As consumer trends change, customers are now more likely to purchase from businesses that prioritise sustainability and therefore being more sustainable could be the difference between you and your competitor.
Making your business more sustainable can be done in many ways, a lot of which are very simple and easy changes to make. By making sustainability your company’s mission, you can set clear goals to become ‘greener’, and therefore begin your journey in helping the environment.
So, how can we make the conscious effort to be more sustainable? There are many ways to do so, and we will go through the key ones in this blog post.
Making Your Products Greener
Whatever products your business may sell, you can take simple steps to make your products more sustainable. By making sure you source your materials from sustainable companies and your manufactures are ethical and environmentally friendly, you can become so much more ‘greener’.
You can source your materials from fairtrade businesses or local businesses in order to help your local community. It is also quite important to have recyclable products (using materials that minimise the impact of the environment).
Store and Ship Your Products Sustainably
Another step you can take is shipping your products in a more sustainable way. This can involve sending them out in reusable packaging or packaging that is biodegradable.
You can also take sustainable steps within your warehouse or offices. Prioritising that your warehouse conserves water and energy is a great way to be more sustainable, or even adding solar panels to your warehouse and offices.
Give Back to Charity
Something that companies should do is donate to their local charities. You and your staff can donate your unused and unwanted items to charity or host charity days in order to raise money for charities of your choice. This is a great way to stick to your sustainability mission, as you’re continuously helping others as well as giving away unwanted items to a good cause. You may even want to donate to environmental charities to show your interest in becoming greener.
Some great charity raising ideas could be an office bake off, a running challenge, a fancy dress day or even a charity quiz night. These can be a great way to get your team involved and working together too!
Recycle and Reuse
A simple step to becoming more sustainable is making sure your company is recycling and reusing wherever possible. Getting recycling bins around your office as well as keeping track on your wastage of items can be such an easy way to go green. You may want to create signage for your employees to show what they can and can’t recycle.
Reusing items where possible is another great way to stay sustainable. Try avoiding using plastic cutlery and straws and get reusable items for your staff.
Invest in Green Technologies and Practices
Why not try to upgrade to more eco-friendly technologies and practices? Things such as water-efficient fixtures, eco-friendly cleaning products, and paperless office systems can help the environment massively.
Bringing in Hybrid and Remote Work Schemes
By encouraging staff members to work from home (when possible) it can reduce the amount of energy used in the office, as well as less emissions being used to get to work. Whilst employees will still use electricity at home, the impact is far smaller than all of the electricity used to run an office.
Also, encouraging many employees to work from home and not have to drive can increase oil use by a huge percentage.
Partnering with a 3PL
Using a 3PL to store and ship your orders may much more sustainable than having your own warehouse. An 3PL is likely to have implemented a lot of these sustainability tips into their own operations processes. Things such as reducing their transportation carbon footprint, optimising their waste as much as possible, using sustainable packaging, perhaps even using solar or renewable energy and their warehouses and much more.
If you're interested in partnering up with an expert 3PL, contact GNOC today, and we can talk you through the best solutions for your business.
These are just a few simple and cheap steps you can take towards making your business more sustainable and greener. Being more sustainable can benefit the planet, as well as your business as customers put more trust in brands that are eco-friendly. Being a sustainable business can also improve your reputation and marketing, as well as increase sales, profit, productivity, and staff retention.
So, why not start your sustainable journey today?
