On this 40th anniversary of Earth Day, more people – and businesses – than ever are searching for ways to get actively involved and reduce their carbon footprint. The people of Planet Earth have come a long ways in 40 years, but we are all still learning new ways to go further in our environmental efforts.

We’ve seen the rise in environmental awareness here at ColumbiaSoft. Each year, more and more companies are asking about ways to reduce their use of paper and go paperless. Electronic document management is of course, by its nature, a paperless alternative. But it hasn’t always been the case that so many considered the paperless way for its environmentally sustainable benefits. Mostly it was financial reasons, like reducing the risk of lost information, improving the productivity of business operations, or saving money by reducing the cost of storage, that largely pre-dated the green considerations.

The green benefit has given us all new reason to consider ideas, old and new, that can benefit business and the environment. And, like document management, there’s no shortage of cool ways to green your business. Today’s is a good time to take a few minutes to consider them… and here’s a short list to get started:

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/50-ways-to-green-your-business.html

http://www.cio.com/article/591668/Green_Tech_and_Gadgets_for_Earth_Day

http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/environmentbiz/a/envirfriend1.htm

http://www.earthday.org/

http://smallbusiness.intuit.com/blog/where-small-is-now/2009/09/five-simple-ways-to-green-your-business.html

http://www.businessinsider.com/11-really-simple-ways-to-go-green-at-your-office-and-save-money-too-2010-4#only-print-when-absolutely-necessary-1

http://www.columbiasoftconnect.com/flash/calculators/treesaver/homepage/index.html

As economic conditions improve nationwide, Fargo, North Dakota is one area of the country leading the way. Business there runs smartly, and Forbe’s recently recognized this fact in their 2010 report of “Best Places for Business and Careers”. Fargo placed in the top 10 on the list… in ninth place to be specific, of best small metros across the entire U.S.

Craig Whitney, president of the Chamber of Commerce of Fargo Moorhead stated, “As the labor department releases the news that the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless aid is soaring, Fargo Moorhead earns a national spotlight for its reasonable business costs, strong economic outlook and solid quality of life.”

Within the buzzing business ecosystem of the Fargo Moorhead area is a good friend of ours, Information Management Systems (IMS), who has been doing their part helping businesses in the region since 1995 with “precise-fit” technology solutions. One of those solutions, of course, is document management software. And in an area where business is buzzing, document management makes a perfect fit.

Here’s one reason why: Research has shown that, on average, one-half of information workers spend as much as 2 hours a day searching for the information they need. That amounts to $625,000 per year spent on “searching” in a company with 100 employees at an average cost $50,000 each. Reducing the time it takes to search and find information means that a portion of that $625,000 in time will instead be spent doing other more productive things that have a higher return on investment than thumbing through filing cabinets.

IMS will be at the Fargo Moorhead “Business After Hours” event this Thursday, April 22 with other leaders in the area. Stop by and visit with them to learn more about information management and how they can help you lead the way.

So much ballyhoo was made recently about the University of Wisconsin’s novel cost-cutting measure: Changing the default font in their email system from the standard Arial typeface to Century Gothic. They discovered that Century Gothic is a lighter, thinner font that uses about 30% less ink than Arial when printed.

As news of the university’s discovery streamed over the radio, the question I asked myself (like I’m sure so many others did) is why would anyone be printing emails in the first place? Sure, everyone prints an occasional email now and then. But enough to save thousands of dollars a year in printer ink?

As the story went on, it became less clear if so many emails are really being printed as to save a lot of printer ink using the different font. So, it’s the discovery itself that is most interesting here. Not the discovery of Century Gothic over Arial as a toner-saving typeface… rather the example that such small, seemingly insignificant steps can lead to big benefits over time. If reducing the ink used when printing emails saves money, just imagine what savings can be had from managing email files electronically?