Role of business in environment protection

COURTESY : vantage-logistics.com.vn

Therefore, along with investing in green technologies, seeking alternative sources of materials to reduce the impact of business activities on environment, businesses also need to impose appropriate solutions such as  using energy reasonably, reducing unnecessary usage of printing paper, which not only saving costs but also reducing the explotiation of natural resources, especially forest resource – the main raw material for paper production.

At Vantage, below is what we are doing. We follow 3R method: Reduce – Reuse – Recycle when using paper at our office:

– Reduce:
+ Only print when necessary.
+ Print two-sided documents.
+ Go digital. Use e-mail instead of paper memo.
+ Proofread! Thoroughly check the document for typos and other errors to avoid having to print again.
+ Fit into a single page. Reduce the font size, shrink the margins, reduce the space taken up by the footer and header. Check the print preview before printing to ensure the integrity of the content.

– Reuse:

+ Reuse paper that is clean on one side for in-house drafts, notes and photocopies.
+ Reuse cardboard boxes of the right size to keep a stack of such reused paper, clean side up, near printers and copiers.
+ Conduct research online and at libraries rather than ordering lots of written materials.
+ Share periodicals with associates instead of receiving multiple copies.

– Recycle and buy recycled:

+ Collect office paper, newspapers, cardboard, magazines, and colored paper scrap wood and send for recycle.
+ Buy copier paper, paper towels, tissues, and toilet paper with “post-consumer recycled” content. The higher the post-consumer content, the greater the amount of materials that have been through the entire recycling process – and the greater the savings of precious natural resources and energy.

Besides, the development of information technology nowardays also helps employees at Vantage completing their tasks with less paper. Take advantage of email, public folders, open sources to store documents, vouchers, receipts…; only print when really needed; this help us minimize paper usage, while also saving time and costs on operation. Preliminary statistics at our company show that, by using cost-effective measures and using reasonably available technologies, we can reduce paper consumption by 10-20%.

Each of us understands one thing, the responsibility of protecting the environment does not belong to any individual or organization, but all of us. Living and doing business environmentally responsible, is also responsible for ourselves, as well as the future generations.