Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: How eBilling Can Help Your Company Join the Green Movement

Reduce, reuse, recycle. This is the slogan for “going green” and the lesson we are all supposed to take from the green movement. But, what does it mean?

Most green experts agree that these three actions should be integrated into your day-to-day business and personal life in this specific order. In other words, we must first try to reduce the amount of materials that we use to begin with. It is actually fairly easy to do. Instead of printing every document on paper, think first if it is necessary or if you can work with it electronically. Is it really necessary to buy a new printer or can your current printer be repaired? Choosing to reduce the materials we consume is not only green, but also friendly on the finances.

Next we come to reuse. Instead of throwing away a document that was printed incorrectly, reuse the back of each sheet of paper as scratch paper. Instead of buying a bottle of soda each day, buy one large bottle and drink out of a reusable cup or glass. These are small changes that we can each make every day that can really make a huge impact on the planet in the long run.

If we are unable to avoid using reusing materials that we already use, we can turn to recycling. Most offices have an abundance of paper, cans, bottles, etc. that can be recycled fairly easily and because of the quantity of recyclables, an initiative like this can really make a significant impact on the amount of garbage going to landfills from your place of business.

The biggest problem is that most people only consider the latter option…recycling. Most companies and individuals do not first consider where they can cut back on consumption. It really is in the best interest of the company to train people to think about their consumables – it is financially beneficial. But, by first identifying the areas in which you can cut back on consumption all together, you are reducing carbon emissions to transport consumables as well the energy required to recycle that product. While recycling keeps that product from ending up in a landfill, that does not mean it is the BEST green alternative.

One place in particular where a company can reduce the amount of materials used is to move to electronic billing rather than paper billing. The process to recycle and recreate paper does create waste and use energy, so it is in everyone’s best interest to simply reduce the amount of paper that we use. Most companies receive hundreds of pages of paper from their telecom service provider documenting their usage. Not only can electronic billing help you to improve your carbon footprint, but it can also allow you to find more efficient ways of analyzing and allocating bills. Many of the best eBilling software solutions also come equipped with analysis and customized reporting functionality that helps accounting and department heads to quickly and efficiently allocate expenses rather than tediously flipping through hundreds of pages of paper bills. This is just one example of how your company can incorporate a green initiative into your day-to-day business activities by REDUCING your consumption of materials.

Reduce first, then reuse, then recycle.