With all the recent talk of the economy and the environment, I thought it would be relevant to look at some of the small things we, as individuals, can do to help our companies battle the economic downturn while saving our planet. Today, social responsibility is not only good PR, it makes good business sense. Here are some simple steps you can take to help your company go green while still keeping extra “green” in its pockets:

1. Unplug that printer. The average American uses approximately 700 pounds of paper a year. Imagine the cost savings of reducing paper consumption at the office, or even better, implementing a paperless office strategy. Simple strategies like replacing a traditional fax machine with a fax server and moving clients to electronic invoicing can cut operational costs and are better for the environment.

2. Shut down your desktop before heading out. Many companies have policies to leave personal computers (PCs) running all the time with no real justification. In fact, shutting down PCs overnight can reduce a company’s energy consumption by 10 percent—impacting its utility bill. Obviously, energy reduction strategies can go beyond the four walls of the office and have a real impact when strategically applied to the shop floor and other areas of production and distribution.

3. Cut back on traveling. One of the easiest ways to keep expenses down is to cut traveling to a minimum. Encouraging teleconferencing and Web conferencing is a cost-effective way to reduce your carbon footprint. Furthermore, applying similar cost-cutting measures to optimizing transportation and shipping methods is also a great way to reduce carbon emissions and bring your company’s costs down.

4. Bring your recycling habits from home to work. Social responsibility often gets lost when you leave your home and enter your place of work—evolving from something personal to a corporate obligation. The good news is that implementing and promoting regular habits of recycling and reuse in the workplace actually makes good business sense. In fact many organizations already have extensive strategies in incorporating recycled materials in the production of their goods.

5. Cut redundancies in your work. Oftentimes, we print multiple copies of reports that are reviewed and modified by multiple parties. Creating shared folders or a wiki can reduce the waste in redundant hard copies that are typically produced by e-mail attachments. Streamlining business processes and implementing lean principles are not only good business practices, but if implemented correctly, can help your company with its green initiatives.

In response to our readers’ thirst to understand how technology can address their green initiatives while still cutting costs, Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) has developed a Lean and Green Software Buyer’s Guide. In this guide, we’ll discuss some of the challenges that companies are facing in light of the changes to the economy, as well as the pressures of “going green.” We’ll talk about some of the high-level changes your business can make, with a focus on operational efficiency, and on how lean and green practices can both lead to the same result: efficient and sustainable business.

Download TEC’s Lean and Green Manufacturing Buyer’s Guide now!