Guest blog written by Carolyn Seager, Sustainable Communications Specialist.
Whatever your views on climate change, you can’t help but notice that sustainable enterprise is the current mega-trend. Environmental responsibility is fast changing the corporate mindset and, as a business owner, it can feel totally overwhelming. Where once you had your brand and communication strategy to worry about, now you need to save the world as well.
But wait, let’s take a deep breath and calmly explore what being a sustainable enterprise actually means and the many opportunities that it can offer.
Put simply, a sustainable organisation is one that has minimal negative impact, and ideally positive effects on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy. This means your company will have the strategy and actions in place to eliminate all the adverse environmental and social impacts caused by your operations and business practice.
This strategy does not just involve the environment but takes a wider overview of the company’s impact. This must include the three pillars of corporate sustainability, which are the environment, social responsibility and economic.
It may all sound like a momentous project but it doesn’t have to be. Transforming into a sustainable business could be as simple as finding new ways of conserving energy or choosing a renewable energy provider; reducing your CO2 emissions and tracking and offsetting them, reducing waste and increasing your re-use and recycling quantities, reducing your water withdrawals, or sustaining biodiversity wherever you can. It’s just about making conscious choices and doing what you can, when you can.
Apart from the obvious ethical benefits there’s a host of advantages for every conscientious ‘green’ company. For instance, a Unilever study found that 33% of consumers want to buy from brands “doing social or environmental good.” Sustainable business is also more attractive to investors and as governments continue to roll out regulations and corporate development goals (SDGs), you’ll be well ahead of the game concerning compliance. Sustainable corporates are also the first to adopt new business models that can win customers, increase loyalty and attract the best employees. Last but certainly not least, sustainable practices reduce consumption, optimise efficiency and improve revenue growth.
Carolyn will be back next week with a follow up blog on how we can set clear and attainable sustainability goals and formulate a strategy to achieve them.
For more information on Carolyn, please visit https://www.carolynseager.co.uk/
