Emma Sturgis 2m 457 #gogreen
The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.
Gone are the days when owning a business was all about making profits for business owners and shareholders. For business owners, it’s not all about satisfying customer needs. It is also about your business creating solutions to the challenges people face around the globe.
One universal challenge at the forefront of our worries is our impact on the environment and its effects. While environmental concerns may seem out of line with your current business aspirations, it is critical to know their interlink. In 2019, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked 82 countries with the most powerful economies on their efforts to deal with climate change. Using the Climate Change Resilience Index rates, the global economy is expected to be 3% less due to climate change. That could mean economic losses for over three decades. The need for environmental change and sustainability for businesses now more than ever is crucial to maintaining value for companies and human beings.
Coming up with strategies that seek to make business operations and impacts sustainable is key to going green. So, where do we start? What are some of the ways and sustainability goals you can set for your business?
Align the Going Green Mantra to Suit Your Business’ Impact
The global narrative of seeking sustainability and going green can often lose meaning if it does not stem from your business. In simpler terms, how does your business impact the environment? Your sustainability goals should apply to the level of your business’ reach and abilities to affect the change. Center your efforts around problems whose solutions can improve your business structure while achieving sustainability. Charity, they say, starts at home, and so does sustainability. Some changes may include investing in solar panels or energy-efficient indoor comfort systems, recycling solutions, and insulating the business premises. However small the changes are, having them add up to one big 5-year or 10-year plan is important to achieving sustainability goals.
Have a System in Place to Monitor Change
Your business efforts to go green can derail or delay in progress if there’s a lack of systems in place to watch or measure their impact. Poor measurement is one of the primary challenges to implementing sustainability goals. Setting tangible or numbered out goals that you can keep track of ensures you successfully meet these set goals. For instance, if you plan to reduce the use of plastic content, set out a percentage target for each month or every four months. You can team up with waste management or green companies to find ways you can measure your goals.
In today’s changing climate, it’s important for businesses to do their part to go green. Follow the tips above for setting new sustainability goals that you can achieve in your business.
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