| By :
Alison Withers
Copyright (c) 2010 Alison Withers As part of demonstrating corporate social responsibility (CSR) many businesses these days like to emphasis how environmentally friendly they are. There are plenty of ways to make a business premises more environmentally friendly. They include recycling all re-usable waste, like paper and glass, using biodegradable packaging, having staff bring in cups or mugs for tea or coffee rather than using plastic throw-away cups, trying to cut down on paper use by not printing out unessential documents and by communicating as much as possible by email, remembering to switch off lights and computers when not in use and perhaps encouraging employees to car share. There is, however, another way to cut energy use and reduce the carbon footprint that perhaps businesses have not considered. If you have a business that needs to keep paper records of customer and client information, which can be a legal requirement for organisations such as health authorities, residential homes, solicitors, will writers and accountants, the question is how and where are they being stored? All paper records cannot necessarily be converted to a digital version. It can take hours of staff time that might be better focused on the day's business. It may also not be practical to do it for older, historic records that have a legal validity only in their original form or may not conform to modern standardised paper sizes. However, it is worth considering how much floor space is being used within the business premises because it is additional space that has to be lit and perhaps also heated. As businesses are now required to record their energy and emission use it could cut the energy use by consolidating it all and storing it off site in a centralised self-store facility. Business archiving is not the only thing that can be centrally stored to reduce the carbon footprint. We know of an e-business in Ipswich, UK, that sells all its products online and keeps its stock in a self-store facility. The owner says it cuts down on the space, and therefore the energy that the business uses to as little as possible. Similarly, a children's centre in the town has a vast collection of donated toys for both indoor and outdoor use. By keeping the surplus in a self-store unit they have been able to protect outdoor play equipment in winter, to prolong its useful life, and rotate indoor play equipment to allow for cleaning, repairs and to ensure there are regularly new toys to keep the children stimulated. There are other advantages to centralising storage. It will help declutter the office and if using a self-store unit it is possible to install shelving or racking for stock or equipment, or filing systems for archiving so that any items the business needs to access quickly are easy to find. Rented self-storage facilities themselves contribute to energy efficiency since most self store units have heat or motion sensitive lighting indoors and for outside security. The advantages of using a centralised self-store unit can therefore give a business not only environmental advantages but also financial ones.
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