Wherever you stand on the conversations around the environment, making your business more sustainable makes commercial and financial sense.
If by saving money you are also contributing towards reducing carbon emissions, cutting back on plastics and generally working towards a cleaner, safer future, then there are many actions you can implement to make a positive impact.
Making significant policy and infrastructural changes might be expensive and unnecessary initially. Instead, compounding small, low cost changes on an incremental basis will quickly build into your organization experiencing some powerful shifts in its operations, placing you in a better position to create a sustainability policy with even more ambitious targets. By starting slow with achievable goals you are more likely to see some tangible results.
Reassess and Reduce Energy Consumption
Energy has been at the forefront of every business owner’s mind this last year due to the astronomical increases in the price of electricity and gas. This has forced businesses to radically assess their own energy consumption and make changes to reduce usage.
The use of energy efficient technologies such as upgrading lighting to LED bulbs, installing programmable thermostats and investing in energy saving appliances will help to cut bills.
Equally, encouraging staff to monitor their own behaviour will also contribute – such as switching off the lights, turning down the heating, and powering down equipment when not in use.
Build Sustainability Into Product Design
It’s fair to say that the world is much more switched on to sustainability these days, particularly the younger generation. Sustainability can be used as a key marketing message to attract new audiences and keep up to date with evolving trends.
Building sustainability into product design and development will not only help you fulfil your environmental obligations, but will also make you more relevant to the emerging generation of future clients. Reconfiguring aspects such as production methods, packaging, and distribution will place you ahead of your competitors and feed into the current zeitgeist. Moreover, by exploring different types of packaging that are eco-friendly and align with your brand’s ethos, you can further enhance your commitment to sustainability and attract a wider audience that values conscious consumption.
Encourage Waste Reduction and Recycling
Reducing waste and optimizing consumption not only makes good commercial sense, it is also much more environmentally friendly. The more the off cuts of any raw material can be reassigned to a different use, the more you are able to shrink your carbon footprint and move towards greater overall sustainability.
Equally, be picky about choosing those who supply you too. Speak to your existing suppliers and look to implement a sustainable supply chain that works to the same value of reducing waste and working towards reducing your overall collective carbon consumption. The more suppliers you that get involved, the greater the impact you will make collectively.
Impose Strict Maintenance Protocols
How much does your company waste every year due to poor maintenance? Chances are you have leaking taps, faulty equipment and energy inefficient devices that are old, cumbersome, and suck up electricity as if it were going out of fashion. Meanwhile, a well maintained, tightly tuned organization keeps a good eye on wasted costs.
Install EV Charging Points
As well as encouraging your employees to ditch the cars and walk or cycle into work (at least for those that live nearby), you can also encourage them to switch to electric cars by installing EV charging stations. Many local councils and authorities are offering businesses grants to install EV charging points.
If you run a fleet of vehicles – anything from cars to lorries, you may also want to consider swapping them for electric vehicles. While the technology is still quite young, it is evolving rapidly and there are many schemes and incentives designed to help you achieve sustainable changes in a bid to work towards carbon neutrality.
