Creating sustainable and green principles for your business is not just a trend. It creates better efficiencies, helps you be more competitive, and more profitable. While it is a “good thing to do”, it also provides many short-term and long-term financial benefits.

Going green is different from being sustainable.  Green is more focused on a single process, such as operations or creating a product from recycled materials. Sustainability is more of a holistic approach.  It covers your entire business from cradle to grave, which means it considers raw materials used in manufacturing, transportation in all stages, and disposal.

Creating a green and sustainable business should not be done for marketing purposes only. However, the Natural Marketing Institute found that 58% of consumers consider the impact of a company to the environment when making buying decisions. They prefer businesses that have sustainable practices.

What makes a sustainable business?

Supply chain

• Know the policies and processes of your vendors and make sure they align with your sustainable policies.

Operations

• Get a solar quote for your building. There are great incentives out there right now that could save your thousands of dollars per year. You may also benefit from solar hot water systems.
• Use products made from recycled materials. This can be just about anything you have in your office, including furniture and all office supplies.
• Can you reduce air travel and use teleconferencing software and shared documents online?
• Avoiding the purchase in the first place is always better than recycling.
• Do you really need to print everything? If so, use double sided copies. No need to purchase scratch paper, there is always used paper in the recycle bin.
• Recycle everything you can.
• If you have a fleet of vehicles, start adding in electric vehicles when you need to replace or add new. Even better if you plug them into a solar powered charger.
• Switch to LED lighting. The savings are incredible.
• If you have a large company, adopt a ride share program.
• Allow employees to bring in their recyclables by having a recycling station. This will save them a trip to the recycling center and give you a place to recycling in-house.
• Remove all disposables from the lunchroom and serve more plant-based foods. This not only saves money but keeps a healthy workforce.

End in Mind

• If you sell a product, what is the impact to the environment when it has reached the end of its life? Can it be refurbished or recycled?