Smart Shopping- Reducing the Carbon Footprint in the Retail Industry

The retail industry is one of the largest consumers of energy in the entire world. This means that they burn more fossil fuels and release more emissions than most other industries. This translates into a large carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is the overall amount of emissions that your particular company is releasing into the atmosphere. Many businesses in the retail industry use a constant flow of electricity to preserve their products, and to power their stores. While much of this is necessary to keep things running smoothly, there are definitely things they can do to reduce their carbon footprint. This is an industry that requires many different products to enable their every day activities. Focusing on these products is a great way to become more environmentally friendly. If retail companies pay attention to what they buy, the amounts they buy, and the reasons they are buying them, they can significantly reduce the damage that they’re doing to the environment.

Becoming more environmentally friendly and reducing the carbon footprint is a cooperative effort. A retail company needs to consider products that are both recycled and recyclable. They also need to look at the way that these products will be used. Reusable products will always be a better option than ones that need to be thrown away on a daily basis. It’s very important to find a retail supplier that understands the necessity of reducing your carbon footprint. Chances are, they will have several options that can help to improve your business in an environmentally friendly way.

Taking a running inventory of the way that you use each product within the business is a great way to determine exactly what changes need to be made. Look for the areas responsible for the most waste, and see what you can do to make responsible changes. You’ll find that even small things like recycled paper bags can make a big difference. Most of us are aware of the problems that plastic shopping bags pose on the environment. Switching over to the recycled paper ones is a significant step in the right direction. Consider using some of these other products to improve your relationship with the environment:

Reusable Shopping Bags

Any time that you have a product that can be used over and over again you are reducing waste. Find a retail supplier that offers reusable shopping bags. These will be sturdy but still cheap enough to purchase on a larger scale. The retail company should also be able to put your logo on these, and to provide them in several different sizes. Not only is this great for the environment, it’s also a great way to advertise.

Responsible Packaging

Have you ever received a large box in the mail, and opened it to discover something relatively small? This is a major example of waste in the retail industry. There are many different products that can reduce the size of the packaging, and the size of the wasted materials. Try purchasing things like sturdy envelopes instead of putting smaller items in larger boxes.

Try Crinkle Cut Shred

Styrofoam and plastic aren’t necessarily the best choices when it comes to packing materials. Consider trying crinkle cut shred. This is essentially accordion folded shredded paper that are able to absorb impact and cushion your belongings. You can even find this product in many different fun and innovative colors. This helps to make packaging both festive and functional. This is one of several products that is just as effective as the alternatives, and much better for the environment.