Summary: Are your employees constantly leaving on lights in storage rooms, restrooms, and other areas? They may be hurting both profits and the environment. A simple device can keep your energy use under control, even if no one is around to remember to turn off the lights.

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It’s not uncommon for common-area lights to be left on in the office, even when that room or area isn’t in use. How many of your employees turn off the restroom lights when they leave? What about the file room? Or the break area?

There’s an easy way you can keep your company’s electric bill under control while being more environmentally friendly. Install timers on those lights often left on.

When you install light timers, you ensure lights are automatically turned off even if the staff forgets about it.

Summary: How effective would it be to turn off, or turn down, the lights in your business to save energy? Would it cause any problems? Is it a realistic option for all types of business? Today I’d like you to weigh in on this green business tip, based on a local business’ attempts to be more eco-friendly.

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OK, so not exactly “mood lighting,” but today I witnessed one of my local grocery stores’ efforts to go green – they were turning out lights all over the store (not all of them, but every few lights was kept off).

Would you do the same thing? A lot of green business efforts are done with green marketing in mind – done to convince customers to spend even more money because you’re being environmentally conscious. In this case, I wonder if it has an adverse effect. I tend to find bright grocery stores more appealing – frankly they seem “cleaner.” I’m not saying they shouldn’t conserve energy, but I wonder if there are better ways to do it. (In this particular case, I doubt the company was doing much good – or at least it seemed hypocritical to try to cut energy while they then wasted paper and energy for printing up all of the full-color glossy fliers – which were put up everywhere a light was out.)

Do you think this could work for other types of small businesses? I can see it being a problem in offices where you need light to see what you’re reading, writing, etc. and simply to be more productive. But I’m sure there are office areas used less frequently that could do without as much lighting.

What about retail locations? Do you think it could work well for them, or would being green in that sense perhaps make for a less appealing shopping experience for customers? Can you think of specific types of businesses where turning down the lights (or turning them off) could be a good move without damaging other areas of the business? Would you do it in your own business?

Visit these green business resources online to find out how your business can go green and be more environmentally-friendly.

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As you may have noticed, green business is the latest section here at BizAmmo. I don’t claim to be the most eco-friendly entrepreneur, although I’m a big believer in trying to be as environmentally-conscious as you can be, especially if you can make simple changes towards going green that won’t interfere with your day-to-day operations. Everyone can do at least a little bit, right?

But today I’d like to turn the focus to online resources where you can delve far deeper into green business issues, with experts who can teach you far more than I. Enjoy.

• GreenBiz.com
• State of Green Business 2008 Report
• SustainableBusiness.com
• The Green Office
• TreeHugger Green Business & Politics
• Green Business Guide (from the US government)
• Green Business Articles from AllBusiness.com

Do you have other favorite resources for green business tips, advice, or support? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Going green with your small or home business can start as simply as changing a light bulb. Find out why you should give fluorescent lights a chance to be a bit more friendly to the environment.

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Whether you’re working in a home office all alone or in an external office with employees, you may be able to go at least a little bit greener by updating some of your lighting.

If you’re using standalone lamps (as opposed to fluorescent ceiling lighting or something similar), you may be able to swap your bulbs for fluorescents that are not only better for the environment, but also better on your wallet (while they may cost more up front, they can last much longer than incandescent bulbs, saving you money in the long run).

Or, if you want to swap out your entire lamp, you may want to purchase a natural spectrum lamp for your desk. These also use energy-saving bulbs. I tried a few models and didn’t think they gave enough light personally, but I live on the north side of my apartment building, where it’s also shaded quite a bit, so I get almost no natural light to begin with.

My work lamp is my one “bad” lamp energy-wise, but was the only one I found giving me the light options I needed (a halogen with a dimmer, so I can keep it bright when I need to focus, or dim for late night writing). If I ever find a UV spectrum lamp that compares to it for my lighting needs, I’d love to switch though, so if you use one, feel free to leave your recommendations.

Even if your business can’t go green by changing all of your own practices, you can still be more environmentally friendly – find out how.

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Is your business already a green business? Do you want to go green, but there are certain aspects of your business that you simply can’t change? No worries. Most green businesses aren’t 100% green, and even if you can’t make all of the changes you’d like (whether options aren’t available where you are, or if you can’t afford to make some changes for example), you can still get involved in the green scene. How? By getting involved!

Going green doesn’t just mean using sustainable resources, recycling, and cutting various forms of waste. Your business can be more environmentally friendly by getting involved with events and organizations working to improve environmental issues. Here are some examples of things you could do:

• Donate a portion of profits to an eco-friendly organization.
• Get involved in a community sponsorship (such as having your company participate in an adopt-a-highway program or something similar).
• Make a one-time donation to an organization.
• Find ways to encourage employees to be more green (like incentives to carpool).
• Make a company commitment to making a difference – maybe your company can vow to plant a certain number of trees each year, or to do fund raising throughout the year with a specific goal set ahead of time).

Summary: Save time, money, and even the environment by holding virtual meetings with online meeting software or webinar applications.

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Technology can be a wonderful thing for the small business owner, can’t it? It saves us time, allows us to work more productively, and can save us money. It can also help your small business go green.

One type of green business technology used increasingly is virtual meeting or webinar applications. Sure, you could always just pick up a phone or send an email rather than making a physical appointment for a meeting, but sometimes even a conference call just won’t cut it. You may need to do an all-out presentation with more interaction. Online meeting and webinar applications let you do that.

So how do virtual meetings help the environment?

• You’re not driving or flying to get to meetings.
• You can avoid distributing print materials to save paper.
• You don’t end up with waste often associated with face-to-face meetings and conferences (from water to food containers if you order out or have it catered, depending on the type of meeting).

So be a little bit more green the next time a colleague or clients wants to conference with you, and find a way to do it virtually.

Summary: One thing small business owners can do to become a green business is to cut down on the amount of paper they use. Find out how you can go green by decreasing the amount of paper your company uses.

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OK. So I know most business can’t go completely paperless. But chances are that your business can significantly cut down on its paper consumption (going green by contributing less to deforestation issues to save trees).If you work independently as a freelancer, chances are that you can cut down almost entirely on your printing, not only helping the environment, but saving money on ink, toner, and paper as well. This is the boat I fall into, which was easy for me as I work entirely online. Even if you don’t, you can still work towards becoming a green business by making some simple changes.Digital Filing

I keep all of my client files on the computer, and when I chose to go this route I also backed up all of my old print files onto my hard drive and backup discs. I can pull them up, add notes, make changes, etc. at any time without having to ink up paper or re-print new copies of something. I also find that digital files are wonderful when you’re looking for something. You can do a simple search using a tool like Google Desktop, and find what you’re looking for in a snap.

Digital Faxing

You no longer have to waste paper to receive faxes. You can use any number of fax-to-email options. People send you a fax in a traditional way, and you’ll receive the file via email (which you can digitally review or file away). In addition to helping you go green, it gives you the convenience of being able to access faxes from anywhere, such as when you’re away on a business trip.

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Digital Invoicing

When I invoice clients, I do so entirely online. I’ve never mailed an invoice. I usually use online billing through my payment processor / online account, and when someone wants to pay via check or money order, I simply email them the invoice in a Word file, and save a copy to my client files on my computer.

Re-use Paper

When I do need to print something (as a writer, for example, sometimes it’s simply easier to edit from a print copy), I always try to re-use the paper – print on the reverse side the next time I have to do something similar. These kinds of projects are rare for me, but they significantly cut down on the paper I would otherwise use.

If you run a larger business than just yourself, consider recycling used paper from your employees (obviously not confidential materials though), by having them turned into note pads. I remember my old college used to do this – they’d make recycled flip note pads for the office staff and professors to use for scribbling notes. They’re great for things like to-do lists, notes, or phone messages.

Digital Bookkeeping

With the wide variety of accounting software available, you can even keep all of your financial records on your computer instead of keeping the books in paper format.

What other things do you do to cut down on the amount of paper you’re using in your efforts to go green with your business?