Earth Day tips for the office from restaurant marketing guru Chad Carns, Carnsmedia Founder and Creative Director.
Another Earth Day is around the corner so I thought today would be a good day to share a few ways Carnsmedia attempts to run a small creative marketing agency in an environmentally responsible way.
I should admit that I’m not an environmental expert — the following tips are just a few personal suggestions that are important to me. If you want tips from environmental experts on Earth Day, you might want to visit www.earthday.org.
My approach to environmental responsibility at work is simple: Use less stuff. Below are four ways Carnsmedia tries to use less stuff and tips on how your company can too:
#1 Paperless Office
Recycle the note pads and print publications. We encourage our team to take notes on an iPhone, an iPad or a laptop using Google Docs. We subscribe to several design magazines on digital tablets and read the latest social media trends on our devices.
Carnsmedia Tip:
When you go to a meeting, announce that you are taking notes on your phone or everyone in the room will assume you are texting your friends about how the new account manager is actually pulling off that pink acid washed jean jacket.
#2 Cloud
No stuff. No external hard drive. No attachments. No problem. Do you have enough storage devices to fill an Escalade? How many different versions of Word do you really need to export? Just print it out. Wait. Don’t do that. Save the trip to Best Buy and just work from a cloud.
Carnsmedia Tip:
We go with the popular cloud-based solutions for now. Dropbox and Google Drive play nicely with all of our devices. We abandoned cloud-based solutions that require users to constantly update their OS and devices.
#3 Walk or Ride
We encourage our team to walk or bike to work and meetings. I know, it’s easy to do when your agency is in the middle of SoHo. But I love my morning walk. It helps clear my head so I can start rocking when I walk through the office door. Plus I get a chance to call my Mom and Dad on the way home.
Carnsmedia Tip:
Our business development efforts begin right outside. It’s easier to walk to meetings when your client is three blocks away. Choose an agency space with a bike rack in the building, better yet, install a bike rack in the office.
#4 Work From Home
Web developers, writers, designers, and marketing gurus … they don’t need to look at you all day. Reduce carbon footprint even further by encouraging your team to work from home. If you need more bonding time with the team, invite everyone out for happy hour oysters on Friday.
Carnsmedia Tip:
Build your team around trusted resources that can work remotely. A cloud-based workflow is imperative for this relationship to work.
Carnsmedia is a creative restaurant marketing agency located on the cusp of SoHo, Nolita and Little Italy neighborhoods in New York City. Carnsmedia provides custom website design, daily social media, marketing strategy & expert photography support for food, beverage and hospitality industry.