Eco Friendly Products for Companies
From small homes to large businesses, it seems like everyone is on a mission to “go green”. Going green however, can mean different things in different situations. For some companies, it can mean making a change toward actually producing eco friendly products. For others who cannot produce them, going green can simply mean using products that are more environmentally and ecologically friendly.
Eco Friendly Furniture
As companies become more aware of the effects that they have on the natural world, they also become more willing to use and employ eco friendly products in their everyday practices. The simplest way for a company to go green and make itself more eco friendly is by using eco friendly furniture. Furniture pieces represent some of the most popular eco friendly products for companies looking to jump on the green bandwagon.
Eco friendly furniture is made with environmentally friendly materials, and created in an environmentally friendly manner. Some companies may reduce the amount of material that they use in producing a piece of furniture. Other companies may use natural, raw, and/o renewable materials when manufacturing their furniture. Some parts of the furniture can be made out of recycled materials or wood from sustainable yield forests. Some furniture manufacturers have begun using bamboo, for example, in many of their products, especially since bamboo is a renewable resource that is both visually appealing and functionally sensible.
In some companies, the production process matters more than the actual materials used. These companies take a different road to going green by producing their furniture in ways that produce little or no emissions. Manufacturers may choose to use non-toxic colors or dyes in their upholstery material, or they can also elect to put their furniture together with natural glues rather than with synthetic ones.
Other Eco Friendly Products for Companies
Besides making a move to using eco friendly furniture, companies of any size can make themselves greener in a variety of ways. The changes do not have to be as dramatic as developing a new manufacturing process, but even the smallest change can have dramatic effects on a company’s efforts to help the environment.
• Depending on what products a particular company produces, it may consider using materials that are biodegradable, recyclable, or made from other recycled products in its own manufacturing process. By doing so, companies can do their part to make sure that resources that are already limited are not overused.
• Additionally, eco friendly products can be introduced to other aspects of a company. For example, a company can choose to be cleaned with green or natural products (Miller). Most companies that manufacture cleaning products are taking note of the changing attitudes toward the environment and are doing their best to develop natural-based cleaners for home and office use.
• In the company restroom, companies can choose to use eco friendly soaps, recycled toilet paper and paper towels, or hand dryers that do not use paper towels. In most cases, the installation of one electric hand dryer can save as many as 34 trees in a single year (Muhlhausen)
• Another easy way for a company to go green is to replace old light bulbs with what are known as CFL’s, or compact fluorescent light bulbs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, just one compact fluorescent light bulb can save a home or business up to $30 a year (U.S. Department of Energy). For a small business, making the change to fluorescent light bulbs can mean a savings of more than $1300.
Written by Martin Jauregui
References
Miller, L. “Products to Break the Chemical Habit and Get Eco Friendly.” The New York Times 19 July 2007.
Muhlhausen, E. “So, what’s with those electric hand dryers?” University of Columbia News Service 15 April 2008.
Roosevelt, M. “Going Green May Be L.A. Law.” The Los Angeles Times 16 February 2008.
United States Department of Energy. 5 July 2008. U.S. Department of Energy. 7 July 2008 http://www.doe.gov/energyefficiency/index.htm
