5 ways to make your business more sustainable

I do realise there is a slight oxymoron when the word sustainability and business are in the same sentence. The current business models commonly define success by producing more, selling more, and making more. This way of business is not at all sustainable and is creating a lot of harm to our environment. Our earth is burning, our oceans are acidifying, and things look to be get getting much, much worse. So now is the time to create a paradigm shift in your business, to make less waste, to make more eco-conscious decisions, and to start right now.

On the bright side, sustainability as a brand driver is gaining momentum more than ever before. It presents an exciting opportunity for companies to reimagine their positioning in the market, to earn greater customer loyalty, to regain real relevance, and have lasting, positive impact.

So, what exactly does sustainable business really mean?

Sustainable business practices involve looking at what you do, what you’re buying and how you and your customers are disposing of the things you produce. Sustainable business is all about taking a thoughtful and holistic look at the products and services used in your business and considering how those actions will impact the environment and surroundings. Sustainable business practices can be viewed as a form of triple-bottom-line where it takes in to account the economic performance, environmental performance and social performance of your business. The goal of a sustainable business is to create strategies that preserve the long-term viability of people, planet and profit.

This could mean moving to eco-friendly, local, organic or low-emission alternatives. It is undoubtedly a challenge making eco-conscious efforts to transform your business, but I believe it is a challenge we must absolutely tackle as small business owners right now, in the hope of a future that respects both the planet and the people. It is overwhelming to know where or how to start, but small changes can start to make a big difference in the long run.

Here are five sustainable business ideas to help your business make less impact on the planet:

1.     Create quality over quantity 

Mass consumption of cheap, plastic, single use, throw-away products are not sustainable and also, not as desirable as they once were. Consumers are changing their purchasing behaviour towards buying less, but at a higher price point which they expect to last and be made from more quality materials and ingredients. Consider what’s in your products and make sure they are quality, non-toxic and built to last.

“buy less, choose well, make it last”

– Vivienne Westwood

With people inundated with choice, brands can combat this consumer-fatigue and offer their ideal customers, exactly what they need. By eliminating their options and having a really specific targeted customer and offer the perfect product/service. By offering exactly what your ideal customer really needs you will stand out from the sea of the same. You could even go so far to consider offering a specific, customised product for each consumer, so you create something to meet their needs exactly, and there won’t be any wasted products.

2.     Switch to Eco-friendly Packaging

Packaging is the physical, tangible aspect of your brand, it communicates to your customers who you are as a brand. Therefore, it is so important that the packaging aligns with your sustainable values and lives up you your word, because the consumers are watching.

Sustainable packaging involves considering the end of life of the entire product. Look at ways of redesigning your packaging so that it is more eco-friendly. Could you reduce packaging materials? Could you change the packaging material to be fully compostable or biodegradable? Could the packaging be reused, or could you offer refills? Is the packaging printed with plant-based inks? Would glass be a better choice over plastic? Could you use recycled paper? Could the packaging be re-used into something else instead of thrown away? Is the packaging able to be fully recycled? What will happen at the end of this product’s life?

Packaging offers a beautiful opportunity to show your customers how important sustainability really is to you and making them much more likely to come back to you in the future. If you would like any help with sustainable packaging ideas, please get in touch I’d love to help.

3.     Support local where possible

Keeping air miles low is a really great place to start when trying to reduce carbon emissions and overall reducing environmental impact. Buy supporting local suppliers you are not only reducing your carbon footprint, but likely to have a much more custom, personalised and seasonal experience, while also fuelling the local economy. Supporting local businesses is a really beautiful way to meet other small business owners, like yourself, and create a community around you of brands who are united in their sustainable mission.

Ways to support local businesses could include looking for local printers for all of your marketing materials, working with local designers, find local produce suppliers, or even a local coffee shop for your client meetings. Perhaps, you could offer a discount to local purchasers to encourage other businesses to stay local too.

4.     Do businesses with green businesses

A great way to support other small business who are trying to make a positive impact. This can be all sorts of businesses from choosing web hosting that is off-setting carbon, or the eco-friendly cleaning products in your office, buying organic food or coffee brands, carbon-neutral freight or even zero waste apparel brands. There are so many different businesses doing good things, why not support them, as they too are likely to be your target market.

5.     Can you consider a circular business model?

A circular economy relates to a product’s life cycle and is in contrast to the ‘take-make-waste’ linear model. The circular economy looks at a whole new way we make and use products. In the circular economy, one a product can no longer be used, it would be recycled and reused.

There are so many, new and exciting ways that business can thrive, and it doesn’t result in throwing it away at the end of its life. One example could be to take a product and turn it into a service. Some examples of this happening already are renting or leasing a car, or some tools, or a beautiful piece of clothing. By consumers paying for them only when you need them, there could be less produced, less recourses extracted, and in turn, the products themselves will be designed and built to last, with repair considered during the design process.

I think this is a really exciting area to consider when looking at your sustainable business model. Is there a way you could incorporate a more circular model to your brand?

There are so many exciting opportunities, eco-friendly ideas, and green business ideas and developments all the time. I can’t wait to see more and more brands working with mother nature rather than against it. Like with adopting anything new, small changes over time can yield amazing results - for your business, your brand, and your environment.