The need to adopt sustainable business practices is becoming paramount across different industries. Building a sustainable business takes a lot of work and creativity to make sure that all the practices that are implemented make sense. Sustainable business practices are generally characterized by environmentally-friendly practices implemented at work so they may differ from one company to another. See this interesting post to learn more about how businesses can cut down on waste, poor environmental stewardship, and unethical environmental practices that reduce levels of sustainability.
What considerations does a company need to put in place when adopting sustainable practices?
Sustainable business practices differ among companies and so we don’t expect any two processes to be the same. However, they almost always have the same end-goal. Overall, the main purpose of going green is to achieve any or all of the following:
- Energy reduction
- Waste reduction
- Cleaner production processes
The main challenges that businesses face in terms of sustainability are in terms of cost and time. Since these implementations are costly and time-consuming, it’s best to do it in small bits.
What are some examples of sustainable business practices?
As customers become more informed, it’s quite clear that they want to partner with businesses that care about sustainability and have incorporated social responsibility in their business strategy. Here are some of the things that businesses can do to ensure that they’re participating in conserving resources regardless of their sizes:
1. Being intentional about sustainability
A business needs to incorporate sustainability into corporate strategies and reflect the same in organizational business goals. This shows how serious it is about making sustainability a priority in every aspect of organizational operations.
Just like with any other business initiative, a plan of action has to be made and accountability needs to be assigned. Results need to be measured and people held accountable.
2. Offsetting CO2 emissions
Businesses need to invest in CO2 reduction projects such as planting trees
Instead of flying, businesses should encourage their employees to take alternative forms of transport such as trains. This goes a long way in preventing CO2 emissions from air travel. Alternatively, they could eliminate the need to travel altogether by hosting video conferences. When there’s minimized traveling there more savings and less wasted time.
3. Develop a recycling program
The business needs to develop an in-house program for recycling products like electronics, paper products, fluorescent light-bulbs, computers, and monitors, as well as other office supplies. Most waste management vendors would be more than willing to help create a process for this.
4. Water and electricity conservation
Conserving water and electricity goes a long way in an individual’s participation in the opportunities for conservation. These two are very valuable resources that need to be used properly.
Something that a business can do is installing energy-efficient faucets, toilets, and lighting.
Conclusion
There seems to be more education on the importance of corporate social responsibility in support of sustainable business practices. Sustainability is a concept that has grown in popularity and has, over the past two decades or so, been incorporated into many corporate strategies. The more initiatives that a business can successfully incorporate into its standard operating procedures, the more sustainable it can truly become.
