SMEs Comfortable with Green Concepts

Green concepts are proving no problem for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to advisory resource Business Link.

Sustainable business adviser Erica Russell explains that existing concepts within the environmentally friendly sphere are being successfully translated into action points that SMEs are able to put in place.

These include basic eco-friendly actions such as recycling and fitting energy-saving light bulbs - which could also help business leaders to save money on utility bills.

Ms Russell adds that it is not necessarily senior management who need to be responsible for finding ways to 'green up' the business.

She concedes that it is usually the case that senior executives within the organisation will be positively minded, as that is an important characteristic for leaders to exhibit.

But she adds that there is no reason why individuals further down the career ladder should not be able to contribute their own ideas and innovation to the company's environmental responsibility.

And Ms Russell stresses the financial advantages SMEs could attain simply by implementing some small behavioural changes.

Switching off lights at night or when a meeting room or other space is not in use is one such modification recommended.

Doing so could achieve a reduction in expenditure of between 18 and 20 per cent for some SMEs, the spokesperson estimates.