Why We Need More Sustainable Business Practices

2021, and the demand for sustainable business practices has never been higher. 

As consumers and workers alike become more environmentally conscious, we expect the people we work for and the businesses we patron to be doing their part for the environment. Or, at the very least, to be actively avoiding making it worse.

Because of this, there is growing pressure for businesses to start adopting more sustainable practices. 

Whether this is changing the way they package products, reconsidering the businesses they partner with, or how their office is run day-to-day, lots of different companies are making the necessary steps to improve their environmental impact.

So, how do you do this?

If you’re looking to see how your business can transition to a more sustainable lifestyle, continue reading. We break down how and why you can improve your way of working.

According to the Centre for Sustainable Business Practices, “a business practice that is economically viable, socially responsible and environmentally friendly is usually regarded as being sustainable.”

They define sustainability for businesses as a 3 strand system: economic (profit) performance. Environmental (planet) performance. And social (people) performance.

Meaning, that a company needs to find the balance between doing its part for the environment and its employees and maintaining its profits. Environmental and social efforts are great. However, if they come at the expense of your company (literally), then you’re clearly not doing it right.

Because of this, companies need to be considering all three when adopting new practices and behaviours in their company.

Say, for example, you’re an independent clothing business. And you recognise that your packaging isn’t recyclable.

Lots of customers have been asking you how to dispose of your packaging. And you realise that you should switch to something more environmentally friendly.

So, you pick bamboo boxes as your new packaging method. Bamboo is environmentally friendly and is a great alternative.

However, the boxes are costing you a lot more. In fact, they’re 30% more expensive than your old packaging.

Meaning that you either have to increase your product prices to make up for the cost, or operate at a profit loss.

This is an example of sustainable practices gone wrong. There’s plenty of different alternatives for packaging which are significantly cheaper. And, by finding these, you can do your part for the environment without having to forfeit your profits.

In a survey carried out by Getty Images, they found that 84% of people in the UK say that being environmentally friendly is important to them.

What’s more, this isn’t something which is just simply all talk.

A survey from Hotwire in 2019 found that 47% of consumers stopped shopping from certain brands and products that didn’t align with their personal values.

Meaning that it’s on businesses and companies to step up to the field and start adopting sustainable practices. If not for the environment and other people, but their profits as well.

Consumers are increasingly searching for brands and businesses that make use of sustainable business practices. As awareness about the environment increases and calls to action to do your part become more common, consumers are deciding to vote with their wallets.

It’s all too easy for a consumer to choose to shop somewhere else. Why should they spend their money at your company, when a similar one with sustainable services is just as good?

According to the Nielson Report, How and Why Sustainability is Gaining Momentum With Customers, they claim that “Brands that can strategically connect (sustainability) to actual behaviour are in a good place to capitalize on increased consumer expectation and demand.”

So, if you’re not convinced to change your business to more environmentally friendly practices for the planet, then you should certainly do it for the sake of retaining your consumers.

So, you’ve decided to start adopting some sustainable business practices. But where do you start?

If you’re looking to other businesses with sustainable practices for help and guidance, then check out these businesses below.

Adidas

You may be surprised to know that Adidas is one of the leading fashion brands in sustainable business practices.

This would be because they’ve been silently doing their part for the environment for years now.

For the past few years, Adidas has been slowly reducing water consumption when it comes to the production of their products. Given the volume of water needed for the dyes, factory maintenance, and production. They’re trying to find alternatives.

As well as this, Adidas is also eliminating their use of new plastics in its factories, offices, and stores.

Meaning that from 2020 onwards they’re going to be using only recycled plastics in their businesses. Thus eliminating the demand for new plastic production.

Yet Adidas is making changes to their business practices that go beyond their own realm.

According to Outside Online, not only are Adidas cutting down on their waste production by 50%. But they’re also reducing the energy consumption of their key suppliers by 20%.

Adidas are recognising the power they have, and how they can not only change the business practices within their own company but the business practices of their suppliers also.

In their changes towards more environmentally friendly working, they are making sure this doesn’t mean a compromise in product integrity. In fact, they’re actively working to improve the quality and longevity of their products.

Design Director of Footwear, Christian Zwinger, says that “Many assume sustainability is only about materials and processes. But it’s also about quality, about making a product that we love because it performs well and ages well, that has a history with us, and that won’t fall apart and need to be replaced.”

Recognising their contributions to fast fashion and seeking to remedy this, Adidas have gone on to change the way they create their products fundamentally.

As one of the first big companies in the world to recognise their environmental impacts, IKEA released the People & Planet Positive scheme in 2012.

This saw them releasing a statement about how their company practices are impacting the environment. And, what they’re planning to do about it.

The first notable step IKEA made was a decision to release annual reports on its environmental impacts.

This total transparency with their consumers created a level of trust and reliability.

They decided to be forthcoming about their wrongdoings. And, more importantly, be open about their efforts to change it.

Like Adidas, IKEA is looking to make changes for the long haul.

They released a statement that stated that they planned on reducing Green House Gas emissions by 2030. And they wanted to improve how they source their materials like cotton – opting for more sustainable practices.

As well as this, IKEA is also implementing policies that look towards recycling their products.

In Japan, IKEA offers a buy-back service for its customers. Where, if they have some furniture which is in good condition but no longer wanted, they can return it back to IKEA and receive a voucher in return.

And, this policy was introduced in the UK in Summer 2020 as well.

What happens with the furniture is that it gets repaired or recycled, and sold back to customers at a lower rate.

Meaning that IKEA is seeking to reduce the waste it produces and is making steadfast steps towards improving their environmental impacts.

You now know how easy it is to adopt more sustainable business practices. You see how profitable they can be for your company, and how necessary it is given the demand from consumers.

How do you do this? In what ways can you improve your business’s environmental impact?

Whilst it’s great that your company or business as a whole is adopting more sustainable practices, you can’t forget the impact your individual employees have too.

If your employees are producing their own individual waste during business hours, there are ways to reduce it too.

By educating and training your employees on how their daily working routines are likely to produce waste – disposable coffee cups, not recycling paper – they can make the changes for more environmental practices.

There’s nothing worse than shopping at a company that promises that it uses sustainable packaging or eco-friendly products, but then their parent company or related businesses don’t.

Consumers don’t want to be giving their money to companies that are managed or co-run by businesses that aren’t sustainable.

One of the first things you should be doing is making sure that your suppliers and partners are also adopting sustainable business practices.

Otherwise, it just looks shallow and inauthentic when your company claims to be eco-friendly but is partnered with someone who isn’t.

If you’re struggling to think of ways in which you can improve your company, partnering with a sustainable organisation is always a great way to do it.

Not only can they independently audit your company but they can also provide you with some helpful solutions to adopting sustainable business practices.

As well as this, if you partner with a charitable organisation, you can even implement a tactic where you donate a portion of your profits to their organisation.

One of the best ways you can implement sustainable business practices is by simply analysing the way you run your business and making changes.

Perhaps your packaging isn’t recyclable, or your office is wasting too much electricity. Maybe you can change how you produce your products to make sure you don’t have unnecessary waste.

In any case, analysing how your business is run and making note of how you can change is a simple and effective way of adopting more sustainable business practices.

Adopting sustainable business practices is growing more and more important. And, really, there’s no excuse for you to not be doing it.

Even the huge corporations and global businesses are doing their part for the environment.

Not only will changing how you run your business improve your brand image, help maintain your consumers, and reduce costs, adopting sustainable business practices is also the right thing to do too.