Another Earth Day is here — how are you progressing on your company’s green initiatives? Small business leaders have so many things to keep up with that it’s easy to overlook anything that feels extra. But making environmentally sound choices for your business isn’t just a great way to fight climate change, it can also improve your company culture and help your bottom line. So in honor of Earth Day, here are three steps your small business can take to protect the planet.

1. Rethink your trash cans

Most companies pepper their offices with trash cans in the name of convenience. But all those trash cans just encourage people to fill them up — plus they’re costly and inefficient to empty every day. Instead, try creating centralized waste stations with individual spaces for trash, recycling, and compost. 

Asking employees to walk their trash to a bin helps them consider the amount of waste they generate — and with fewer bins to manage, your office can ensure all waste winds up in the proper place. Just ask Etsy; when the market mainstay made this change, the company reduced its waste by 18%, while increasing recycling by 20% and compost by 300%.

2. Move to e-signatures

While it may not be realistic to eliminate paper in your office completely, there are plenty of ways to cut down, and Earth Day provides a perfect opportunity to commit to one in particular: electronic signatures. E-signatures are secure and convenient, plus they’ll save you paper, postage, and time. 

Want to up your impact? Combine e-signature with cloud technology to further reduce your carbon footprint. DocuSign eSignature works seamlessly with Salesforce Essentials for CRM, giving you a powerful one-two punch to build stronger customer relationships. Bonus: With the new DocuSign for Forests initiative, a percentage of every customer’s subscription price goes to protecting and enhancing the world’s forests.

3. Nominate a green captain

At most companies, green initiatives like sustainable purchasing and practices are left to the employees. And with no defined structure, those initiatives often fall short. Make sure they stay top of mind by recognizing a green captain, a person in charge of implementing sustainable policies for the office. This person can create a green roadmap, brainstorm ways to propose ideas, and track the results of your eco-friendly initiatives.

As your company grows, you can supplement your green captain with a whole green team. After all, when it comes to sustainability initiatives, more people means more impact.

Take action on Earth Day and beyond

You may not think your small business can have an impact when it comes to climate change, but even tiny changes can make a huge difference. That’s because eco-friendly actions are contagious; when customers, employees, and vendors realize environmentally friendly policies can be efficient, convenient, and economically viable, they’ll carry them into their businesses and homes. So the most important thing small businesses can do to fight climate change this Earth Day? Lead the charge.

Salesforce Essentials helps you find more customers, win their business, and keep them happy so you can grow faster than ever. Learn more about our small business CRM solutions by following us on Twitter at Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Want to learn more about Salesforce's sustainability initiatives? Read an interview from Salesforce's Sustainability Director Sunye Ojure.