Ways to Make a Retail Store More Environmentally Friendly ...

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By Adrianna Noton

Being considered an environmentally friendly business is one thing that virtually any business would love to hear. Being environmentally friendly means that a business is responsible and thinks more about the welfare of other humans, plants and wildlife than just profit alone. Even retail stores would likely notice increased visitors and sales by adopting and publicizing some environmentally friendly practices. Since there is no manufacturing going on at the store level, other strategies have to be implemented to get that environmentally friendly designation.

Getting your name involved with events and causes that support the environment is one way to get the word out that your store cares. You can act as one of the sponsors of a certain event or donate to a cause and position that information on your website or in-store literature. Getting involved in recycling programs is another way to spread the word that your store cares about the environment. Aside from regular cardboard, plastic and glass recycling, you can also develop exchange or drop off programs, depending on the nature of your business.

One of the easier ways to show your retail business cares about the environment is to use biodegradable plastic bags at the point of sale, and let everyone know that you?re using them. Plastic bags are associated with harming the environment, but by using biodegradable plastic bags, you can still give your customers what they?re used to and be environmentally friendly at the same time. Biodegradable plastic bags will just dissolve into the soil when they end up in a landfill, which solves the problem of all that plastic cluttering up the world. Biodegradable plastic bags may be created from parts of plants, grass or trees, which means they will cause no harm to the environment whatsoever, and might even help out the soil as they break down. Less energy and fewer resources have to be used to make biodegradable plastic bags, which is another bonus to using them in a retail business.

Of course, it is possible to forego the plastic bags altogether, but you may be missing out on a very important marketing opportunity. The plastic bags you use to package up goods after they?ve been sold are an ideal place to place your logo, business name, website address and physical address so they get out into the world. You?re going to be wrapping up the items you sell in something, so why not plastic bags that you can also use to market your business? You can also use the bag to illustrate the fact that you?re using biodegradable plastic bags instead of regular plastic bags. Be sure that the environmentally friendly information gets a prime position on the plastic bags, so it is impossible to miss. It?s always possible to look for new and interesting ways to make a retail business more environmentally friendly, but taking a negative like regular plastic bags and turning it into a positive with biodegradable plastic bags is certainly a good one.

As Canada?s top provider of retail supplies such as hangers and plastic bags you can trust that you are in good hands when you make a purchase.

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