By Stefan Hammond and Teresa Leung | Apr 8, 2010

• Going “green” is good business: reduce, reuse, recycle
• Hong Kong enterprises need to educate employees to improve their CSR
• Simple things like turning down air cons and turning off lights add up

Everyone wants to “become green” and the reasons are obvious. A firm can become a better corporate citizen and save operating costs simultaneously.

But how does an enterprise tech firm in Hong Kong “lower its carbon footprint” or practice “corporate social responsibility” (CSR)? While these techniques may be more commonplace in Europe, the US and UK, Hong Kong may need a bit more time—and incentives. Firms have responsibilities to their stakeholders or stockholders, and the concept of “green” has taken Hong Kong, but somewhere along the line someone is sure to yell: “show me the money!”

It’s not enough to declare a “green consciousness” (this practice has become so common that the term “greenwash” applies to people who talk “green” but don’t act). You have to DO something that helps cut your use of electricity, reduce your emissions, or contribute in a meaningful way. There are many ways to do this, but let’s start (in no particular order) with five ways related to enterprises in Hong Kong.

1. Multi-function printers

Multi-function printers (MFPs) are a great way to save both electricity and paper usage. Modern MFPs are built to minimize impact on the environment: two-sided printing is simplified, and power-saving features are built-in. User access-control is taken for granted, as networked users need permission to print in either color or black and white.

Various vendors vie with competing claims for whose MFPs are the “greenest,” but to us at CWHK, the more important factor is that these vendors are using the green-metric as a measure of their product’s value. The more that message can be hammered into manufacturers, the better, and MFPs are helping lead the way.
“Office printing represents a significant area for energy and paper reductions through managed print services,” said HP on their Web site. The firm says their managed print services helps companies streamline and minimize the cost of office printing through a combined hardware/service approach.

Fuji Xerox Hong Kong has not only garnered a sizeable share of the overall market, but won the Environmental Performance Award at the 2008 Hong Kong Awards for Industries—organized by the Trade and Industry Department of the HKSAR government.

“In addition to paper savings, an optimized printing infrastructure can yield substantial energy savings,” claims HP, who said they’ve observed 30% to 80% reductions with some customers. By 2011, HP has a goal of improving the overall energy efficiency of high volume inkjet and laserjet printers by 40% relative to 2005.