How to Make Storage Facilities Eco Friendly

Just about every industry is making an eco friendly attempt to help save natural resources and to attract customers who demand fewer carbon footprints. Storage facilities are, thankfully, not among the more polluting businesses out there, but there is still much to be done to make these facilities eco friendly. An eco friendly business generates goodwill among customers and helps business grow without causing undue damage to the planet.

Here's what it takes to for a storage facility to Go Green:

1. Recycle items. What's left over from storage sales can be used for office equipment and furnishing.
2. Use natural lighting as much as possible. Strategically built windows not only let in natural light, reducing the need for electric lights, but they also reduce electricity bills.
3. Use fluorescent or halogen lights instead of the usual bulbs. They last longer than regular bulbs and use less energy.
4. Used paper can be recycled as packaging material. The same goes for boxes and bubble wrap.
5. While climate control is important, use air conditioners (ACs) and heaters with devices that can turn off after a particular temperature has been reached.
6. If the building is still in the design stages, hire a "green" architect to provide an environment-friendly blueprint.
7. Paint the exterior of the building in light colors or use sunlight reflecting paint so that the need for artificial cooling is reduced.
8. Install energy efficient ACs and other electronics or appliances that consume less power.
9. Set up a contract with a nonprofit organization for collection of items for recycling, including paper, pasteboard, metal, appliances, clothes, plastic.
10. Go paperless in the office. Maintain records and reports as soft copy. Print emails and records only when it is absolutely necessary.

If you prefer to work with green businesses, you should ask around for storage facilities that are environmentally friendly. While this is a relatively new movement in the storage industry, you will find some storage facilities that have already started going green with baby steps such as adhering to a recycling program and using fluorescent or halogen lights instead of bulbs. Many storage facilities have installed solar panels to power their facilities. One storage owner even reportedly has been able to meet 100% of their energy demands through the use of solar power. Like all businesses, there is no "one size fits all" solution here. Each storage facility has its own requirements and advantages, so they have to be creative and think innovatively to come up with eco friendly storage solutions.

If you are a customer at a storage facility, you can do your part for saving the Earth. Use old newspapers and office stationary that is no longer useful for anything else as packaging material for boxes. Bubble wrap does not deteriorate easily, so you can easily reuse it. Most storage facilities have many crates and boxes leftover from previous tenants. Go green by reusing them.

In addition to reusing material whenever possible, recycling cuts costs considerably. There will also be savings on utility bills. By following eco friendly storage practices, the storage industry as well as customers can benefit.