In the year that Pantone, the self-declared global authority on colour, announced Greenery as 2017’s ‘colour of the year’, businesses and individuals alike have turned their attention to how we can make the next twelve months more environmentally responsible.

Although we’re barely a month into the year, 2017 is already living up to Greenery with a whole host of environmental initiatives and business goals set to improve our relationship with the planet.

Change from the Ground Up

Proving that action doesn’t always have to come from the top, 84 leading UK firms have called on the Prime Minister to back green business goals in 2017. The significance of this is the scale on which this call to action has happened, with household names such as HSBC and Unilever taking up the cause. Businesses very clearly want to work harder at being environmentally responsible, and governmental support can help set a trend for greener business. With so many big names speaking up, it’ll be interesting to see what action the government takes.

Recycled Construction

As noted by the Green Building Council, the UK construction industry uses more than 400 million tonnes of material every year – more than any other industry. To combat this, the UKGBC continues to issue advice on how construction firms can embrace green thinking in this area – including hosting a Sustainable Design & Construction event in March, which will surely inspire new thinking.

Meanwhile, MDF Recovery is leading the focus on making construction materials more sustainable in 2017 with their recent (and world-first) recycled MDF breakthrough, which possesses a wide range of potential uses across the industry – and could set the stage for a number of sustainable innovations this year.

Tackling the Carbon-Heavy Commute

One of the biggest areas of contention for environmentalists could also see huge changes in 2017, as new innovations seek to alleviate congestion on the roads and make commuting an altogether more pleasant experience for people and the planet. Making a welcome debut this Spring, the Big Lemon’s trio of solar powered buses are set to combat carbon inefficiencies on some of Brighton’s busiest routes, using panels which generate enough electricity to boil 1.8 million kettles.

Moving to the Cloud

Despite all of these new, exciting ideas, businesses don’t need to launch their own innovative technologies to become greener. To combat huge paper waste – such as the estimated 50 sheets of paper each UK office employee prints per day – many businesses are being encouraged to instead embrace cloud technology. One advantage is that 125,000 sheets of paper can be converted into just 2.5GB of data, cutting out a huge amount of waste without having to do take any real action. As well as saving on paper, by switching to cloud hosting rather than a local server, businesses are using less energy, substantially evening out their carbon footprint.

IKEA’s Sustainability Goals

For IKEA, 2017 will see a continuation of the planet-positive sustainability strategy that is set to play out until 2020. The Swedish furniture giant has already been working hard at becoming an environmentally responsible brand, reporting that they sent zero waste to landfill in 2016. IKEA’s UK customers seem to be following suit, with a reported spike in sales of sustainable products. If IKEA can continue to work in line with their strategy, then 2017 could be the greenest year yet for the household name.

Google’s Green Ambitions

Finally, providing businesses with an example to follow, Google have stepped up their green ambitions for 2017. The search engine giant is quietly known for acquiring the output of Nordic windfarms in order to support renewable energy sources, drive down fluctuating fossil fuel costs and curb the effect the business’ operations has on the planet. In 2017, Google aims to build even further on this pro-green stance by announcing its plans to reach 100% green energy usage – a move which has been widely welcomed by both their Silicon Valley peers, and the environmental community.

And Kaleida?

We’re looking forward to see what green advances can be achieved across the nation, as well as the difference we can make as a company and individuals to the planet. Even small changes, over time, can make a big impact. Maybe you can’t afford to invest in an off-shore windfarm, but here are some of the small things we’re doing that maybe you could implement too. 

• We have virtualised our servers is an attempt to reduce the amount of electricity we consume
• We power down all equipment where possible
• We aim to be a paperless office as much as we can
• We recycle all paper/cardboard
• Our general waste is collected by a third party company who sort and recycle it
• We recycle all computer hardware

By supporting one another, sharing ideas and embracing innovations, we believe that 2017 really can be the year where businesses turn green – will you be making it your resolution?

Interested in embracing a bespoke solution to create reliable scalability, pronounced growth, and streamlined processes across the organisation? Talk to us to find out how Kaleida can help build a tailored solution to fit your business’ needs and long-term goals.