Wanna Make Your Warehouse Green and Sustainable?

Making your warehouse green and sustainable will yield long-term results. Find out how to do it.

Make it Green

Going green apparently is the new frontier in man’s lifestyle, due to the numerous environmental problems facing us. The reckless tendencies of man are taking its toll on the natural environment.

So, if we and our future generations want to enjoy the same conducive environment as our forefathers, we need to sustain the usage of our limited natural resources.

Our main interest in this discourse is to see what eco-friendly means in the area of warehousing.

So why eco-friendly warehousing?

As was reported back in 2013, an industry analysis revealed that about £190 million was being overspent alone in warehousing and over £3.7 billion yearly across the UK.

That means that it’s possible to save the colossal amount of money and resources going into waste by investing in the lucrative business of energy-efficient equipment.

In addition to that, various reports such as The Business Case for Green Building (a product of World Green Building Council) have backed up the case for green designs and their positive impacts, including improving worker productivity.

With this perfect picture painted, you're able to clearly understand why eco-friendly warehousing is growing into such a necessity among warehouse owners.

How to Make Your Warehouse Green and Sustainable?

1. Fitting of energy saving LED lights

Tree in a bulb

The studies have shown that LED lights save up to 80% of energy and have a substantially longer lifespan compared to traditional lighting technology, such as the use of fluorescent bulbs.

Switching off the unnecessary lighting and the usage of solar panels as a source of lighting is preferred.

Proper insulation in warehousing should also be observed to avoid wastage of heat.

2. Water is necessary everywhere - it's the same with warehousing

In order to save the costs that can be accounted from water usage, rainwater can be collected and used where water filtered is not necessary.

3. Like for every business under operation, production of waste seems entirely unavoidable

These wastes might include: packaging equipments, batteries, oils and chemicals. Not all cartons pass safely through the carton flow rack. Some go to waste.

Though landfill is the oldest form of waste treatment, it's not so eco-friendly. Thus the only way to do justice to the green movement is to adopt the 3R’s:

Recycle sign
  • Reduce.
  • Recycle.
  • Reuse.

4. Proper management of the warehouse

It would ensure that the business operations are running smoothly and most efficient as possible.

An example is the management of forklift trucks; they have been observed to build up quite a mileage over a certain period. Proper management would thus help in switching off their engines during unloading or loading - doing away with superfluous journeys.

Lastly, with further research, you'll be able to find other useful tips. With all that information you can then help in moving the eco-friendly agenda forward.