Author: Shaïna Peek
Publication date: 06.09.2023
“Just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions”, is what the Carbon Majors Report stated in 2017. Since 1998, these 100 companies have spread over 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Even now, global warming continues to be an issue. Therefore, here are some ways for businesses to be more sustainable.
Mission
First and foremost, make your mission sustainable. You can do so by creating goals within a timeframe and actively working to achieve them. For instance, plan to limit greenhouse emissions, or to recycle more of the company waste. Also, publish these goals on your website. This way, you show consumers your commitment.
Partnerships
Make sure that your partners also have the same goals as you. This means that you source ethically and ecologically. Actually, sourcing from local businesses is both more environmentally friendly, as well as supportive of smaller businesses. So, try to order more sustainable and recycled materials, if possible.
Engage employees
Discuss the previously established mission and goals with your employees. Encourage employees to participate in your goals. For example, you can discuss with them ways that they can live more sustainably. If possible, offer funding or rewards for participation.
Moreover, you should allow employees to offer their own solutions to make them feel more included in the project. Try to also find business discounts, for example for subscriptions for public transport. Then, offer these subscriptions to employees.
Work style
Offer remote work to employees. By allowing people to work remotely, they no longer need to travel to the office. As a result, there is less pollution caused by traffic. Also, because there are fewer people at the office, the company saves money. This is because there is less need for lighting and heating for example. What’s more, besides being more sustainable, remote working has also been proven to enhance productivity.
Conserve water
Despite not many people being aware of this, the heating and processing of water uses a lot of energy. In order to conserve water, make sure to do the following:
● Check for leaks regularly,
● Try to use the heating systems less. Do this by encouraging employees to dress warmly.
● Pick up water-efficient products. For example, tankless heaters, timers, and controllers
● Help reduce waste of water.
Energy efficient
There are different ways to gain energy more sustainably. First, using LED lightning is a great option. This is because LED lighting is affordable and uses less energy than conventional lighting.
Secondly, solar lightning is very sustainable. To generate this energy, solar panels need to be installed. Although this is expensive, it is a one-time expense that offers cost reduction in the long run.
Thirdly, you can switch to wind energy or solar panel one. For this, you need to install the necessary equipment to collect the energy. This investment is also more cost-efficient based on longevity.
Join a sustainable movement
Finally, after having made progress on the sustainable goals, consider joining a movement. There are multiple movements with enthusiastic people to help sustainable businesses. Events within the organisation allow for more business connections to be formed. Therefore, joining these movements offers more collaboration possibilities.
Shift to more sustainable packaging
A change to a more eco-friendly packaging is a very nice way to show your audience that your company puts theory into practice. This transformation will definitely catch the eye of eco-conscious customers that value such actions. For example, depending on your product you can use organic ecological textiles or Biodegradable plastics and recycled plastics. This impactful change might revolutionise the brand of the company as well.
How to increase sustainability
The most important step is to create sustainable missions. Then, discuss these missions with all employees and drive interest and participation. Afterwards, you can start investing. For example, you may make improvements related to these missions and goals.
Consequently, after achieving more goals, you can join movements for easier sustainable growth. In short, the more sustainable your business is, the easier it is to become more sustainable.