Aside from cutting costs from the IT budget, cloud computing's benefits for the environment have been hailed as one its best features. For small businesses looking to do their part in conserving energy and making their business greener, there are a few ways to achieve that other than transitioning to cloud computing if that's not currently an option.

Monitoring the amount of energy used by employees in their daily tasks is an easy way to reduce energy use and shave a few dollars off monthly energy bills, according to Inc.com. Many IT products made currently are designed specifically to lower energy use, and they're frequently less expensive than other machines.

For businesses that use laptop computers, most have energy-saving settings on it that don't make much of a difference for performance settings. Lowering the brightness on a screen is an easy way to use less energy, and a few notches lower won't have much effect on a worker's performance.

Greenpeace put the entire IT industry on notice earlier this month when it announced that cloud computing companies need to do more to reduce emissions and energy use. Major corporations are taking steps to shrink their carbon footprint, and small businesses have to do the same.ADNFCR-2553-ID-19732572-ADNFCR