Environmental awareness 'saves money'

The implementation of environmental politics within the workplace can reduce costs for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), it has been claimed.

While an environmentally-conscientious firm may be potentially attractive to employment candidates, according to comments made by a representative from Envirowise, an improved sense of green initiatives by an SME can reduce costs, as many environmental measures can be implemented at no expense.

Indeed, according to the organisation, up to 85 per cent of possible measures can be implemented cost-free.

"Some initiatives do have costs and if they do, you may want to look at payback periods," said the organisation's representative.

"But in general it makes good business sense because the amount of waste you are reducing and the raw materials that you save, the money you are saving, goes straight to your bottom line," he added.

Envirowise is a UK-based organisation specialising in issues relating to business and the environment.

Among the possible methods which firms could implement include not wasting water or lighting.