Greener Warehousing

Just like we all try our best to organise our lives at home in a way that would be as efficient and environment-friendly as possible, we should be putting in the same effort in improving various aspects of our professional lives in order to have the minimal impact on the environment.

One of the aspects that is often neglected when it comes to improving the overall efficiency and environment-friendliness is warehousing. Needless to say, there’s no rational reason for this since some minor investments can go a long way towards bringing benefits to any company. By increasing energy efficiency within your warehouse environment, you’ll be using less energy, saving more money, and building your business’ reputation as a green company, which might be just the thing that will help you stand out from your competition.

What’s more, it’s your warehouse that you should start from when you embark on a mission of making your whole business greener. This way you will be able to see the results immediately because a lot of energy is consumed in this area for heating, lighting, and packaging. So, let’s have a look at some of the options available for transforming any type of warehouse into a more environmentally friendly area.

Light it up, but responsibly

Every warehouse needs to have an appropriate lighting, and since a warehouse can be huge, it can really cost a lot to provide enough light. A solution to this problem could be the introduction of more natural sources of light and extremely efficient bulbs. If you have old lights, now is the time to replace them with LED lights because they last much longer than traditional lights and use much less energy.

Ideally, you might want to consider installing skylights to get as much natural light as possible. Although such an investment requires significant financial resources, it’s bound to pay off very soon as you’ll be saving money on electricity bill.

Proper insulation

If your warehouse windows and doors are not adequately insulated, you’ll be losing quite a lot of energy. Make sure you inspect your warehouse for possible problems with insulation. Sometimes all you need to fix the problem is a minor intervention, but sometimes you have no other choice but to replace the faulty item.

There’s also a problem if your walls are poorly insulated since you’re probably paying through your teeth for the heating. You’d better react quickly and add an extra layer of insulation to prevent any more energy being wasted.

Organisation

Perhaps your warehouse is not organised as efficiently as it could be. It’s a good idea to perform a periodical review and see if there is room for improvement. Using contemporary shelving solutions will facilitate your efforts to efficiently store all you products and achieve better workflow. The flexibility of these high density storage systems allows you to easily expand them as your business grows instead of replacing them.

Schedules are important

If you want your operations in the warehouse to run smoothly and glitch-free, you should try to stick to a schedule which regulates the operation of fork-lifters. Although they don’t cover longer distances within a warehouse, they can still build up a considerable mileage over the years. A schedule will help you eliminate unnecessary journeys, thus extending their lifetime. Finally, make sure the drivers turn off the engine while not in operation.

Waste management

Another aspect that can help you achieve your goal of having a green warehouse is waste management. Since each warehouse creates a great variety of waste products, such as oils, chemicals, packaging material, and equipment, you need to set up a system of separating the waste and exploring all the possible options for their reuse or recycling, thus reducing your carbon footprint.

Running a warehouse is rather complex and attempting, and trying to make it as efficient as possible and environment-friendly only makes the task even more difficult. Still, the saving you make both in terms of energy and money and the fact that you’re contributing to the preservation of our planet should be good enough reasons for you to make that extra effort.

About The Author

Article written by, Lillian Connors: If one thing is true about Lillian Connors, her mind is utterly curious. That’s why she can’t resist the urge to embark on a myriad of green living/home improvement projects and spread the word about them. She cherishes the notion that sustainable housing and gardening will not only make us far less dependent on others regarding the dwellings we inhabit, but also contribute to our planet being a better place to live on.