The climate crisis is here. It's real. And it can be a bit overwhelming.
A greener business has gone from 'nice to have' to 'key strategic aim' for every leader. We all have a role to play in the saving the planet – and our people, our clients, and our customers are increasingly demanding we take action.
But when you’re spinning lots of leadership plates the array of accreditations, initiatives, and certifications can be dizzying. And while aspiring to become a B Corp might be your long-term goal, just knowing where to make a start can be a challenge.
Don't panic. If you want to
get stuck in and make actionable changes now, here are ten great places to
start:
1. Get to know your carbon footprint
Measuring your current carbon footprint will help you develop a plan of action. The Carbon Trust’s Carbon Footprint Calculator can help you do it pretty simply. It will take into account things like energy consumption, fuel consumption and your use of air conditioning equipment. It will give you a base measurement to start to manage and reduce your consumption.
2. Encourage a greener commute
Driving to work is often just the default choice. But encouraging – even incentivising a greener commute can make a real impact and start to change habits. Car sharing, bike to work schemes, step challenges, get the team involved. Working from home and hybrid working can obviously play a role too.
3. Reduce your waste
Going paperless is probably the easiest place to start and something you can implement immediately – and it’s got the added bonus of saving money too. Get a lot of cardboard boxes? A card baler could help you prep and store these for recycling too. When it comes to reducing waste keep this waste hierarchy in mind and only dispose if you really need to: prevent, reuse, recycle, recover, dispose.
4. Switch suppliers
You’re only as green as your suppliers so think about how you can make your supply chain greener. Switch to sustainable suppliers who will deliver in recyclable, biodegradable or refillable packaging or encourage those you already work with to make changes. If you share a building with other businesses, try to get them on board too.
5. Make your IT greener
According to McKinsey, enterprise technology emits approximately the same level of carbon dioxide as the United Kingdom and half that of the aviation industry. If you want to make your IT greener consider switching to a large cloud provider as they are more energy efficient than enterprise data centres. If you're using on-site servers think about moving to the cloud and deleting old data.
6. Upgrade your lighting
There's only so many times you can say 'turn the lights off' without sounding like a nagging parent. So pair this with upgrading your lighting system. Just by replacing your standard bulbs with LED ones you'll get the same light quality but they can last more than 20 times as long and reduce your energy usage by up to 75%.
7. Insulate your building
Non-domestic buildings create 9% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. If you can better insulate your building – windows, walls, doors, roof, and pipes – you’ll not just cut your emissions but reduce your energy use and save money.
8. Switch to renewable energy
There’s a good chance your energy supplier will offer a green tariff and if not it’s pretty east to switch. Make sure you read the small print though as not all green tariffs are equal. Some directly swap renewable energy while others purchase excess renewable energy certificates off other suppliers to create their green tariff.
9. Compost
Got some outside space? And lunch leftovers? You’ve got an easy route to methane free decay. The humble banana peel when it’s sent off to landfill lets out destructive greenhouse gases but in the compost it decays much quicker and becomes great soil for the green fingered members of your team.
10. Power down and level up
It sounds super simple but getting everyone to power down at the end of every day rather than just setting appliances to sleep really does make a difference. And if you’re still using old energy sapping appliances consider upgrading them to energy efficient ones. The cumulative energy savings will soon recoup the initial outlay.
Taking a few small steps can kickstart your journey to a greener operation. Little changes can help you play your part in saving the planet, show an authentic commitment to sustainability, and help to future proof your business.
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