Why the Cloud is Green

Businesses these days are flocking to green options and to cloud services. Fortunately, the two are interconnected and, in many cases, complement one another perfectly. Innovative, progressive companies will look at a variety of ways to please their personnel and scale up their information infrastructure—be it investing in comfortable chairs for back pain or doubling down on new software. One of the best ways for a company to show its employees that it is committed to curbing carbon emissions and e-waste is to embrace cloud computing services in the office. Here are a few of the reasons why cloud services are eco-friendly:

Cut down on e-waste. Each year 20-50 million tons of electronic waste are dumped into developing nations, polluting their water sources and air. Many companies have committed to reducing their e-waste and a great way to do this is by eliminating the need for its sources, namely office electronic appliances such as mobile phones, computer circuits, printers, etc. While you may not be able to completely liquidate your office gear in exchange for cloud services, you can reduce it a great deal and significantly cut down on the lead, cadmium, beryllium, and BFRs (brominated flame retardants) that have to be disposed of. The use of cloud services should considerably cut down on your business’s annual e-waste.

Many cloud services use a pay-as-you-go model. This allows flexibility among your IT department, as you can pick and choose the applications and platforms you need. In other words, you don’t have to purchase an entire package of unneeded gadgets and circuits just to get the one you do need. Speaking of IT, you will likely be able to reduce your workforce, as many technical administration duties can be handled by cloud programs.

Cloud services cuts down on carbon emissions. Because real time communications, web conferencing, chatting, and synced mobile phones can eliminate the need for expensive business trips and unnecessary commuting, the cloud will reduce your carbon footprint as well.

The cloud saves paper. Sync your files online and collaborate in real-time. You won’t need to print the same document twenty times for slightly new versions, nor will you need to use barrels of ink simply to distribute a single office memo.

These are some of the environmental reasons to go with the cloud in your office. There are also practical issues of efficiency and performance. Ultimately, you want to balance your bottom line with your duty to run a sustainable eco-friendly business. Adopting cloud services is a great first step.