10 affordable ways to become a green business

The guide outlines low-cost strategies for businesses to become 'green', focusing on energy efficiency, waste reduction, and sustainable procurement. Key recommendations include switching to LED lighting, installing low-flow water fittings, reducing paper waste through digital receipts, and incentivising reusable coffee cups. It also suggests dietary shifts toward locally-sourced vegetarian options, eliminating standby power consumption, implementing bike-to-work schemes, composting food waste, and purchasing second-hand furniture. Additionally, it advises employers to select ethical, green investment funds for employee pensions.

• Switching from incandescent and fluorescent bulbs to LEDs reduces costs and environmental impact, as LED bulbs last an average of 35,000 to 50,000 hours and generate significantly less heat than incandescent bulbs, which release 90% of their energy as heat.
• Businesses can reduce water consumption by installing low-flow fittings, such as screw-on aerators costing less than £10, or upgrading to Energy Star-rated dishwashers that use 2-4 gallons per cycle compared to older models using up to 15 gallons.
• Paper waste costs UK businesses £15 billion annually; the guide suggests mitigating this by using email receipts and scanning documents instead of photocopying.
• Less than 1% of disposable coffee cups in the UK are recycled because the plastic lining must be separated from the paper, a process only three UK plants can perform.
• Adopting a veggie-only menu can reduce a cafe's carbon footprint by up to 70%, particularly when sourcing produce locally to avoid the emissions associated with livestock farming, which accounts for 20% of global greenhouse emissions.
• Turning appliances off at the wall prevents power draw from standby mode, which costs the average household £80 per year and more for businesses.
• Implementing bike-to-work schemes can reduce an employee's carbon footprint by approximately 1,500kg of greenhouse gas emissions annually for a 10km each-way commute.
• The UK hospitality and food industry wastes nearly one million tons of food annually, with over half going to landfill and only 100,000 tons being composted.
• Employers are encouraged to use ethical pension funds, such as those offered by NEST, to avoid investing in fossil fuels or arms companies, noting that green investment funds often outperform the market.

APA

Nobly, J. P. (2018). 10 affordable ways to become a green business. Green Economy Coalition. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/10-affordable-ways-to-become-a-green-business

Chicago

Nobly, Josh Phillips,. 10 affordable ways to become a green business. Green Economy Coalition, 2018. https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/10-affordable-ways-to-become-a-green-business.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nobly |first1=Josh Phillips, |title=10 affordable ways to become a green business |publisher=Green Economy Coalition |date=23 August 2018 |url=https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/10-affordable-ways-to-become-a-green-business |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nobly2018affordable, author = {Nobly, Josh Phillips,}, title = {{10 affordable ways to become a green business}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2018}, month = aug, url = {https://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/news-and-resources/10-affordable-ways-to-become-a-green-business}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }