Digital Signage: Efficient, Effective and Eco-Friendly 21 February 2020

Now has never been a better time to consider what your business can do to help the environment.

Environmentally-friendly trends are a hot topic at the moment and will continue to be, especially as business owners realise that, as well as saving the planet, going green generates extra revenue and will be perceived positively in the eyes of your employees, visitors and consumers. 

According to Nielsen, 66% of consumers are willing to pay more for products from companies that are committed to a positive environmental impact. Is it time to consider how your business could switch to a more eco-friendly solution and sustainable way of communicating with your organisation through digital signage?

Let’s consider how much waste is created by each company each year. These figures show how much paper a typical organisation uses: 

• The average employee prints six wasted pages per day, a total of 1,410 wasted pages per year.
• The average employee prints over 8,000 sheets per year (One tree can produce around 8,000 sheets of paper, that's one tree per person per year.).
• 70% of all rubbish generated by businesses is paper

Digital signage actually has many benefits in terms of reducing cost & effort and minimising environmental impact. It may seem that converting to a digital platform is not efficient in terms of using electricity (an obvious requirement for digital signage). However, used wisely there are many options available that reduce power consumption, and steps you can take to reduce it even further. 

Digital signage can replace most or, in some cases, all paper communications in an organisation. This benefits the environment because: 

There is less paper waste created as businesses move away from printed signage that must be frequently reprinted.
It eliminates the carbon footprint associated with the manufacture and distribution of paper signage.
It reduces the use of the chemicals, inks and adhesives used in the printing process.
 

It can also help you save money and reduce your waste. According to Think Green:  

• 45% of printed documents in offices end up being thrown away at the end of the day
• Around 30% of printed documents are never even picked up at the printer
• The average spend per employee per year on printing is £700
• Printing costs are often the third-highest operational expense after rent and payroll
   

People may believe electricity is more harmful to the environment, and while digital signs and displays do need power, they don’t need as much as you might think. Most modern displays have at least 100,000 hours of life in them which means even if you leave your signage on you would still get at least 10 years of use out of them. 

Digital signage messages can also be changed or made so that they display several different pieces of information at the same time, content which is being displayed can be updated instantly, whereas a whole new batch of paper often with the associated impact of distribution, would be needed to change printed communications.

Displays are also easily recycled, as many parts of the displays can be removed and used again without needing to be broken down or melted. Some suppliers even have hardware trade-in options, so you can swap out old devices for new ones at little or no cost to you.

Consider updating your organisation to incorporate digital forms of communication and swap your dated print to a more eco-friendly, sustainable way of communicating both in and outside of your organisation. 

At Conceptunet we have worked with clients within the NHS and commercial/manufacturing sectors to understand their communication strategy and cross-departmental needs to deliver cost-effective digital communication networks that engage the workforce, reduce costs and reduce their environmental impact.

Call us today to find out more about how Conceptunet can help you and your business be more efficient and eco-friendly with your internal communication.