In the present day and age, it’s impossible to ignore the growing climate crisis - signs are all around us. There are many reasons you should be thinking about building and growing a sustainable business - not only is it good for the planet, it’s also suitable for customers and investors. That is because it’s in everyone’s interest to create and foster respect for the earth to protect the future.
It’s understood that customers are buying more sustainably than ever before, and it’s part of their decision-making process when shopping. So, it stands to reason that to ensure your products or services are purchased, you should be thinking about your business’s sustainability credentials.
As a business owner you might be asking yourself, what can I do? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to learn about how you can start building a more sustainable business.
1. Do a sustainability audit
First, it’s time to take stock of your current situation by conducting a sustainability audit. This means looking at your business’s practices with best practices for sustainability in your category. You can do this in-house with an online tool - it doesn’t have to be an incredibly complex process, but it’s brilliant at showing areas where you can improve. For a more comprehensive assessment, you might consider pursuing an ecovadis certification, which evaluates your company's environmental, social, and ethical performance against industry standards. This certification can help identify specific areas where your sustainability practices can be enhanced and demonstrate your commitment to corporate responsibility to stakeholders.
2. Plan for sustainability
Now that you’ve taken a look at your business’s sustainability, you can start to plan for future successes and changes. Whether you do this yourself or with the help of people like Edge Impact, who offer sustainability consulting Australia, having a thorough plan can help keep you and your business focused on the future and enable you to take logical steps to reduce your environmental impact. You can do this by writing down your goals, KPIs, and the implementation plan for getting things done. Should you need any help, there are several online tools that you can use to help you. If you are seeking award-winning sustainability and ESG software solutions and services that would enable you to advance your sustainability strategies, visit https://www.greenstoneplus.com/.
3. Offer staff members remote working
After the past couple of years, more and more work is being done at home. And for good reason - not only is it good for employees, but it’s also good for the planet. There’s less and less reason to physically be in the office now as lots of work is done from home and video conferencing tools have become so good. It gives your employees more of a work-life balance as they don’t have to commute into the office, which therefore has a positive impact on the environment. This is because it means fewer cars and buses stuck in traffic, and therefore less carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Win-win.
4. Think about your energy usage
As a first step, discover how much energy you’re actually using by checking your meter or installing a smart meter. This will arm you with information about what energy you use, so you can cut down in the future. There are some simple steps you can take to reduce your energy usage, such as ensuring heating and lighting is on timers to make sure you’re not using energy when no one is in the office. Additionally, when it comes to lighting your office, consider switching to LED lightbulbs, which are a more energy-efficient way to light your offices.
You can take this process one step further by switching your energy supplier over to renewable energy. This is a simple way to reduce the carbon footprint of your business and it can make a huge difference to the sustainability of your company.
5. Manage your waste
Businesses produce waste: fact. What’s important to think about when you’re working to become more sustainable is how you can reduce the amount of waste you produce, and what you do with the waste that you do produce. One simple step is recycling simple, frequently used materials such as paper, plastics, and tech.
When looking at the waste that you do have - consider where it’s going. Is there a special collection service that you can use that will sort through and recycle waste even further? Or is it time to learn more about your waste going into modern landfills that can help to protect the environment?
6. Engage your workforce
One important step toward becoming a more sustainable business is to engage your workforce. With all the will in the world, you can’t convince staff members to recycle their plastics or to reduce the amount of paper they don’t want to, because you’re not always going to be standing behind their shoulders. So, what you need to do is to get them on board with your sustainability plan. The way you do that depends on the size and culture of your business, but there are some ways to go about it:
Have an all-staff meeting to kick off initiatives
Create posters to encourage staff to make sustainable choices
Appoint sustainability officers to help you with your work
7. Switch to sustainable materials
You can move to sustainable packaging, products, and marketing materials. Nowadays, there are so many exciting, sustainable options that are biodegradable, recycled, or organic.
When it comes to packaging, you should also consider reducing how much packaging you send. Obviously, it’s important to ensure that nothing is broken or damaged in transit, but if you can ensure that products are sent carefully, but with as little packaging as possible, this is a good sustainability - and cost-effective - way to work. This move can make a huge difference to your business's sustainability and demonstrates your sustainability credentials when shipping products to customers in recycled packaging.
Hopefully, this article has provided you with some inspiration for ways to make your business more sustainable. As you can see, you can create and grow a successful, sustainable business by making incremental changes.
Subscribe to our newsletter and Explore insightful conversations on workplace culture, burnout, and leadership at the Breakfast Leadership Network, ranked Top 20 globally. Join us to thrive in the modern work environment.
Please stay connected with us! For more insights and valuable content, don't forget to check out the following resources:
- **Breakfast Leadership Show Podcast**: Tune in to our podcast and get inspired by leadership lessons and success stories from top industry leaders.
- **Breakfast Leadership YouTube Channel**: Subscribe to our YouTube channel for video content on leadership, personal development, and more.
- **Hire Michael D. Levitt to Speak**: Looking for a dynamic speaker for your next event? Hire Michael D. Levitt, the founder of Breakfast Leadership, to share his expertise and insights.
Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates. Remember to share this article with your network!