How can your business start reducing carbon emissions?
Now that we’ve covered the why behind small business sustainability, let’s take a look at the how.
Our partner, Ecologi, is the UK’s leading all-in-one climate platform for reducing emissions, funding climate projects and sharing progress. Here are 10 of their suggested actions businesses can take to make an impact during Earth Month.
1. Switch to a renewable energy supplier
Making the switch to renewables is the best place to start when it comes to reducing emissions and could also save you money on your energy bill. Check out Ecotricity and Octopus for green business tariffs.
2. Make your office more energy efficient
Whether or not you’ve made the switch to renewable energy yet, you can still make small changes to boost efficiency. Try motion sensor lights, powering down printers and choosing laptops over desktop computers.
3. Buy refurbished tech, instead of new
While we’re on the topic of laptops, have you considered buying yours refurbished from Backmarket or Klyk? Not only is refurbished tech cheaper, it helps address the problem of almost 83% of e-waste ending up burnt or in a landfill.
4. Choose upcycled office equipment
Why stop at refurbished tech? Choosing to buy upcycled, secondhand or preloved office furniture and equipment is another way to reduce waste – and the cost of furnishing your office space.
5. Work with sustainable suppliers
Sustainability is a team sport, so it’s worthwhile developing an eco-friendly supply chain. You can make informed decisions about the businesses you work with by using the CMA’s green claims checklist.
6. Opt to have an eco-friendly website
Speaking of suppliers: why not consider 100% green hosting for your website from a provider like Krystal. You could even go one step further and build a low-carbon website using Create, for example.
7. Reduce business travel and flights
It goes without saying that air travel has made a significant contribution to carbon emissions and global warming. If you can skip a flight in favour of a video call, you’ll help save the planet and spare the cost of a ticket.
8. Reward your team for green travel
In addition to avoiding air travel, why not encourage your team to walk, cycle, carpool, jog, or even scoot to work? One way to formalise your promotion of green travel is to include The Bike2Work Scheme as an employee benefit.
9. Move over to sustainable pensions
There are more ways than one to offer carbon-conscious benefits to your employees. In recent years, it’s come to light that some pensions are funding fossil fuels. Make sure you’ve chosen a sustainable fund for your team.
10. Learn more about sustainability
There’s an almost endless supply of content available to help you keep up with the climate conversation. Here are a few recommendations to get you started:
