These recent years, we’ve seen some devastating environmental-related disasters on the news. For instance, there are numerous wildfires that threaten the extinction of several species and damaging numerous farms. This alarming environmental phenomenon is also a huge concern for global financial markets as it increases hunger levels and the possibility of collapse.
To provide support for environmental protection, tons of business leaders are reevaluating their priorities and purposes and starting to embrace sustainable practices. Interested in taking part in the increasing attention and focus on climate-related events? Here are a number of simple actions that you can incorporate into your business sustainability initiatives.
1. Adopt a plant-based diet
If you have a building cafeteria or office kitchen, it’s best to focus on filling it with plant-based meals. Reduce serving meat and focus on offering plant-based foods. This allows you and your team to help minimize meat consumption, which is one of the biggest environmental concerns in the world today. The methane emissions from meat and dairy production can actually produce as much greenhouse gas emissions as our vehicles.
According to scientists, opting for a vegan diet isn’t only beneficial for reducing cutting down gas emissions, but also helps with reducing the impact on water and land use, eutrophication, and global acidification. This is, in fact, a bigger move than using electric cars or cutting off on flights.
2. Encourage online meetings
While there’s a truth in business travels being an important part of growing a company, canceling unnecessary ones is a great way to help the planet too. In-person meetings that come with multiple journeys only increase pollution. By switching to online meetings such as Google Hangouts or videoconferencing, you can help reduce your environmental impact, while saving money and time too. This is still a better option even if your company is promoting train travel over car trips. Working smart cannot only benefit your business financially but also help your team become more productive and help reduce road pollution.
3. Promote zero waste
Food waste has become one of the most challenging problems when it comes to reducing environmental impact. Occurring in every food system stage, such waste is said to account for about 8% of the globe’s greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing food waste isn’t just for grocery stores or restaurants, but for almost every office too.
A remarkable initiative, such as creating an office compost program to create fertilizers from food waste, is a great asset for making your business more sustainable. In fact, this gives your company a higher chance of being qualified for an environmental management certification. This a big stepping stone to becoming more environmentally responsible and even gaining the trust of customers. Other zero waste initiatives you can explore include using reusable or recyclable packaging materials, donating old office furniture and electronics, and going paperless.
4. Reduce your data center’s energy use
By simply setting the optimum temperature in your data centers, you cannot just prevent overheating but also save energy and reduce your carbon footprint. One simple action you can start with is turning off idle for your IT equipment. Identify what equipment is underutilized and shut them off. If your data center allows it, you can also consider virtualizing storage and servers to minimize the power consumption of your devices.
In addition to that, make sure to take advantage of the power-management features present on most CPUs. This enables users to optimize their unit’s power consumption and reduce wasted energy. Turn this feature on if you have it, but if you don’t, you may want to consider investing in servers with such CPU capability.
5. Educate your employees
Lastly, it’s a critical action to engage your people in your environmental cause, encouraging them to also become responsible for their footprints. Educate your employees in a personal and honest way to better inform them about carbon accountability and fight off environmental discouragement. This is also a smart move to reduce the chance of resistance with the new eco-conscious policies and practices you want to implement in the company.
One strategy you can use is creating a corporate matching program where you’ll financially match your employees’ donations to eco-friendly nonprofit organizations. Or, you can enroll your people in environmental subscription services that encourage eco-conscious missions such as planting trees through nonprofits.
Many business owners believe that taking steps toward sustainability is just for the sole purpose of reducing their carbon footprint. When in fact, this is also an effective marketing strategy to entice modern consumers into the business. You can give your business the competitive edge of becoming one of the most trusted eco-friendly brands in the market that customers will happily support.