The first step is to make a decision to take action. If you´re still unsure about why to start working with sustainability and why sustainability matters, hopefully you get inspired.
You do not need to be an expert on sustainability to start looking at your daily operations and find areas that need improvement.
Being sustainable is also about efficiency and effectiveness of your processes.
There is more to sustainability and a responsible business than reducing emissions, if you are not familiar with other areas of sustainability our blog post “Sustainability is about more than just CO2 emissions” offers more insight into other areas.
Improving your business is the best way to become responsible in the sustainability issues.
It can feel overwhelming to look at all the issues and try to address them all. That´s why you need to prioritize and only focus on the ones that are the closes to your business. Working on the sustainable issues closely related to your core business will not only lead to value creation for society but also improve your business and make it more resilient.
After you have prioritized, which issues your business needs to focus on, it is time to create the baseline of where your business is at right now.
You cannot improve if you don´t know where the improvement is needed.
Gather data and assess the current state, without it you are not able to determine whether you have improved. As the saying goes „what cannot be measured, cannot be managed“ and thinking where you need to change is not the same as knowing.
Start small, start with incomplete data, start without knowing what the next steps are, just start.
Once you have a baseline, you can determine the course of action. There is an incredible number of resources online on how to improve every single area of business and if that feels overwhelming reach out for help.
Set a goal for your chosen area and start building a roadmap to achieve it.
Remember to start small, focus on the negative impact that your business has first, try to mitigate it and consider the social and economic impacts as well as the environmental.
Some examples of what you can do is:
- Go paperless
- Make sure you use renewable energy sources
- Have a recycling program
- Offer good working conditions for your employees.
However, these are fast becoming a „must-have “for businesses.
The expectations for businesses and their sustainable strategies to be impactful are growing and affecting not only consumer choices but also people´s choices of a workplace and even investment flows.
It is a crucial step to take with your business and secure your position in the market for the future.
Lastly remember not to exaggerate your efforts and make it seems as if you´re doing more than you´re actually doing, greenwashing can have negative consequences for your business.
Lívia Petrufová
Sustainability konsulent