Modern retail businesses in the Philippines are continuously being encouraged—both by changing industry trends and by their discerning customers—to become more environmentally conscious in their day-to-day operations. The idea is to help ease the global and local problems waste management problems that arise from humanity’s collective commercial and consumption activities. Even if your business is not a big corporation with a huge reach and influence, opting to carry out more environment-friendly practices in your store could be of great help toward achieving this endeavor.
Here are some ways in which you can transform your business into a more sustainable and eco-friendly one.
1. Reduce Plastic Use
The Philippines has continued to rank high in global lists of countries that produce and discard plastic waste. Not only is the country lacking in waste management facilities, but it has also become a global destination for waste colonialism. These alarming facts have led to more businesses and individual consumers becoming more mindful of how much plastic they use each day. Hence, a great first step in making your business more eco-friendly is to reduce plastic use.
If you happen to operate a brick-and-mortar business, opt to package your products in biodegradable or reusable materials such as paper wrappers, paper bags, and canvas tote bags. Meanwhile, if you’re running an online business, avoid excessive use of plastic packaging for logistics and fulfillment, and instead choose cardboard boxes reinforced with paper packaging and cushioning to keep your packages safe.
2. Opt for Digital Receipts
Going paperless has never been easier, thanks to the availability of digital alternatives as well as payment terminal solutions that allow sellers to forgo physical receipts. Getting a payment terminal machine for your store gives your customers the option to just get a digital receipt instead, hence greatly reducing paper waste.
One such payment terminal device is the Maya Terminal Lite, an ultra-lightweight and portable POS device that takes full advantage of digital receipts. This payment device accepts a variety of payment methods, including debit and credit cards (tap and dip), digital wallets, and QR Ph. Moreover, because of its portability and slim form factor, it can be easily used in a variety of physical retail applications, be it for in-store checkout, curbside pickup, or home delivery purposes.
3. Save Energy
Running a business can consume a lot of energy. From keeping the lights and air conditioning on to running a variety of store equipment that support your operations, all of these can accrue and lead to bloated electricity bills. In a lot of cases, using more energy also means more fossil fuel burned in power plants. Thus, choosing to conserve energy can help lessen your business’s carbon footprint and its contribution to global pollution.
Saving energy can be as simple as using LED lights instead of traditional incandescent lighting, given that the former use up less energy. You can also try to maximize natural lighting during daytime operations, and even explore renewable energy options such as solar panels. Also don’t forget to turn off equipment when they are not in use instead of keeping them on standby indefinitely. By doing these things, you’re not only helping the environment but also saving quite a lot on utility bills.
4. Choose Eco-Friendly Suppliers
Supporting fellow ethical and eco-friendly enterprises can lead to a community of environmentally responsible businesses. As such, consider doing business with companies that prioritize sustainability, fair labor practices, and eco-friendly or localized production methods. For example, these can be companies that make use of sustainable packaging or those that are known to use renewable energy in their operations. They can also be those that operate primarily in your locality, which means that sourcing products or materials from them can help you lessen your carbon footprint. By choosing to support these enterprises, you not only contribute to their growth but also encourage the spread of ethical practices across various industries.
5. Encourage Green Practices among Your Staff and Customers
Adopting eco-friendly practices doesn’t end with your business. Rather, you should also be encouraging the same values among your employees and even your customers. For example, you can encourage your employees to walk or cycle to work, perhaps offering small incentives to those who do so. You can also promote various activities that contribute to environmental sustainability, such as conserving water and adopting recycling practices in the workplace, as well as reducing the use of office consumables.
As for customers, encourage them to bring eco-bags or their own drink containers if you’re selling beverages to go. You can also request them to opt for digital receipts, if available, so you can forgo generating printouts that will most likely be discarded anyway. Charging for single-use plastic products like plastic shopping bags can also lead to less plastic use in your store and even incentivize customers to start bringing their own reusable shopping bags instead. Beyond these, your business can also participate in community-driven environmental campaigns or initiatives, such as tree-planting drives, beach clean-ups, or recycling events. You can encourage your customers to participate in these activities in order to help these endeavors achieve a multiplier effect in terms of their impact on your community.
Help Your Business Become More Sustainable with Maya Terminal Lite
Striving for a more eco-friendly retail environment is now easier than ever, thanks to various business solutions such as Maya Terminal Lite that allow you to go paperless. Sign up for Maya Business today to take advantage of this POS device and a variety of other business solutions.
Signing up for Maya Business also lets you set up a Maya Business Deposit account, which will allow you to conveniently manage the payments you receive through the Maya Terminal Lite and other Maya Business payment solutions. What’s more, with its industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, you’ll earn PHP 25,000 in interest per year on a PHP 1 million deposit. You’ll also get to enjoy free money transfers via InstaPay and PESONet to your business partners and suppliers, allowing you to save more.
Your Maya Business account also qualifies you for a no-collateral Maya Flexi Loan offer of up to PHP 2 million in just 3 months, which you can use to implement more sustainability-related endeavors for your business. By consistently using Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments, you stand to get better loan offers as well.
Sign up for Maya Business today to enjoy the benefits of Maya Terminal Lite and other Maya Business solutions.
