Believe it or not, you can be eco-conscious and run a business at the same time. If you set out to create a more sustainable business, then you won’t just be doing your part to help the earth, but you may also be appealing to a wider audience.
Recent studies show that nearly 50% of consumers are more eco-conscious than they were ten years ago. Choosing sustainable materials and practices may just be one of the smartest business decisions you ever make. So, how do you go about running a more sustainable business? Here are some ideas to get you started.
Integrate Sustainability Into Your Mission Statement
Whether you’re just launching your business, or you’ve been around for a while and you’re looking to rework the way you do things, incorporating sustainability into your mission statement is a great way of declaring your commitment to the earth.
When you establish core business values that reflect eco-practices, you’ll formally declare your commitment to the earth to your customers. Do you plan on making the switch to sustainable products? Why are you making these changes and what are your specific goals?
In other words, decide not only how you’re going to do it by why sustainability is important to your business. This will help you form a vision for how sustainability will be a part of your business practices and ultimately help you measure whether you’re reaching your targets or not.
Choose Sustainable Packaging
One of the biggest contributing factors to waste is packaging. Opt for eco-conscious packaging such as recycled materials and non-toxic products. More and more customers are starting to recognize the importance of wasteful packaging, so if you can manage to start there, then this in itself is already huge progress. Some businesses are going as far as using reusable packaging so that customers can repurpose it when their products are sold, decreasing the chances of it winding up in a landfill.
Encourage Remote Work
More and more businesses are embracing remote work since COVID. While not every business can go entirely remote, try to find ways that you can incorporate a more hybrid schedule into your employees’ jobs whenever possible. Not only can this significantly reduce the amount of emissions your employees produce by getting to work in a car, but it can also reduce the amount of energy that your office consumes. Even though your employees may still be consuming electricity at home, it’s considerably less than the amount your business would be producing if everyone were in the office at once.
Go Paperless
Now is the time to consider going paperless if you haven’t already. From your marketing to your billing, consider going entirely digital. The less paper you can produce overall, the less strain you’ll be putting on the environment, not to mention you’ll lower your overall costs. While some customers may still prefer good old-fashioned paper billing, many will appreciate the fact that you’re making efforts to cut back on waste. Give your customers the option between a digital bill and a paper one if going entirely digital isn’t something your company is ready for.
These are just a few ways that you can start incorporating sustainability into your business practice. By revisiting these practices frequently and looking for new ways to build on your current efforts, you’ll be doing your part in making the earth a better place!
