New-age businesses have recognized sustainability as a significant component that drives growth and success in the long haul.
This is because they know that consumers have become more environmentally conscious and aware. They want to support businesses that protect the environment—not those that exploit it for a pretty penny!
Thus, if you want to boost sales of your budding business, you must also follow sustainable practices.
If you’re uncertain how to embrace sustainability, let’s start with the following!
Switch to biodegradable packages
If your business is product-based, assess what packaging materials you use. Remember, most packaging ends up in landfills.
In fact, the latest studies of EPA shows that packaging constitutes a huge part of municipal solid waste, which accounted for 82.2 million tons of waste in 2018.
So, switch to biodegradable packaging to prevent pollution. Choose a material that can naturally decompose with just microorganisms without using oxygen.
Avoid using paper
Another way to build a sustainable business is to cut your business’s paper consumption.
Here are some tips to ensure that:
Record Keeping
Use digital platforms to keep records of business instead of paper ones. This also reduces your cost of buying paper and the space required to store files and cabinets.
Networking
Encourage everyone to use digital business cards instead of paper ones while networking. Paper cards are either lost, discarded, or damaged. With digital cards, you can transfer contact information to others’ devices with a single tap. Thus, you minimize the amount of waste production per employee.
Meeting
During meetings, promote the use of respective devices for taking notes instead of writing pads. Share a digital version of the reports instead of printing them for every attendee.
Printing
Ensure everyone uses the printer only when it’s absolutely necessary and there’s no other option. When printing, use both sides. Instead of shredding old one-sided printed paper, use the opposite sides for taking notes or printing notices. Recycle paper once it’s of no use.
Invoicing
Adapt to online invoicing instead of offline ones for every transaction. If you look online for invoice maker free, you’ll find great options to explore.
Save water
Fault water outlets and wastage can increase your water bills. So, implement water-saving faucets. You can also switch to smart taps with sensors that automatically switch on and off.
If you have a small business, such implementation might be too heavy on the pocket. In that case, add signage to turn off water faucets after using them and report leaky outlets promptly. You can also encourage employees to follow them with special incentives.
In a business, sanitation uses the greatest water consumption. You can switch to rainwater harvesting or waterless urinals for them.
Switch to renewable energy
Reduce your business’s carbon footprint by switching to renewable energy. This will also save you money while you protect the environment.
The type of renewable energy you can use completely depends on your locality. However, some options are solar, geothermal, and wind energy. You might also get some special benefits, like grants and tax relaxation, for this switch!
Enhance the supply chain
This is an impactful step if your business undertakes several processes for product manufacturing and delivery. Your supply chain might offer you different ways to be more sustainable in these ways:
Material Sourcing:
Don’t overstock on materials to avoid wastage. Ensure that no step in material sourcing exploits natural reserves.
Energy Consumption:
Everyone must switch off appliances when they aren’t necessary.
Warehousing:
Opt for shared warehouses instead of exclusive ones. This diminishes energy consumption and costs.
Motivate sustainability in transportation
Encourage employees to use their bikes at least once a week if the weather permits. This is a great workout as well. They can also use public transportation more often.
If that’s not possible, ask employees to share their private vehicles alternatively. You can also offer them carpooling services to reduce fuel consumption.
Ensure more employees follow this by rewarding them in some way. For instance, cover transport or fuel costs or rent them bikes.
Donate old equipment instead of dumping them
If any appliance or furniture in the business breaks down or can’t be used, don’t dump them in landfills. Instead, seek places that collect waste donation.
For instance, some businesses can refurbish almost unusable computers while others extract the usable parts. The same goes for furniture: some businesses reuse wood and metal to use it elsewhere.
Conclusion
With these business practices, you will build a more ethical and resilient business model. So, embrace them starting today to enjoy the benefits!
Stay in touch to get more updates & news on Internal Insider!
