There are so many things to worry about owning a business: inventory, accounting, human resources-the list goes on and on. Being stewards not just of our businesses but our planet too-the responsible and ethical thing to do is do everything we can to “Go Green.” In our industry it may seem like there isn’t much we can do. We don’t use much in the way of chemicals; in fact our local waste service doesn’t even offer business service recycling. Then there is always the question of cost-even if it’s the right thing to do-there can be a substantial cost to recycle batteries and printer cartridges. Well here are some ideas that will cost you little or nothing to help stop global warming. Email. Go as paper free as you can. Connectzone.com emails invoices, purchase orders and even     credit card receipts. This saves paper, postage and human resources to stuff envelopes. Set up a robust and reliable system to back up your accounting system. If you have that-you don’t need to print invoices to attach customer payments to because you can print them anytime if you need to. Keep the check stubs from customer payments to cross reference if you need to. This also saves storage room and paper. Use rechargeable batteries. With all the wireless mousses and keyboards out there-recharge batteries. Then for additional savings-if your wireless mouse requires 2 batteries-only replace one at a time to make sure you are getting the full life out of the other. Recycle broke hardware. In the same building park we are in is a business that recycles everything from printers to monitors-for FREE. At the end of this post I will give you a website that has many recycle options-many are inexpensive. Most are free! Pay invoices by credit card. It reduces the use of checks (paper), envelopes and stamps. Think small. There is a gardener in your office somewhere, seek him or her out and ask them if they would like the corporate coffee grounds. Even the paper filters decompose in the garden really quickly. Think Big. Plan a rooftop garden, think of it as an enviroscape for your employees and the local birds and bees. If you don’t have the space how about a planter with a tomato plant or lettuce-it will come in handy for a lunch time BBQ. There is something simple all of us can do and we should. It would be fiscally irresponsible not to take advantage of saving money in business. It would be globally irresponsible not to help our planet. For more ideas check out www.earth911.com