Environmental concerns, efficiency and cost savings all share a lot of common ground; you can’t have one of the three without at least part of the other two. For businesses looking to ‘green up’ and become more efficient, it doesn’t take a huge amount of thought. Taking a close look at how eco-friendly your company’s operations are will not take as much work as you think.
For efficiency’s sake, one of the biggest areas where savings can be made is transport. Unleaded fuel costs £1.19 per litre, with diesel costing ever so slightly more. This makes it important to look at such things as miles per gallon, the size of the vehicle your business uses and where you or your delivery partner actually drives to.
One trip, many deliveries
Looking at delivery, it is worth making sure that, for your deliveries, fewer trips are made. If your business has a number of clients within the same locality, why not try to fit them into the same order and trip? In doing that, you save on the amount of fuel that would be used for individual deliveries, boosting efficiency in the process.
Fitting several deliveries into one trip is the best way of making local shipping greener. As for trips further afield, bulk shipping is the most sensible option. If your business has clients overseas, consider choosing a delivery partner that is able to deliver bulk shipping. Managing your bulk shipping through TNT will save your business time and fuel expended on multiple deliveries.
Streamlined packaging
Transport isn’t the only aspect of delivery which can be made greener. The packaging your business uses to store each product that has been sold shouldn’t be made from plastic. At the time of writing, only some plastics can be recycled, whereas many wooden pallets and cardboard boxes can be made using sustainably-sourced wood.
Cardboard is widely recyclable and, if kept in good condition, can be used repeatedly. This will help your business to save on packaging costs. If you have spare cardboard boxes lying around your premises, remove any stickers left on them. Then, if they are big or small enough for what you plan on delivering, they should be ready for dispatch.
Finally, when considering packaging, ensure that you don’t use too much. Some brands have come in for criticism because they use too much packaging for small items. Make sure you use the appropriate amount for each delivery – saving a little material for more deliveries and making room for more items for each shipment.
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