Article: How sustainable is your business?

Running a sustainable business is now more important than ever and even titans of business such as Deborah Meadon are committed to making sure that her business efforts don’t harm the planet. Small businesses are now looking for ways to make small changes to be more sustainable and look after our planet.

It’s all very easy to say, but for a small business, where most owner operators are already busy and profits can be tight, how does it work and what can you realistically do? Some suggestions below.

1. Find out what your emissions are to start with – firstly, figure out the total amount of emissions your business emits, and find opportunities to reduce them where possible. Businesses worldwide of all sizes are adhering to the ‘net zero commitments’
2. Use packaging made from sustainable and recycled materials – 82% of online shoppers would like their parcels to be packed with biodegradable materials. Look for alternatives to send parcels, if your business uses deliveries/packaging.
3. Carbon neutral deliveries – increasingly shoppers would prefer the delivery of their parcels to be carbon neutral and some larger companies have even started to offer calculations on emissions for each delivery.
4. Low impact materials to create your products – as an example, if you regularly use cotton as a material for your products, it is worth knowing that there are many other sustainable fabrics which can create the same product and use 1/10th of the resources it would take when using cotton. Find out which replacements can suit your business without costing too much more.

Why is this important to businesses?

The global trends are shifting to greener models which have minimal impact or a potential positive effect on the global and local economies. The three impacts are mainly referred to as people, planet and profits. At the end of the day, it’s all about balance, profits vs the planet vs people, and we probably don’t know yet where the final lines lie.

We are always happy to discuss any of your business needs, please contact your local AIMS accountant to find out more information.