10 tips for greening your startup

Danny Cohen from Gemini started a great thread titled “All Startups should be Green” (disclosure: Gemini is an investor in my company, outbrain). I couldn’t agree more (OK – I already confessed to being a tree hugger in the past…).

I thought the best way to promote this idea, is by listing 10 super-practical tips for things you can do in your startup and help the planet be a little better off:

1. Print double-sided: It never stops to amaze me how 99% of the office print-outs are done on a single-side of paper. You can easily save 50% of the paper consumption by simply checking the “print duplex” option in your printer settings (most office printers support this feature).
   The only documents that should be printed single-sided are: documents you need to feed into a fax or a copier, and final versions of legal documents (those will eventually end up in copiers down the road).
2. 
   Don’t do tchochkes[1]
   – This one is particularly annoying to me, because it’s a classic
   lose-lose-lose situation. It’s beyond me why any company wastes money
   on crap that no one even wants (who the hell uses a mouse pad?!?!),
   that reflects badly on your brand, and that absolutely sucks for the
   environment??[2]

3. Install a water filter – Bottled water is evil evil evil. There is not a single reason in the world to drink bottled water in an office environment. Instead, install a simple filter in the kitchen sink, and use that. You (or your employees) will also save a ton of money.
4. Print locally – I confess to making this stupid mistake many times in the past. If you’re going to exhibit in a big conference, you’re probably preparing a ton (literally) of marketing materials. The most obvious way to do this is – print everything with the printer closest to your office, and then FedEx it to the conference.
   But it turns out that boxes of paper are probably the most wasteful thing that you can stick on a plane. So instead, spend 10 minutes online and find a print shop that will take your PDF and run the print job locally (where “locally” means where you’re going to use the materials, not where your office is located…). Again – you’ll not only help save the planet, but also save big $$’s…
   This tip is especially true for companies in Israel…
5. …or even better – don’t print! – Even better than points #1 and #4 above is – don’t print at all! PDF’s are so much more friendly to the environment…
6. If you ship physical products, don’t package them with crap – Packaging materials, especially most of the foams and polystyrene (Kalkar for our Hebrew-speaking readers) are the worst offenders to the environment as they use up a lot of volume, and never break down.
7. 
   Embed green in your products – The best example I’ve seen recently is Google Maps. When you print a Google Map, this little message shows up on the paper… excellent! —>
8. Reduce junk mail – I use a service called GreenDimes, and I highly recommend it (though I think it’s US-only for now).
9. 
   Switch to CFL’s – This is a real no-brainer… switch your office lighting to CFL’s (compact fluorescent light bulbs), and you will not only help the planet, but also save $$’s on your electric bills.
10. Plant a tree – we sometimes get so obsessed with hybrids and recycling and forget the simple things. If you have a patio or a campus that allows for it – plant an occasional tree.

Have a good practical tip? List it in the comments below.

Also, if you found this useful, why not digg it and help spread the word?

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[1] I guess that ‘promotional crap’ is the best definition I can think of…

[2] I can guarantee you that the stupid stress balls you got for 2c-per-unit (logo slapping included) were not manufactured with
sustainability as the top priority…