Energy Conservation Practices for the Office

With the overwhelming increase in energy costs over the last few months, small businesses can cut costs by moving toward a more energy efficient or “green” work environment.

Here are a few tips small business owners can use to start this process:

• Promote telecommuting for some employees by utilizing free and inexpensive remote access software.
• Provide carpooling opportunities, and if possible, move to four ten-hour working days. This will save on gas and decrease energy costs by reducing the business’ hours of operation.
• Go paperless or significantly reduce the amount of paper used. This can be done by not printing emails or letters whenever possible. Instead of printing reports, store or transmit them in a digital format.
• Nothing is better than natural light, but when that type of lighting is not possible, use energy-efficient light bulbs such as compact fluorescent bulbs or LEDs instead of incandescent light bulbs.

Remember to integrate these ideas into your marketing strategy so clients or potential clients will appreciate your willingness to go green. Even though your efforts may seem small, keep in mind that when thousands of small businesses choose to do these things, it can have a significant impact on the environment.

Taking Care of Business to Merge with UtahPulse.com

In an effort to bring the most current, daily news and information for the business community in Utah, Zions Bank has partnered with other entities such as UtahPulse.com, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Center Utah and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to bring you the Daily Pulse, a daily newsletter with the most up-to-date news on matters affecting your bottom line.

The Zions Business Resource Center is happy to offer this free weekly message. In order to receive it, please sign up at UtahPulse.com. The “Taking Care of Business” newsletter will be phased into the Daily Pulse beginning July 14, so all subscribers will need to sign up before then.