It’s crazy how much importance our society has placed on Going Green. I feel like I can’t get away from it. Wherever I go there it is, the go green message. So I thought that I would put together a few resources for small business owners looking to do their part for the environment. It really doesn’t take that much extra effort, or extra money, and you might find that a new habits can save time and boost productivity.

As a business owner the first step is to look at how your business is run now and decide if some, or all, of the daily routines can be accomplished by using less resources. If you have to use a lot of paper resources, plastics, wood, etc. then try and make sure they are recycled.

Environmentally Friendly Office Supplies

Today is your lucky day. Did you know that Office Depot has developed a product catalog that’s dedicated to only green office products, furniture and equipment? Check it out and order a free copy at the Office Depot Website.

A few time tracking and invoicing options that will make the environment happy.

Paperless Invoicing

Stop printing your invoices on paper and mailing them to your customers. Start using a paperless billing system. If you’re using Quickbooks then you should already be utilizing the paperless billing options, but if not here is an online solution called Freshbooks. Freshbooks offers online billing options as well as the traditional snail mail option. We’re not suggesting the snail main services.
 
One free option is using paypal to send your invoices via email, and customers can pay online via a debit or credit card. Once your clients start paying online you will find your business getting paid quicker. You can also request a paypal MasterCard and use it for business expenses, at atm machines or transfer the money from paypal to a bank account.

Paperless Time Tracking

Believe it or not there are still companies keeping track of their time with paper time sheets or punch in time cards. There are plenty of paperless options for time tracking like a digital system hooked up to a computer that runs specific software, or online options for a small monthly fee, but sometimes they are free. Freshbooks has time tracking abilities. Timefox is for creative professionals like myself. I have used Timefox for years, and it’s really boosted my productivity. A free option is Clocking It or Creative Office Pro.

There is undoubtedly ways that every business can decrease the mark they are putting on the environment, so look hard and you might find that you like going green you’re your business. Just be sure to stick to your plan.