Today is Earth Day. According to Wikipedia, today is “a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment.” The mantra of the generation is the three “R’s” of environmentalism – Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Have you ever thought about how your web strategy can help you do just that?

Last week I had an article published by Worcester Business Journal called "Intranet Advantage: How an internal network can help your business." In it, I made the statement that

“…an intranet can help you reduce your company’s carbon footprint. With all your forms in one central location, and by providing employees the ability to fill them out online, you can eliminate unnecessary printing and copying.”

This is no trivial statement. Think about it. For example, an intranet where board members can login and receive meeting packets can easily same a ream of paper per board member (multiply that by 20 board members and you’ve save two cases of paper!). The time spent putting together those packages is also greatly reduced, adding efficiency and decreasing costs from administrative tasks.

Companies with intranets have come to realize that it’s not only environmentally beneficial to reduce waste created through print, but fiscally responsible as well. Many have also come to realize there’s another type of green benefit from an intranet. The green that shows itself as a positive impact on the bottom line.

At Dovetail, we work with many clients to build effective intranet solutions with our novo content management system. Check out the case study on our site for Westfield Bank to read about one example.

If you don’t have a solid intranet platform and are looking for ways to improve your carbon legacy as a company, consider one. If you do have one, ask yourself if you are using it as effectively as you could be to reduce waste. Why save a tree alone when together we can save the planet? Make every day Earth Day.

-- Mike

follow me on Twitter @mikevilla