Making Sustainable Business Practices a Reality: 6 Areas to Consider

No matter the size of your business, you can make modifications to your operations to incorporate sustainable best practices. From reducing single-use coffee capsules and filters to donating unused office supplies, there are many ways to make your business more environmentally friendly. To design a business focused on sustainability, you must incorporate green practices into every operation. Consider how each department and function of your company can have a positive impact and limit its effects on the environment.

Here are six areas to consider. Google and Amazon have both taken steps to decarbonize their data centers and achieve zero net carbon emissions. Companies can also look into web hosting providers that offer carbon neutrality. Additionally, nearly every state has programs sponsored by local utilities to help companies assess where they are and what they can do to achieve energy efficiency. Many organizations interested in embracing sustainability fail to implement any specific initiative simply because it is new to them, and the learning curve can be quite large. Companies of all shapes and sizes need to continuously analyze consumer sentiment because, as people learn more about climate change and its effects, their buying habits change. Many companies have a lot of supplies that they no longer need or could live a second life in someone else's hands.

By supporting community efforts to be greener, you'll also attract new customers who share your desire to create a more sustainable future. By checking all the mandatory criteria, you can fill in the blind spots in your sustainability plan. GreenBiz Circularity Network (GBCN) is a member-based peer-learning forum that brings together circular economy professionals from the world's largest companies. By joining this unique local center, you can create a free business page, customize it to reflect your business, share your business values, and engage with the customers your neighbors care about most. Below, you'll find an overview of four different types of sustainable business practices that you might want to consider implementing. You may not be able to stop climate change on your own, but as a local business owner, you can make a conscious effort to take better care of the environment.

Outside of these specialized sectors, any company can donate unnecessary office supplies to organizations that provide school supplies to low-income students. If you run a service company or travel for work, take other steps to create a sustainable company. Whether you're the owner of a coffee shop or the director of a local real estate team, making your business more environmentally friendly can be beneficial to your long-term success, as well as your bottom line. In Sustainable Business Strategy, you will acquire the sustainability skills necessary to analyze the different business models capable of driving change and you will explore how a company can consciously address some of today's most far-reaching challenges, such as climate change and income inequality. Placing recycling and composting buckets throughout the company can encourage both employees and customers to participate in the company's green practices.