Why should your business make the effort to become more sustainable?

35% of Gen Z consumers are willing to to pay more for sustainable products and services (EY Consumer Index . 2021). The Global Sustainability Study conducted in 2021 found that globally, sustainability is rated as an important purchase criteria for 60 percent of consumers and for younger generations this is even higher.

Switch to a green website hosting service.

Did you know that most websites are run with non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels and coal? By switching to a green website hosting service, you can reduce the amount of carbon produced each time someone visits your website. You can also optimise your website content to be less energy intensive. Want to see how much carbon your website produces? Run it through this website carbon calculator: https://www.websitecarbon.com/

9 ways that your business can become more sustainable

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Source materials and goods from local, sustainable companies

This may seem obvious, but have you ever checked your suppliers’ sustainability credentials? For example, “you can ask if the supplier uses a certified environmental management system (EMS) such as ISO 14001 to assess their own environmental impacts, monitor their environmental impact and performance, maintain legal compliance and gain senior management commitment.” (Selecting a sustainable supplier | NetRegs | Environmental guidance for your business in Northern Ireland & Scotland) Carefully selecting and researching your suppliers can help to reduce your own environmental impact, and helps to encourage other suppliers to become more environmentally friendly.

3.

Optimise your workspace

For businesses that aren’t producing physical products, your most energy intensive resource may be your office or workspace. Have you taken steps to ensure that energy isn’t being wasted? Small changes can add up, such as changing your lightbulbs to motion sensitive ones in areas that don’t receive much foot traffic. You can also check if you are using the most energy efficient bulbs or switch to a renewable energy supplier to heat and power your workspace. This can help to reduce both your carbon footprint and your energy bills. You can compare suppliers here: Business Green Energy Comparison | Big Clean Switch It’s also essential to maximise natural light in your workspace, as this will reduce your need to artificial lighting and has been scientifically proven to improve academic performance, mood and productivity (Shishegar and Boubekri, 2016)

4.

Optimise your equipment 

Do you and your colleagues use laptops and computers regularly? Make sure that these devices are all set to sleep mode after a period of inactivity – and encourage employees to turn off their device as soon as it is no longer in use. This saves battery power and could help to reduce the electrical costs of charging multiple laptops and running desktop computers regularly in your workspace or office. If you are using older devices that are less energy efficient – it may be time to consider updating them! Not sure what makes a laptop more or less sustainable? Take a look at this list to help you decide: 10 Most Eco-Friendly Laptops For Your Ethical Workspace Needs • Sustainably Kind Living

5.

Create a green space

By simply adding plants both indoors and outdoors in your workspace, you can help to improve air quality and make the space more comfortable and uplifting. Outdoor plants can also attract pollinators and provide habitats for local wildlife. Research has shown that simply being able to view nature in the workplace can improve mood and reduce anxiety (Chang and Chen, 2005) Not sure what to plant? Here’s a list of Cornish flora that can enhance your workspace: Flowers & Plants | Cornish Horizons

6.

Get involved with sustainable community events 

You and your employees can easily take tangible steps towards sustainability by getting involved in community projects such as tree planting and our speciality: litter picking. Both of these activities can allow you to put a specific figure on how much carbon you have offset – or how much litter you’ve removed from your local ecosystems. Not only does this improve your brand image and encourage conscious consumers to invest in you, it creates an opportunity for your colleagues / employees to feel a great sense of achievement and community involvement. Want to organise a company litter pick? You can you use the form on our website to easily loan equipment, advertise your litter pick and arrange litter collection: Forms (cornwall.gov.uk). Want to get involved in tree planting in Cornwall? You can visit the Cornwall Council website to find out more about the logistics and funding: Financing Your Tree Planting - Cornwall Council.

7.

Set tangible sustainability goals

Select a specific sustainability certification as your business’ goal and plan out practical steps to help you achieve this. It’s beneficial to create a detailed project timeline in which you will achieve these steps, so that you can track your progress and pinpoint your businesses’ weaker sustainability points. For example, brands can work with The Ethical Company Organisation to achieve Ethical Accreditation, which can bring about a plethora of benefits such as improved company reputation and potential features in publications such as The Good Shopping Guide. Find out more here: Benefits of Ethical Accreditation - The Good Shopping Guide

8.

Be honest and transparent

Don’t exaggerate your environmental achievements. Conscious consumers are on the rise and they can see straight through greenwashing. This can seriously hurt your brand’s integrity. If you are working towards an environmental goal, be clear about how you plan to achieve this and the progress you have made so far. Avoid vague terminology such as “green” and “eco” as this is often used to deceive customers and feign sustainability. Be realistic and transparent by making your environmental policies easy to find and understand. Make sure to differentiate between your company’s environmental goals and what you have achieved already to avoid misleading your customers.

9.

Measure your impacts

How can you track your steps towards sustainability by quantifying your impacts? Here are some factors that you can measure to track your progress and evidence improvements to your consumers:

  • Miles driven: Find out the total sum of your employees’ mileage each month, try to reduce this with online meetings and thoughtfully planning the location of events near public transport facilities so that employees can reduce their individual mileage as much as possible

  • Calculate your energy usage: Find out your exact daily / weekly / monthly energy usage in kWh. This reading will most likely come from your office building. This will also help you to calculate how much energy you are saving by switching to less energy intensive alternatives such as LED bulbs and motion sensor lights.

Trees planted: You can calculate the amount of carbon offset for each tree planted by your business. You can showcase this figure on your website to show you commitment to sustainability.

References and Sources:

Big Clean Switch. 2023. Green energy for your business. Available at: https://bigcleanswitch.org/business/ [accessed 12/01/2023]

Chang, C.Y. and Chen, P.K., 2005. Human response to window views and indoor plants in the workplace. HortScience, 40(5), pp.1354-1359.

Cornish Horizons. 2023. Flowers and plants. Available at: https://www.cornishhorizons.co.uk/enjoy-cornwall/nature/plants [accessed 12/01/2023]

Cornwall Council. 2023. Financing your tree planting. Available at: https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/environment/countryside/forest-for-cornwall-programme/forest-for-cornwall-and-landowners-farmers-and-businesses/financing-your-tree-planting/ [accessed 12/01/2023]

EY Consumer Index . 2021, LoyaltyLion 2020, Deloitte, RecyclingLives, Futerra, Forbes/ Forrester, Millennial Marketing. Available at: https://www.ey.com/en_gl/news/2021/06/ey-future-consumer-index-68-of-global-consumers-expect-companies-to-solve-sustainability-issues [accessed 12/01/2023]

Honest Mobile. 2021. 8 ways to make your business more sustainable. Available at: https://honestmobile.co.uk/2021/02/17/8-ways-to-make-your-business-more-sustainable/ [accessed 12/01/2023]

NetRegs. 2023. Selecting a Sustainable Supplier. Available at: https://www.netregs.org.uk/environmental-topics/carbon-reduction-and-efficiency/buying-eco-friendly-goods-and-services/selecting-a-sustainable-supplier/#:~:text=You%20may%20want%20to%20consider,and%20gain%20senior%20management%20commitment[accessed 12/01/2023]

Shishegar, N. and Boubekri, M., 2016, April. Natural light and productivity: Analyzing the impacts of daylighting on students’ and workers’ health and alertness. In Proceedings of the International Conference on “health, Biological and life science”(HBLS-16), Istanbul, Turkey (pp. 18-19). 

Supply Chain Solutions Center. 2023. Build a sustainability plan 101: set meaningful goals. Available at: https://supplychain.edf.org/resources/build-a-sustainability-plan-101-set-meaningful-goals/ [accessed 12/01/2023]

Sustainably Kind Living. 2022. 10 Most Eco-Friendly Laptops For Your Ethical Workspace Needs. Available at: 10 Most Eco-Friendly Laptops For Your Ethical Workspace Needs • Sustainably Kind Living [accessed 12/01/2023]

The Good Shopping Guide. 2023. The Benefits of Ethical Accreditation. Available at: https://thegoodshoppingguide.com/benefits-of-ethicalaccreditation/ [accessed 12/01/2023]

The Good Shopping Guide. 2023. The Ethical Company Organisation. Available at: https://thegoodshoppingguide.com/the-ethical-company-organisation/ [accessed 12/01/2023]

Website Carbon Calculator. 2023. Website Carbon Calculator v3. Available at: https://www.websitecarbon.com/ [accessed 12/01/2023]