Businesses of all sizes are becoming increasingly conscious of their impact on the environment.  A younger, more informed workforce, technological advancement and global awareness are all combining to make this happen. This past two weeks are a good reason to remind us about that.

April 22^nd was Earth Day.  Beginning in California in 1970, the ethos behind the Earth Day Network was to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide.  The focus of this year’s campaign is Environmental and Climate Literacy; the aim of which is to empower everyone with the knowledge to inspire environmental protection.

The good news is that Earth Day is now a global event, celebrated by over one billion people worldwide; yes, we are a bit more mindful of what ends up in landfill, there are an increasing number of shiny new hybrids on the road and plenty of alternative ways to do business using greener technology.

If Saturday 22^nd wasn’t enough to make you think about a better environment, Friday 21^st April also saw the UK’s first full coal free day. As positive as all of this is, we still need to do more, both as individuals and as corporations.

Like many cloud services, hosted communications is well positioned to play its part in supporting a greener world.

Here are four great examples:

Mobility

Whilst we are acutely aware that some meetings really do need to be held face to face, most can be done just as well remotely, requiring less travel, using less transport leading to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions.

Higher productivity

If we are not travelling to meetings and have the capability to dial in from home or the office, that time spent travelling is converted back into time doing the day job.

Fewer physical assets

Lowering your organisation’s energy bills and freeing up valuable space in your offices.

Retain and develop the best talent

Generation Y employees are the first generation who do not know a world without internet and they expect to work with the same technology they use in their personal lives.

The examples above may not necessarily be groundbreaking, but they all play a crucial part of reducing the impact on the climate. Interestingly, each point is often positioned in terms of cost efficiency or business performance but their value to the environment is just as important. Whatever your point of view, having a healthy approach to the world we live in benefits everyone.

Whether you’re currently looking at a cloud communication strategy or still making use of your existing on-premise solution, it’s well worth looking into the different benefits and advantages that are available to you through hosted communications. If you’d like to know more, get in touch.