Today’s business landscape is redefining what people mean by sustainability. This label is not only used to attract customers, but also stakeholders and ensure long-term success and survival.
As concerns about climate change grow and customers become more demanding, businesses of all sizes are being forced to adapt. The good thing, however, is that becoming more sustainable doesn’t necessarily require huge investments or complete operational overhauls. In fact, some of the most effective environmental changes start with simple, everyday actions that transform over time.
Whether you run a small local shop or are managing a growing business, there are practical and cost-effective ways to reduce your impact on the environment while improving your bottom line. This guide will take you through seven key areas where small changes can make a big difference, helping you build a more sustainable business without disrupting your core operations.
Get carbon offsets
Companies large and small have begun to transform themselves into greener business models. No matter what practices you adopt to make your business greener, there is a single solution you can implement to reduce your carbon footprint. Any business can calculate the approximate number of emissions released and offset them with the help of one of the many specialized organizations. Estimating should not be difficult: there are many marketplaces that have the tools to improve the estimation of your footprint and point you in the right direction to purchase the equivalent credits. What credits, you ask?
Carbon offsetting is a system that allows entities to invest in initiatives that reduce, eliminate or avoid emissions elsewhere in order to offset their own company’s emissions. Offset credits or carbon credits are received after the investment and can be traded between entities. It is comforting to note that a single carbon credit symbolises the elimination or reduction of one metric tonne of CO2.
Several greenhouse gas reduction projects may be eligible for credits and offsets, depending on the program. The key is to find organizations that have received certifications from third-party groups, and be wary of those that don’t have such specifications. Transparency is key—you don’t want to send your money to fictitious projects, but to see real impact resulting from your efforts.
Change the procurement policy
Sustainable sourcing has a huge impact on businesses and the world. Just as today’s consumers are looking for reliable companies that are reducing their impact on the environment, your company should also take stock of its suppliers.
A helpful place to start is to audit your suppliers. You can set expectations for your suppliers and weed out those who don’t meet the criteria. For example, to create a fair trade product, you need to source from fair trade suppliers. More than 1.4 million workers and farmers in 74 countries have signed up to the Fair Trade system—a transparent business partnership that strives to improve fairness in global trade. The fair trade brands you’ll be shopping from are known for trading exclusively with approved suppliers who, as a result, source from farms that follow sustainable practices and pay their workers fairly. By changing your purchasing policy, you’ll be contributing to the broader movement to promote economic and social development projects in agriculture.
Or resort to direct exchanges
When it comes to fair trade, you can find a lot of buzz. If you want to take a different route, you can target entities that practice direct trade and are committed to ethical standards in their supply chain. These companies are transparent about this. You can also approach farmers yourself and enter into collaborative contracts with them, in order to communicate this change in sourcing policy to consumers and other companies in your industry. Your company could be seen as a leader in sustainable production and trade.
Working with certified companies that measure up can have a lasting positive impact on your business's bottom line.
Sorting organic waste
Composting isn’t just a practice that helps keep food waste out of already crowded landfills. It’s also a way to create nutritious soil that can be sold, donated, or even used if you need landscaping around your business. A growing number of states and cities have come up with solutions to compost just about anything they can get their hands on.
Here’s an interesting comparison. The banana peel in the trash and the one in the compost are seemingly the same – the difference is what happens to them in the two different environments. The peels decompose quickly and turn into soil for the soil in the compost, but in the trash, they take a long time to degrade and decompose. This process releases methane, a harmful greenhouse gas resulting from human activity.
Your workplace is the perfect setting to implement a composting system and teach employees about its benefits and uses. This will prevent piles of leftovers from turning into methane and healthy soil. For other types of waste, you can explore the benefits of using a Mil-tek waste crusher compared to balers and compactors and see which solutions best meet your needs.
Choose sustainable products
Businesses are likely to unknowingly use environmentally harmful products or products that cause environmental harm due to their development process. These materials come in everything from plastic cutlery to cleaning products to printer paper. Fortunately, office managers can look for products that have a label that guarantees that they used post-consumer or pre-consumer waste in their creation. This applies to any product that the business needs to operate properly, including printer cartridges, lunch containers, and more. When it comes to cleaners, the market is full of green cleaners that avoid harmful chemicals and use natural ingredients.
Using recycled products can slow the depletion of natural resources, prevent habitat loss and help improve biodiversity in fragmented habitats.
Your business is the perfect place to start a change that you will be happy about later. The impact will be felt not only on the atmosphere of your business, but also on its bottom line if you implement the right strategies. Customers are increasingly wary of products that are manufactured in questionable ways. So you can attract a growing category of buyers by meeting sustainability criteria.