How Businesses Can Show Commitment To Sustainability

*Collaborative Post

There’s growing pressure on businesses to demonstrate that they care about the environment. Modern consumers are increasingly less likely to give their money to businesses that show disregard for the natural world, and plus, with governments around the world setting ambitious net-zero targets, any business that doesn’t take their carbon footprint is at risk of being left behind.

Every business knows that they should reduce printing to prevent paper wastage and turn off their lights when they’re not in use. That’s basic energy-saving 101. To really establish themselves as businesses that are good for the environment, companies must show a more robust commitment to sustainability. In this post, we’ll run through a host of tips that businesses can adopt that’ll affirm that they’re not just a business that’s good for the planet, but that they’re businesses of the future. 

Be Accountable

Nobody wants to think that they might be having a negative impact. All too often, businesses can bury their heads in the sand about the negative implications of their actions, all the while elevating the smaller, positive impacts that they have. 

A business that’s truly committed to the environment is accountable for its actions. That requires looking critically at your operations and coming to an honest conclusion. By acknowledging where you’ve made mistakes, you can begin making things right. 

While this won’t be the most enjoyable component of running your business, it is an important one. Plus, it’s something that your customers will appreciate — they’ll recognize that your intentions are in the right place. 

Set Goals 

Having a vague commitment to improving your business’s environmental record won’t be effective unless you create a plan of action. Once you’ve assessed your current eco-impact, take a look at setting short-, medium-, and long-term goals that’ll ultimately end with your business being as good for the environment as possible. By setting objectives, you’ll ensure that your commitment stays on the right track. 

Get Everyone On Board 

To be a truly planet-friendly business, you’ll need to have everyone at the business on board. It’s not enough just for the owner to care about the impact on the planet; it’s up to everyone. Getting buy-in from all levels within the company is paramount for ensuring that your eco objectives are met. 

Businesses that make ‘earth-friendliness’ part of their brand can attract higher quality candidates who also share the same vision. By making a fundamental part of your business, you’ll have nowhere to hide — if you make a decision that isn’t earth-friendly, then your employees will let you know about it. 

Revise Your Offerings 

All too often, businesses make a pledge to be better for the environment, only to then go back on what they’ve said once they’ve seen how their changes will impact their bottom line. In some cases, showing a commitment to sustainability will involve changing the business model of the company. If you realize that there’s no one to sustainability provide one of your products/services, then it’s worth considering pivoting to a new product/service that you can. While you can make many small adjustments to your operations, sometimes the most effective way to boost the eco credentials of your business is to get rid of the things that have the most negative impact. 

Look At Your Suppliers

The impact of the changes you make at your business will be dampened significantly if the suppliers you work with have a terrible environmental record. Remember that assessing the impact of your business is about more than just looking at how your core products/services affect the natural world. It’s about assessing how all components of the business impact the planet. 

If you figure out that your suppliers aren’t as eco-friendly as you need them to be, then you can simply switch suppliers. This arguably has just as much of a positive impact as the changes you make; if every business stopped working with eco-damaging businesses, then those operations would quickly change how they work. 

Get Smart About Waste

Even the most eco-focused businesses produce waste. The goal is to endeavor to reduce that waste as much as possible. You’ll already know about the importance of recycling your plastics and paper. Boosting your eco-credentials involves trying to reduce waste even further. What this looks like in practice will depend on the type of business you run, but may involve using the Oil Salvage oil waste collection service or using a metal recycling service for old machinery. Ultimately, it’s always worth exploring whether there’s a business out there that can put your waste products to good use. 

Get Certified 

It’s all good and well trying to improve the eco-friendliness of your business yourself. But if you’re not an eco-expert, then you won’t know for sure if what you’re doing is correct. One way to show your commitment to sustainability is to allow outsiders to critically assess your operations. This can actually be highly beneficial for your marketing campaigns, too, since you’ll be able to show that it’s not just you that’s saying that you care about the environment, but that the experts are saying it too. 

Raise Awareness 

If you’re an established business, then you’ll have a big platform upon which you educate and inform your audience about the importance of caring for the environment. On your social media channels, look at providing tips for customers to adopt that’ll lessen their impact on the natural world, and also consider calling out businesses that don’t take the same level of care as you do. Given the climate change situation, it’s completely OK to name and shame businesses that are making things worse!

Review and Update 

Finally, remember that your commitment to sustainability will be something that you need to reaffirm from time to time. There’ll always be new planet-boosting products and ways of operating coming out. Genuinely caring for the natural world involves being open to these new products and services, and continually reviewing your operations to see where you might be able to do things better. 

*This is a collaborative post. For further information please refer to my disclosure page.