07 Jan Make Sustainable IT Your New Year’s Resolution
Sustainability.
It’s a bit of a buzzword right now. Every day more and more businesses are hopping on board the sustainable train, looking for new ways to change their practices and make a positive impact on the environment, instead of a negative one. This is mainly because of the increased awareness of the climate crisis, and the general dedication of the population to saving the world before it’s too late. For businesses, sustainability should be a target we are all aiming for, which is why we want to encourage you to take even a small step towards sustainability this year.
Why is Sustainability Important?
If you’re looking at it from a purely moral standpoint, sustainability should be a number one priority. If we want to save the planet and reverse the impact of climate change, then businesses simply cannot continue to operate as they have been in previous years.
Case in point – between 2001 and 2018, climate researchers logged 16 of the hottest years on record, significant rises in natural disasters (including flooding, earthquakes and wildfires, as we seeing in Australia right now), and are predicting that the Arctic Ocean will be completely ice-free by the middle of this century. It’s really sobering stuff, and its businesses who can make a real difference.
Thankfully, businesses are now in a position where they don’t have to choose between morality and profit – because sustainability makes very real business sense. In fact, it’s been proven time and time again that green brands will grow around 50% faster than non-green ones, which is one reason sustainability has shot to the top of the priority list. A few other reasons include:
- Customers genuinely care about sustainable brands, and seek out businesses who are investing in sustainability to buy from.
- It saves businesses money both in the short and the long term.
- Businesses focussed on sustainability are more likely to hire and retain top talent
- It manages and mitigates risk, keeping your business going for longer.
To name just a few.
What Can Businesses Do?
IT is one of the most wasteful areas of many businesses, even if they don’t realise it. The environmental cost to technology is enormous, and the rapid pace at which it changes means often businesses are causing enormous amounts of waste, either directly or indirectly by driving demand. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are just a few ways your business could commit to sustainability in IT, helping make a real difference in 2020.
Reuse Where You Can: Reuse is one of the key tenants of sustainability and waste reduction. 9/10 when an IT asset it retired there is actually nothing wrong with it – it’s just that the business needs (or wants, as is more common) something newer, shinier or faster for that specific purpose. But instead of throwing that equipment away, look for ways you can reuse it within the business.
Recycle As Much As Possible: Nearly 100% of e-waste (electrical or computing waste) is recyclable, yet a huge amount ends up in landfill. Here they will not decompose or degrade, but they will cause environmental damage thanks to some of their components, like plastic, metal and glass. So instead of throwing it away, dispose of your IT equipment responsibly with a business who can strip it down and recycle it, allowing for future use and a huge saving on energy.
Buy Second Hand: Did you know that producing a computer monitor from new takes at least 1.5 tons of water, 48lbs of chemicals and 530lbs of fossil fuels? But buying one second hand doesn’t! As we’ve already mentioned, the market is flooded with second hand, refurbished and nearly new IT equipment that will do exactly the same job as the new version, but without the extra cost or environmental impact.
Put A Sustainable Strategy In Place: Above all, the best thing you can do for sustainability in 2020 is to actually think about it, and include it in your planning. Sustainability strategy is an important part of business planning moving forward, and by analysing the way you use IT in your business through that lens, you may be able to save yourself a lot of time and money as well as significantly reduce your impact on the environment.
At Charterhouse Muller we work with businesses across the country, offering a secure and sustainable use for unwanted IT equipment, and we would love to help you too.
We prioritise refurbishment, reuse and recycling of all forms of IT and computer equipment, above just disposing of it, which makes us the perfect partner for your business sustainability strategy in 2020. Our experts can help with the reuse, recycling, recovery and even disposal of old technology, so that all you need to worry about is preventing the waste in the first place. If you would like to know more, just get in touch with the team today for more information.