Sustainability is becoming increasingly important to industries across the world. Businesses need to show consumers they’re taking actions to do their part to help the planet. Not only is this important for the environment, but also a brand’s image. More and more people are turning towards sustainable brands. You can help the environment and your business by taking the following actions to make your company more sustainable.
Green Team
You cannot be the sole person in charge of sustainability. You need to ensure the whole team is on board with the changes you want to bring to the other company, otherwise, actions won’t be taken. It’s one thing to mention policies to the team, but you want to ensure they’re being implemented. Setting up a green team can help you get the team on board. You can discuss ideas and initiatives together. It will help create a sustainability culture, and ensure that the changes you’re putting into place are realistic and can be actioned by everyone.
Ethical Investing
Making your business more sustainable is not just making internal changes to your company, but which other brands you deal with. Assess your suppliers or people you trade with. How sustainable are they? Also, look at areas where you’re spending your money. Ethical investing focuses on creating positive change across the environment, economy and society. You should make sure you’re spending money in the right places. Whether it’s supporting eco-friendly brands, or making ethical investments.
Recycling
What sort of actions can you and the team start making now? Recycling is a simple, but effective way of making your business more sustainable. You can get creative with recycling in the office. For instance, rather than recycle paper, you could shred it and use it as packing material. Or instead of buying new office furniture, upcycle the pieces you currently have. Again, you can discuss different initiatives with the team that your company could take.
Energy-Efficient
It’s also important to look at how your workplace is using energy. You can measure your company’s consumption levels by getting an energy monitor. This can show you a breakdown of your energy usage. Use this data to help drive your decisions and actions. There are lots of ways you can make your business more energy-efficient. You could switch to LED bulbs or use automated lights with sensors, to avoid lights being left on overnight. Use laptops instead of computers. Remember that small actions can make a big difference.
Making a business more sustainable won’t happen overnight. It’s important that you and the team take the time to create changes that will last and make a difference in the long term. Can you think of other actions that make a business more sustainable?
Ed Smith took a keen understanding of business through his studies and early business ventures. He now looks to advise start-ups and is extremely keen to make sure every entrepreneur gets the advice which could make their business venture a success. He has been a guest author on various high authority business sites.
Sustainable business stock photo by D-Krab/Shutterstock
