7 Ways to Make Your Business More Sustainable
7 Ways to Make Your Business More Sustainable
Running a business in 2022 is not easy. Of the many challenges facing businesses today, the potential impact of climate change is perhaps the biggest. As the effects of climate change become more visible, companies no longer get to decide if they want to "go green."
Sustainability has now become a necessity, and all businesses should play their part in reducing their carbon footprint to save this planet from irreversible damage. This article will discuss seven simple ways to make your business more sustainable.
Let’s get started
1. Create a Culture of Sustainability
The first thing you need to do to ensure your company becomes more sustainable is to get your entire workforce on board. You can do this by creating a culture of sustainability – a culture that extends from your products and services to your company’s policies and practices.
There are several ways to teach your employees how to make your business more sustainable such as:
- Hanging posters and signs around the office that remind employees to turn off lights and recycle
- Reminding employees about green habits via memos or during meetings
- Rewarding sustainable practices in the workplace such as giving an extra 30 minutes of lunch break to employees who cycle to work
If you want to make your business more sustainable, you need to make a cultural change. Develop a culture that normalises sustainability and makes it a part of your business identity.
2. Become a B Corporation
One of the bravest things you can do to encourage sustainability is become a B Corporation.
What is a B Corp?
B Corporations are for-profit businesses that meet the highest standards of environmental and social performance. All of them are legally obligated to consider the good of the planet in all their business and corporate decision making.
Joining the growing B Corp community and becoming a verified and certified on a tri-yearly basis by the not-for-profit B Lab is a lengthy process. You will have to complete the ‘B Impact Assessment’ that will look at different areas of your business, such as your employment policies, Community, Employees including supply chain workers rights and conditions, and the all-important carbon footprint.
B Corps have been around in the USA since 2007, with big, well-known brands like Patagonia and Ben & Jerry's achieving certification from B Lab. In the UK, the list includes Innocent Smoothies, Abel & Cole, and Propercorn.
Obvious benefits would be a positive impact on your brand equity as well as greater recruitment appeal for Gen Z. There are also some less obvious ones such as driving corporate performance with some cases involving an average growth rate that would be considered significantly higher than the national average.
It can also improve the saleability of a corporate organisation too as top Investors are now looking to bring a wider diversity to their portfolios. There could be less due diligence required in a B Corp sale.
3. Offer Remote Working Opportunities
Nowadays, more work gets done online, so the need for people to be physically present in the workplace has decreased to a degree. In the past few years, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic, remote working has become very popular. It has allowed UK and Irish employees to have a greater work-life balance and reduced their time traveling to and from work.
Remote working opportunities are great for the environment because collectively, they lead to fewer cars on roads, less idling in traffic (unless your vehicle is programmed to shut off at traffic lights or in queues) , and reduced carbon dioxide emissions in the air. Not only does this reduce traffic levels, but it also reduces the overall carbon footprint of a business.
4. Use Sustainable Packaging
Packaging is an important aspect of day-to-day operations for companies that manufacture, sell, or ship products. From the packaging that every unit is sold in to the cardboard boxes and cartons it is eventually shipped out in, the material used adds up very quickly.
Sendle, an Australian shipping company, conducted a survey and found that 64% of consumers would actually be likelier to purchase from a retailer if they offered compostable packaging at the same cost.
If your business involves packaging, switch to recycled paper and cardboard today. These are tried and tested sustainable packaging options. Or, if you can, use completely compostable packaging that leads to zero waste.
5. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
One of the best ways to make your business more sustainable is to keep as much waste out of UK landfills as possible. For this, you need to keep the three Rs in mind: reduce, reuse and recycle. The order of the Rs is extremely important.
Firstly, companies should aim to reduce material wastage wherever they can. Instead of disposable cups, plates, and other utensils, they can opt for glass, metal, and ceramic alternatives.
Next, they should aim to reuse items whenever possible. For example, instead of throwing out completely intact boxes from the warehouse, they should find a way to utilize them again. Similarly, employees in the office should be encouraged to print on both sides of a paper.
In cases where reducing or reusing isn’t possible, recycling is your best bet. Several cities and counties provide recycling bins to businesses and have made the recycling process a breeze. Utilise their services as much as you can. Use recyclable office supplies such as notepads and desk pads from Trade Printing UK.
6. Use Greener Office Supplies
We’re sure that by now, you are aware of the dangers of paper and plastic and how these materials pollute the environment. Unfortunately, in an office setting, avoiding these two materials can be very hard. Even in today’s digitised world, paperwork is an important aspect of the business, but you don't need to use it in every process.
Today’s digital world has provided several resources such as Google Drive, Sheets, Cloud, and similar platforms. These platforms have allowed businesses to cut down on paper dramatically while still keeping documents safe. Apps such as Docusign have provided alternatives to paper signatures. Recipients can now digitally sign documents, reducing the need for signatures on paper.
You cannot completely admonish paper and plastic materials from the workplace. They are always bound to be around in some capacity. What you can do is encourage those around you to decrease the usage of paper and plastic items. For example, rather than providing single-use items in the office kitchen, stock it with reusable cutlery and utensils that can be washed easily. Some companies also provide reusable water bottles to all their employees to encourage sustainable practices.
7. Switch to Renewable Energy
Last but not least, make the switch to renewable energy where you can. Acclimate yourself with the amount of energy you’re using daily so you can identify the areas where change is needed. Most energy suppliers in the UK provide smart meters that allow businesses to monitor their energy consumption and make an effort to reduce it.
Switching to renewable energy like wind or solar is a simple way to reduce your business’s carbon footprint. An added benefit of wind and solar energy is that it is much cheaper than gas, so many companies have been turning to renewable energy suppliers to begin their journey on the path to sustainability.
Heating, lighting, and electrical appliances are the biggest uses of energy in office-based environments. However, you don’t have to use them. For example, if your building has a lot of windows, you can make good use of the natural light and turn off artificial lights during the daytime!
We've noticed that even in empty offices or offices with fewer people, the heating and lighting systems function at their maximum capacity from morning until evening. It’s such an unsustainable practice and a complete waste of energy. Ensure that your systems are on a timer, so you're not heating or lighting up an empty office.
If you haven’t already, consider switching to laptops instead of desktop computers wherever possible to reduce energy consumption. Or if you want to keep your desktop PC or Mac, why not get it a new GPU Graphics card, which are always more powerful and can consume less electricity.
Activate your Energy Saving options on your monitors within your System Preferences to save more energy.
Why not turn them off completely on Fridays and save some more money over the weekends. A desktop PC or Mac always likes a Restart now and again to clear its systems and run at its intended speed.
Little actions like unplugging laptop chargers when they aren’t in use will impact your energy consumption more as well.
Get Green Office Supplies from Trade Printing UK!
Now that you’re aware of the ways to make your business more sustainable, you can get one step closer to achieving sustainability by ordering your office supplies from Trade Printing UK. We have a variety of stationery items such as envelopes, notepads, desk pads, business cards, flyers, etc., that are 100% recyclable.
We have been supporting all business sectors in the UK and Ireland for more than 30 years. Contact our head office by calling 028 9084 1234 today to learn more about our products and services.