Eco-friendliness is an important consideration for all industries in the modern landscape of business, and digital marketing agencies are no less exempt from analyzing their own green efforts than any other trade. Consumers are increasingly eco-conscious, and research has shown that they’re more likely to back businesses that have committed to environmentally friendly business practices. 

Ready to help boost your digital marketing agency’s efforts to save the planet? Read on for five ways you can reduce your company’s impact on the environment. 

1. Go Paperless

Paper mailers, giant billboards and cardstock flyers were once the industry standards when it came to marketing campaigns, but contemporary digital marketing strategies have drastically altered both company and consumer behavior. Digital marketing efforts allow you to launch campaigns, specials, news alerts and new products without a single print ad. 

Not only does this reduce your company’s carbon footprint, but this strategy appeals to the modern consumers who may be found searching “solar companies near me” and want to support businesses that align with their own environmental ethics and personal ideals. 

2. Use Sustainable Materials

Eco-consciousness goes beyond the face of your company. In fact, much of the impact your agency has on the environment lies within the day-to-day operations that involve your office space, your employees and your company materials. 

Behind the scenes, make sure that your company is committed to eco-friendly procedures, and also utilizes suppliers that are committed to green practices, too. Use recycled materials in your workspace, eco-friendly wares, fuel-efficient transportation and sustainable office supplies at every level of your company, from using all recyclable notebooks to making the switch to wholly green company vehicles. 

3. Unplug 

Power usage is a growing environmental concern, as power generation requires the burning of non-renewable natural resources. Your company needs to stay plugged in and online in order to function and remain in business, but it’s likely that you could cut down on your overall power usage to reduce the strain on the power grid–and the environment at large. 

At the end of each night, consider powering down every electronic device in your office. If you can, make the switch to energy-efficient building components such as high-efficiency appliances, energy-saving light fixtures, programmable thermostats, single-switch power strips and ENERGYSTAR-rated equipment. Though you may not be able to transition your entire office space to an energy-efficient paradise overnight, even small changes done daily, or over a period of time, can make a difference. 

4. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Refuse

Eco-friendliness is as much a mindset as it is a practice. Cultivate a company culture of sustainability by ensuring that all of your team members are aware of your agency’s efforts to go green. When your employees are cognizant of your company’s own eco-endeavors, your business as a whole becomes a lot kinder to the planet. 

Make sure your team knows the importance of recycling in the workplace, and take measures to provide education on how to extend the lifespan of office equipment and how to make the most out of your company’s existing supplies through reuse. Consider refusing single-use items and reducing your company’s spending on supplies, instead providing reusable alternatives such as glass or metal drinkware, digital memo options, virtual message boards or calendars and recycling bins for plastic, glass and paper. 

5. Partner with Green Initiatives

Though marketing agencies are in the business of self-promotion, your company is also uniquely poised to offer your team’s talents to bolster other environmental agencies through your own business practices, too. Look to local environmental organizations or national initiatives and consider mutually beneficial partnerships that, of course, also benefit the planet. 

Your company can take action to support green initiatives through team-based volunteer work, seasonal promotions, company-led fundraisers or monetary donations to environmental organizations. When your agency teams up with an organization dedicated to sustainability, you’re able to pool your resources together to achieve personal business goals as well as your shared goals to take public action to protect the planet.