financial standpoint, digital ISO certification usually provides a cheaper option right away. Meanwhile, the demand on human resources is also far less taxing, freeing up man-hours and staff alike, allowing you to put those resources to better use elsewhere.

The online process also allows businesses to check whether or not companies are ISO certified, providing full transparency for all.

Environmental Benefits of Digital ISO Certification

Taking your ISO certification journey online naturally reduces the amount of paperwork involved which, in turn, positively benefits the environment. That much is fairly obvious.

However, what you may not have considered is that the online nature of digital ISO certification also removes the need for a physical auditor to attend your business premises in person, thus eliminating unnecessary travel needs.

While this may not seem like much, imagine if numerous companies took their ISO certification online and you multiplied the effect tenfold or more.

That travel would then translate into a notable difference in terms of fuel and CO2 emissions, thus making digital ISO certification ecologically as well as financially beneficial.

For more information on digital ISO certification or how to attain ISO accreditation online, why not drop us a line? Get in touch today by clicking the button below and we will aim to get back to you ASAP.

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In September 2019, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg sat before members of Congress and urged them to "take real action" on climate change.

"I don't want you to listen to me," said the 16-year-old. "I want you to listen to the scientists. I want you to unite behind the science and I want you to take real action."

Thunberg has become the face of a global youth movement that's seen young people all over the world walking out of their classrooms to attend climate protests. The impact of this campaign has been phenomenal - just take a look at the SchoolStrike4Climate hashtag on Twitter!

What is USAS doing to help?

We at USAS believe that everyone needs to take action in order to overcome the existential threat of climate change.

Our digital certification services are helping to reduce carbon emissions by taking auditors - and their cars - off the road for good.

We have already calculated that we have taken 25 auditors off the road, keeping 185 metric tonnes of CO2e out of Earth's atmosphere in the process!

Learn more about USAS and digital certification >

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