By reducing waste, decreasing energy use and recycling products, corporations can improve the environment and reduce carbon emissions. This, in turn, decreases greenhouse gases that many scientists believe lead to global warming. In addition to the environmental benefits of going green, corporations can benefit financially as well. Producing products and services that generate waste and pollution often requires expenditures that cut into the bottom line of a business. Going green helps businesses lower production costs, improve competitiveness and increase profits.
Reduced Energy Costs
Installing more efficient lighting, machinery, computers and other electrical components helps reduce the amount of energy businesses use. The dual benefit is that while lower energy usage decreases spending on electricity, it also requires power companies to generate less energy, often created by burning coal. Making plastic containers and other products from recycled products is also cheaper because it requires less energy, according to the American Plastics Council. The energy saved by recycling one plastic bottle can power a light bulb for six hours, according to Professor's House, an advice website.
Reduced Production Costs
When energy costs decrease, the cost of making products or delivering services decreases. Overhead costs, including heating and lighting offices, are part of the price of any product or service. Reducing energy use in the office, such as installing energy-efficient computers, copiers, lighting and heating and cooling systems, cuts down overhead. Recycling lowers the cost of production as well. It takes 96 percent less energy to make an aluminum can from recycled cans than it does to make a can from scratch, according to the Clean Air Council. Making a new can from raw material requires that material to be mined, processed and transported. Using fuel-efficient cars and trucks lowers the cost of delivering goods, further reducing operating expenses and improving a company's bottom line.
Increased Competitiveness or Increased Profits
When companies lower their cost of production, they can reduce the price of their product and make the company more competitive. If the company is already a price leader, lowering its prices even further makes it more difficult for competitors to keep up. A price leader may opt to keep its prices the same after lowering the cost of production and increase its profit margins from the energy savings. Recycling and other green initiatives allow businesses to advertise the "greenness" of their products on the packaging of what they sell, which encourages some consumers to purchase their products over their competitors who aren't able to make such claims in the supermarket aisles. Additionally, companies that produce goods which qualify as green under certain governmental guidelines will realize increased sales by securing more contracts from companies and agencies under mandates to purchase green.
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