Published on May 24th, 2021 | by Elianna Hyde

How to incorporate Sustainability in your Business

Climate change is among the most concerning and talked about topics in recent times since it catapulted to the frontline of global consciousness. From America to Asia to Africa, integrating viable solutions to combat this problem has been a matter of great importance. Nowadays, the number of organizations and companies supporting the environmental sustainable business agenda is on the rise.

Sustainability has shifted from rhetoric to a practical thing that has permeated the corporate sector. This is due to the realization that climate change has brought adverse effects to the environment. So, how can businesses incorporate environmentally sustainable practices into their operations? In this article, we’ll show you how to go about this and even help customers engage in climate actions.

Make sustainability one of your objectives

Always consider sustainability as a crucial parameter to the objectives of your business. This is to ensure that there is a clear direction to how you are going to achieve your climate change agenda. You can also consider it as an integral deciding factor when restructuring or making changes. This way, it remains a common agenda at every facet of your business.

You should also consider key factors that are necessary for the development of a sustainable plan. They include marketing and co-efficiency programs, strategic initiatives and management infrastructure. Once you have your plan, you should then appoint a team that has the right skills and abilities to implement it. Many firms usually create positions like Chief Sustainability Directors to lead these teams.

Involve your business partners in your sustainability plan

As you seek to attain your sustainability objectives, always try to engage all partners and players. This is a very important ingredient to your business’ performance as it brings together different talents and expertise in one place. However, every partner you involve in your sustainability efforts should have the zeal and motivation that is required in order to move in one direction.

Some of the most important partners or players you can involve in this include distributors, suppliers and other players in your value chain. These collaborations will give you and your business the impetus needed towards achieving you sustainability goals. After all, you can do everything to drive your environmental sustainability efforts, but you can advance it greatly by creating valuable partnerships.

Bring on board your customers too

Customers are no doubt the most important aspect of any business. The success of your sustainability plan will depend on your customers, hence you must involve them fully. Most customers are likely to buy a product according to its price or features, and not because of its environmental friendliness. However, there are some who are more enlightened about climate change matters.

You therefore need to educate your customers about climate change, so they can be empowered to make wise decisions on sustainable living. You can try to convince them to adopt best practices such as recycling, carpooling, responsible consumption and more. As a business, you can also incorporate tools that will allow customers to involve themselves in actions that promote environmental sustainability.

Establish effective channels of communicating your sustainable business goals

Setting environmental sustainability goals is easy but communicating them is another thing altogether. Sometimes, incorporating sustainability plans into businesses is difficult, because implementation remains the work of one person or department. To counter this, you need to ensure that there is an effective means of communicating your sustainability vision. Every employee, irrespective of their role or rank, should be informed and accountable.

Create an environment that supports sustainability innovations

In the modern era, technology is the driving force in the corporate world. It is therefore important to embrace new innovations in your quest to achieve environmental sustainability. Always strive to look for emerging trends that can help you to fast-track your objective realization. You can also motivate employees who show more confidence in your sustainability agenda by rewarding them with incentives.

Undertake a Sustainable Development Goal

Taking the initial step with integrating sustainability into business can be quite confusing This is especially if you lack enough knowledge about sustainable processes. That is why the United Nations drafted and released the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in January 2016. The SDGs were to guide organizations and relevant stakeholders in the fight against poverty and negative environmental change in the world.

To take the first step in the sustainability journey, pick some goals that align with your business and work towards achieving them. This way, you will have a more structured approach that will keep your team focused throughout. Goals such as good sanitation and affordable energy often transcend organizational boundaries, hence can be a great launching pad for your sustainability journey.

Take charge now towards a sustainable business

In 2021, there shouldn’t be any excuse why your business is still in the past. Incorporating the aforementioned practices into your operations will help in consolidating efforts towards combating climate change. Every business should strive to do something in order to protect the environment against adverse effects. This way, we will have a cleaner and safer earth for us and future generations.

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About the Author

Elianna Hyde has been a freelance writer since 2009. She has attended the University of California and graduated with masters in mass communication. She loves watching TV shows, movies and has a keen interest in sharing her views on business trends and people’s lifestyle. You can also Follow me on Twitter.