Many businesses are beginning to put strict and intentional measures in place to make their operations more sustainable. Unfortunately, many companies also make common mistakes in implementing sustainability measures, resulting in failed attempts, loss of money, and even tarnished image.
So, are you planning to implement sustainability measures in your business? Here’s how to avoid making common mistakes.
Not Having a Policy in Place
Sustainability isn’t a policy you can achieve with a snap of your fingers, as you need to implement it at the core of your business. That means taking the time to adopt business ethics and principles that support and appreciate the several benefits of sustainability. Without having a policy, it might be challenging even to implement a sustainability strategy.
Not Assessing Your Business’ Environmental Impact
Many businesses try to implement sustainability strategies without first measuring how their practices affect their environment. Every business is unique, and the levels of impact on their environment differ from company to company. Knowing how much your activities affect the environment gives you a better idea of which areas of business operations to tackle and what measures to use. Skipping this step and going straight into an action plan is easily a recipe for failure.
Ignoring the Basic Sustainability Practices
While you need to do a broad assessment of your company’s environmental impact, there are some basic practices you can always start adopting immediately. The options are almost endless and depend on the nature of your business. For example, if you use a lot of paper, you can start finding ways to go paperless or resort to recycled options. If your company creates tons of waste, you can begin finding quick ways to reduce the waste. You can also start opting for non-toxic raw materials for production or purchasing from companies that use sustainable materials. For example, if you run a retail jewelry business, you can search online for ethical manufacturers such as Phoenix Design Group that uses recycled silver to design and manufacture cutting edge jewellery.
Not Putting a Sustainability Strategy in Place
Once you have assessed your environmental impact, created a policy, and initiated the fundamental sustainability changes, it’s time to have a comprehensive and detailed long-term strategy. First, it is essential to make your action plan or strategy changeable as time goes by. Your broad strategy can include short-term goals and projects and long-term ones that are continual and improvable over time based on the results.
Using Sustainability Only to Boost Your Brand’s Image
Perhaps you’ve noticed the considerable shift from consumers to more sustainability-oriented companies. Although you’ve never had the policy in place, you reckon it offers an opportunity to boost your bottom line and your brand image. This ‘PR’ strategy might work short-term, but your inability to follow through long-term can backfire and wreck your brand. It is essential to have a genuine or authentic message to reach your customers and showcase what you’re doing; otherwise, they will opt for other brands.
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