In a (going) green South Africa, we have a number of challenges we face as citizens and as businesses. Ailing infrastructure and environmental challenges all affect our decision making in terms of how we run our businesses, and what this ultimately means to our bottom line. 

Some of the reasons you should consider going greener for your office, are:

1 The Environment

Not convinced? South Africa is a country that has water issues and going green can not only help reuse water that is harvested, but have a positive effect on your usage and footprint, thereby helping the environment.

2 Reduce waste and decrease costs

In 2012, the average business consumed 480,000 m3 of water/year – this equals 2 million, 400 thousand barrels of water! The sad thing is: more than 20% of that water is not needed. Within that, greywater can be reused and costs saved. There are some simple steps you can take to moving your office in a greener direction, which can improve efficiency and lower costs. 

Greener business report cost saving in: 

–  15% reduction in paper consumption & costs 

 – 20% reduction in water consumption & costs.

– 30% reduction in energy consumption & costs.

3 Go green for your public image (and increase sales)

People love organisations that ‘care’.

A side effect of a positive public image is that it tends to increase sales. Studies have shown that companies with green initiatives, and better still – green products, have witnessed an increase in their profits. Some big examples are Liberty and Walmart. For example, Walmart, after incorporating green initiatives, including recycling, enhancing transportation to reduce gas, and increasing stocks of green products, actually recorded a 20% increase in sales! 

Public image may not be the best motive for going green for many businesses, but the benefits coming with it are pretty attractive for any company.

4 Go green for your staff 

How does going green affect your staff? Well in a number of ways, but the main one is by providing a “healthy” atmosphere. For example, indoor air quality (IAQ) is typically two to five times worse than the air outdoors. Which means that staff working in unhealthy conditions have been noted to suffer health issues such as headaches and asthma. On the other hand, research shows that companies with better IAQ show less sick days taken and an improvement in staff productivity.

Another reason to take note of is the attraction and retention of talented employees. It’s become common practice to look for companies that are environmentally responsible. It has been shown that by taking a green initiative, employee morale and loyalty improves; and what do you get when you have satisfied employees? You’ve only to look at Google to answer that question.

If you want to find out how we can help you in your journey to increased health and productivity in your office, while decreasing your costs, get in touch with us now on https://www.envirowater.co.za/contact-us/.

Sources: Drivesouthafrica, Transparenci, Wamda