The obvious benefit of going green is that you’re helping to save the environment by reducing your carbon footprint. But there are also sensible business benefits to running a
sustainable company, including saving money by reducing power bills, creating a healthier work environment for employees, strengthening brand loyalty, and attracting new eco-friendly customers.
Here are some quick wins to start your sustainability journey.
Offer green transport incentives
Encourage employees to get to work using sustainable transportation methods, such as walking, cycling, or taking public transportation. You can:
- Subsidize or buy public transport passes for your employees to make it cheaper to get to work, and eliminate parking and traffic woes
- Provide secure bike storage or organize a carpooling system to encourage ride shares
- If your premises moves, consider a location accessible to eco friendly transit and close to bike lanes
- If it’s viable for all or some employees to work from home, even one day a week can have a huge impact on annual carbon emissions
Do more online
It’s possible to use the internet to minimize your business’ carbon footprint, even if you run a brick-and-mortar business.
- Online marketing is one way to leverage the internet in an environmentally conscious way. Email marketing campaigns using automation software can replace print advertising, while social media can help you promote your business more efficiently than traditional advertising methods.
- Adopt accounting software to send invoices online, limit paper and postage, and help you get paid faster.
- Store data online and replace onsite servers with the Cloud to backup data, share files, and make your business data accessible from anywhere, with very little environmental impact.
Make your office green
There are several things you can do to make your office greener:
- Conserve energy by changing to LED light bulbs, turning off electronics when not in use, investing in light timers, and taking advantage of natural light by working near windows.
- Switch to natural and environmentally-friendly cleaning supplies, use rechargeable batteries, buy only recycled paper and print double-sided.
- Give employees reusable water bottles to eliminate plastic waste, buy recycled ink cartridges, and introduce live plants to the office to improve air quality.
- In the kitchen, replace disposable cutlery, plates, and cups and use fairtrade coffee and tea. Avoid single-use coffee pods and individually-packaged snacks, and upgrade to energy-efficient dishwashers and fridges.
- Say no to any physical promotional materials mailed to you or dropped in to your physical address.
Use sustainably-sourced materials
Going green is easier once you select green suppliers. Get assurances from your supply chain that:
- Raw materials or end products are sourced sustainably. Ensure they can prove that they follow ethical, social, and environmental standards.
- They use fairtrade materials, and that their suppliers pay their employees fair and livable wages.
- Their businesses use renewable energy where possible, such as solar panels.
- Materials are recyclable, renewable, and biodegradable — including eco-friendly packaging.
You can help the packaging dilemma if your packaging has a second use, such as storage. For example, customers will often find a future use for a high-quality branded reusable drawstring bag, rather than a disposable cardboard box or plastic bag.
Green shipping
If you deliver products to customers, think about your own shipping and packaging. Ensure boxes or bags are as compact as possible to reduce cost — as well as the amount of space your product takes up in transit. This will result in fewer trips and fewer emissions. You can also consolidate orders, if practical, so you’re shipping once to each destination. You can also offer incentives for bulk purchases to reduce the number of times a customer orders each month.
Contribute back
You can actively support the environment by building sustainability efforts into your marketing and community support ideas, such as planting a tree for X number of products sold or sales made. Some businesses also donate a percentage of their profit to environmental causes.
Green business certification
By ‘certifying’ your business as green, you’re better able to prove what you say. You can apply for ‘B Corp’ status, a global practice of being not only green, but using sustainability throughout your business.
Next steps
Let everyone know about your green efforts. It’s a good look for your brand and demonstrates your commitment to environmental causes. Finally, encourage your employees to buy into your greener world by incentivizing and rewarding good habits. Show appreciation for their efforts, and ask for input on how you can make positive changes both in your workplace and in your community. Set goals, celebrate your successes, and consider nominating someone within your business to champion the cause
The stuff we have to say.
This content is for general information purposes only. It is not to be relied upon as financial, tax, or investment advice or guarantees about the future, nor should it be considered a recommendation to buy or sell. You should consult your own professional advisor for specific financial, investment, and/or tax advice tailored to your needs to ensure that individual circumstances are considered properly and action is taken based on the latest available information.
