Three Characteristics Of An Environmentally-Responsible Self-Storage Facility

If you're on the outlook for a green self-storage business that you can feel good about supporting, you'll need to have some criteria that you can use to assess its level of environmental responsibility. While it's true that there will be some variation in the steps each business chooses to take to help the earth, you'll want to be sure that the business not only has green business practices but also uses its influence to inspire others to care for the environment as well. With that in mind, here are three common characteristics you'll notice in a self-storage business that are truly environmentally-friendly.

1. Promotes recycling awareness

A business that wants to help the environment won't just include recycling bins next to its trash bins. It will go further by taking steps such as educating customers and inspiring them to participate in recycling efforts. For example, the facility may:

• Provide customer education in the form of pamphlets or posters on the wall
• Facilitate reuse as well as recycling by allowing customers to share used packing materials with one another
• Provide compost bins as well as recycling bins

2. Provides donation collections

Another way the facility can influence its customers is by making it easier for them to donate used items for further use rather than simply throwing them away. If you've gone through your storage unit and decided what to keep and what to toss, it may not seem like such a big deal to swing by a donation center on your way home; but other customers may be too busy to do even that, or may not have a way to transport the unwanted items to the charity center. By providing a station for donation drop-offs within the facility itself, the business can keep more used belongings out of the landfill. The business may then transport the items to a charity or may invite the charity to send someone periodically to pick the items up.

3. Uses improved efficiency

By simply educating customers about when they need a climate-controlled unit and when they really don't, the business can help them make more eco-friendly choices. In addition, there are several simple modifications that can be made to the building during construction or added later to reduce the facility's impact on the environment. For example, building the structure with a white roof rather than a black one (or simply painting the roof white later) can reduce heat absorption greatly. Other easy ways to make sure a building is energy-efficient include using efficient lighting, shading the roof, and installing motion sensors that turn lights off when they aren't needed.

These three factors are evidence of an environmentally-responsible self-storage facility. If you'd like to know more about the steps the company takes to minimize environmental impact, just ask and they'll probably be happy to tell you about things like green energy, recycling water, low-maintenance landscaping that doesn't require water, and other eco-friendly steps that may not be immediately evident. Contact a company like Back Acres Mini-Storage & Mobile Home Park for more information.