How Sustainable is your business?
Sustainability has become an increasingly important topic for businesses of all sizes and industries.
With the growing awareness of the impact of human activities on the environment, many companies are taking steps to ensure that their operations are as sustainable as possible.
To ensure sustainability, companies need to clearly define their business sustainability goals, they need to map out their ‘green’ journey and begin implementing their strategy. If they don’t, they’ll simply fall behind those competitors who are demonstrating their dedication to addressing the environmental challenges of their trade.
The 5 Key Sustainable Pillars
There are 5 Key Sustainable Pillars to ensure the long-term viability of a company, they are:
Purpose
Your business purpose is based on a few factors, Your business mission, reputation, values, ethics, and its impact, both environmentally and on society. It’s vital for your company to consider sustainability within its mission, business interactions, purchases, investments, and activities.
People
To attract and retain the best talent your business needs to offer more than a salary. Employees are looking to work with ethical, sustainable businesses that are delivering on their environmental practices, reducing their impact on the environment, and lowering their emissions. This can be achieved by offering remote and hybrid working solutions for example, forging sustainable associations with local causes and charities, employing apprentices, and offering flexible hours.
Practices
The targets your business sets, how it’s structured, how it measures its impact on the community and the environment, and how transparent it is with any business disclosures. For improved sustainability, your business needs to consider its carbon footprint and environmental disclosures. Frameworks that can help include CDP – the Carbon Disclosure Project, and TCFD – Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures
Performance
Sustainability performance considers both social and environmental influences, such as the energy your business uses, but not just the amount, but the type of energy too.
Partners
Your external relationships have an impact on your sustainability, and your business reputation. Your footprint is influenced by your supply chain, your location, and your professional affiliations. Their dedication to sustainability should also be carefully considered.
How can your business further improve sustainability?
One area that is often overlooked in discussions of sustainability is Information Technology (IT). Your IT provisions can have a significant impact on your company's environmental footprint, and it's important for businesses to consider this when making decisions about their technology solutions.
Another way to ensure that a business's IT operations are sustainable is to use appropriate and secure technology. This means choosing products and services that are energy-efficient, have a low environmental impact, and are secure against cyber threats.
For example.
Switching to cloud computing services reduces the need for on-premises servers, which can be energy-intensive.
Offering remote and hybrid working will greatly reduce your on-prem energy use and, the business-associated carbon footprint from your staff commuting to the office each day.
By utilising virtualisation software, you can potentially reduce the number of servers your business needs, further reducing energy consumption.
Renewing your IT hardware with greener alternatives, newer monitors, computers and laptops are more energy efficient and have better built-in energy-saving settings.
Another important aspect of sustainable IT is data security.
As businesses increasingly rely on technology to store and process sensitive information, it's crucial to ensure that this data is protected against cyber threats.
This includes implementing measures such as:
Firewalls,
Antivirus software,
And encryption.
Additionally, companies should have a clear data security policy in place and provide regular training to employees to help ensure that everyone is aware of the risks and knows how to protect against them.
At Sweethaven, we work with partners who offer tools that assess AW34 performance, and the sustainability of a business’s IT assets. Energy can be tracked and reported for efficiency and energy consumption. The audits we’ve completed for clients have delivered actionable insights to reduce their environmental impact and improve their sustainability. These can include a change in hardware, processes, and behaviours.
In addition to sustainable IT, businesses can also take steps to reduce their environmental impact in other ways. One of the most effective ways to do this is to implement a recycling programme, this can include recycling paper, cardboard, plastics, and other materials that are commonly used in the office.
Businesses may also reduce their environmental footprint by investing in renewable energy sources. This can include installing solar panels or wind turbines, should your landlord agree, or by purchasing renewable energy certificates. Additionally, businesses can further reduce their energy consumption by implementing energy-efficient lighting, heating, and cooling systems, and other equipment.
It goes without saying that you can also encourage/incentivise employees to use public transportation, carpool, or bike to work, rather than driving alone to the office and back. By reducing employees’ travel, your business will be helping lessen air pollution and carbon emissions and, as previously mentioned, by implementing remote and hybrid working – you can further reduce energy consumption associated with your business. By using appropriate and secure technology, implementing a recycling programme, encouraging sustainable transportation, and investing in renewable energy, businesses can significantly reduce their environmental impact, make themselves more attractive to clients and, contribute to a more sustainable future.
In 2023 and beyond, sustainability is an important consideration for businesses of all sizes and industries. When responding to tenders, those candidates with a proven sustainability programme and, clear practices in place to lessen energy use, will, undoubtedly be considered first.
It’s key to mention that sustainability is not just a one-time effort but a continuous process that requires constant monitoring and adaptation to new information and technologies. By being proactive about sustainability, businesses can not only help to protect the environment but also improve their bottom line through cost savings and increased customer loyalty.
If you’d like to know more about improving your business sustainability our experts are happy to help.
