Environment
5 Great Tips for Companies Trying to Be More Sustainable
Making green, environmentally friendly choices is not only the responsibility of consumers. Businesses should also make more sustainable choices and choose greener business models, since they have a much bigger impact than the consumers that they serve.
One survey showed that 80% of the top companies report on their sustainability efforts. Many smaller companies want to follow suit and are trying to go green as well.
Unfortunately, practicing sustainability is easier said than done. Another study found that 98% of sustainability initiatives fail. You need to find ways to run an eco-friendly business that will also be profitable.
Making green choices for your business might be easier said than done. Still, this shouldn’t be an excuse. The internet is full of information that you can take advantage of if you are looking for tips to make your company more sustainable. You can start with some of the guidelines in this article, and then move on to deeper research if you feel the need for it.
Find Eco-friendly Ways to Sell Your Products
All companies sell either products, services or a combination of both. If you are selling products, there are some things you most likely have thought about when striving to become more sustainable. Creating green products from sustainable materials, and ensuring a great working environment for your employees are all part of selling products in a sustainable way. There is one thing that is sometimes forgotten about, however. This is the delivery.
We have a list of ideas for companies trying to ship products more sustainably. You should follow these guidelines carefully.
Shipping your products can give you an enormous carbon footprint if you aren’t careful, so you should definitely pay attention to this. If you are shipping internationally, shipping options for your green business might feel almost impossible. It might be difficult to find a green option while keeping costs down. Still, this doesn’t mean that you can’t find options that are better than others. You simply need to do some research on it first.
Pay attention to your energy usage
Energy consumption is another thing you should pay attention to if you are trying to make your business more green. This is important even if you are running an online business that offers a service. At the very least, you will have to use a computer and some lights to be able to work. The costs only get bigger as your company grows as well. Thankfully, you can start with this by using some familiar energy-saving tips. Then you can also try to change to some more sustainable energy possibilities.
You can learn more about green choices in business strategy and economics
Nowadays, you can learn about ways to make your whole supply chain and even your business strategy greener. You can read literature on the subject, attend events, or even look up articles online. Since there is a lot of pressure for companies to become greener, there is a lot of research that has been done about it as well, making things easier for you. One of the easiest steps is to create a business strategy that keeps the environment in mind. This obviously doesn’t mean that you should cut your employees’ salaries in order to compensate. There are ways to do this in a way where your company won’t suffer any significant losses.
Inspirational green actions from business owners
If you are still doubting whether you should make your business greener, you can look to other businesses for inspiration, such as Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard. He recently gave out all of his wealth, doing their best to help the environment. If you don’t have millions to give away, you don’t have to feel bad about it. You can still do many other actions to help nature rather than make rich people even richer.