AlertPay is no longer the tiny office it once was in 2004 with only 6 employees. 7 years later, we have over 100 employees and are still growing. With a bigger office comes a sizable concern: environmental sustainability. The more people there are in a company, the more office space, furniture, energy and water is used, and also the more waste is potentially produced.
Over the last couple years, we at AlertPay have been making a concerted effort to be more environmentally-conscious. Why? Because tonnes of carbon emissions result from electricity and paper wastage, unimaginable amounts of garbage is trucked off to landfills and vast amounts of water is wasted as if it were not the precious resource it truly is. We want to share our efforts with you in hopes of further improving our own practices and yours too!
Here is a list of the things we do to lessen our footprint on the environment:
- Recycling plastic, paper and glass. We have several bins throughout the office.
- Composting organic waste. This is made possible by organizations like Composte Montreal.
- Taking public transit. The vast majority of AlertPay employees use the "BMW" model to get to work every day (Bus, Metro, Walk).
- Printing as little paper as possible. Because we are an online company, we don't use as much paper as would other types of companies. Almost all communication and documentation is electronic.
- Reusing printer paper. When we do have to print, we try to print on both sides or reuse the other side for later printing. Some of us use printer-paper scraps as note paper.
- Turning off computers at the end of every day. This saves lots of electricity AND money.
- Using reusable mugs for tea, coffee and other beverages. We recently phased out paper cups for our coffee machine.
- Bringing our own breakfasts and lunches in reusable containers to cut down on take-out container wastage. The majority of AlertPay employees only go out for lunch occasionally.
- Selling and recycling e-waste. Big companies go through a lot of hardware which can end up in landfills. We try to sell used computers to employees, friends and family, but we're also in the process of finding an e-waste disposal service provider who will recycle it to make new electronics.
What you can do to start greening your life and your office
There are many things you can do to reduce waste in your life and in the office. Here is a list we have compiled to help get you on the right track:- Avoid printing paper when possible. If you have to, make sure to print on both sides and use paper made primarily of post-consumer material.
- Shut down your computer(s) at the end of the day and save energy and money. Lots of it.
- If feasible, composting is a great way to reduce the amount of garbage you produce. If you use a company like Composte Montreal, they can deliver the castings (worm poo from vermicomposting) so you can start an office garden and better nourish your office plants.
- Car pool or take public transportation.
- Work from home or allow your employees to work from home to cut down on office space, furniture, energy (from electricity and transportation) and e-waste.
- Start a "Meat-Free Monday" campaign and organize monthly potlucks. Cutting down on meat consumption can help reduce pollution, alleviate world hunger (instead of using the grain to feed cows for human consumption, feed the grain to people - 8 kilograms of grain only produces 1 kilogram of meat), improve your health and champion animal welfare.
- Use "Energy Star" or similar energy-efficient appliances to save on electricity and money.
There are many more things you can do to lessen your business's impact on the environment, and if you're interested, check out the links below:
- 38 ways to turn your business green
- 50 ways to green your business
If you are wondering what's the point of "greening" your business, there are many reasons, the primary being plain old environmental responsibility. But second on the list is the bottom line. You can save a lot of money by cutting down on electricity, hardware, paper and office supplies, office space (with the use of VPN), and more. If you sell a product, look into eco-friendly alternatives since that's what people want. Switching to or offering some green products could mean an increase in profit.
How does AlertPay offer a green alternative?
Since we're an online company and offer an electronic service, we're environmentally-friendly for customers by default, but there are other eco-perks to choosing AlertPay. Rather than drive to the bank to send a remittance to family and friends, you can save on gas and time and send money from your AlertPay account instantly. It takes only a few moments to set up an account, and it's always free.
By providing an online platform through which merchants can sell their wares, we help them cut down on paper receipts and office/commercial space which can amount to a lot of resource wastage. One way to cut down on the distance the goods have to travel before they get to you is to shop as locally as possible. We all have to do our part.
We are proud to be one of many companies attempting to be more environmentally-conscious. Lots of small changes translate into major positive long-term changes.
Thanks for reading!
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