‍7 steps for making your small business greener

Making your business more sustainable can seem daunting. There’s a lot of complex information, certifications and it’s often unclear the cost and resources needed to implement initiatives and remain green. 

But…

Becoming a more sustainable business can include financial savings, help you connect with a wider community, build value and ultimately contribute towards protecting the environment. 

Here are 7 steps your SME can make towards becoming a greener business:

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1. Calculate & reduce your business' carbon emissions.

We’ll be honest, this can take a bit of time.

This involves calculating all of your business’ carbon emissions. Everything from the suppliers you use, transportation, energy, waste management etc. contribute towards the amount of carbon you annually emit as a business. There are hundreds of companies you can work with that will collect and analyse your data to tell you how much carbon your business is emitting, as well as creating a carbon reduction plan for you. This will cost more, but will save a lot of time. 

Or there are self-assessment platforms such as Climate Essentials, who have broken down all of the areas you need to report on. You work through the report and (where relevant) answer things like how many employees does your SME have? What’s the size of your office? What’s your annual spend on advertising? Did anyone fly as part of a work trip? This will give you your emissions for each of the 3 scopes - from which, you’ll need to find areas where you can reduce your emissions the following year. 

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2. Offset your business' carbon emissions.

Once you’ve completed step one (above), as well as reducing your emissions you may also want to offset them. 

Important note - this does not reduce the emissions your business creates. 

For some businesses, this is seen as a last resort as it doesn’t directly remove or stop the carbon from being emitted but rather works to reduce or avoid the amount of carbon in the atmosphere as a whole. This involves working with companies such as Earthly, Climate Impact Partners or Ecologi to invest in projects such as building renewable energy, reforestation, improving landfill management etc.

The amount you need to invest depends on the amount of carbon your business emits. Once you’ve offset, your business will become “Carbon Neutral”.

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Before you go any further, it’s worth acknowledging that there are lots of terms thrown about when it comes to businesses becoming more sustainable. One of the traps you need to avoid is claiming to be more “green” than you actually are. This is a whole other topic, but to avoid “greenwashing” read these 9 tips from CleanHub. 

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3. Improve your business' energy efficiency.

This one’s dependent on whether you’re in charge of your energy appliances / suppliers or if it’s down to building management. There are numerous ways you can improve your energy usage or identify which appliances can be upgraded, such as:  

• Green energy tariffs. One of the biggest changes you can make is by switching to a green tariff. It typically costs a bit more but your energy is then supplied by renewable sources like wind, solar and hydroelectric power. Most suppliers now offer businesses a green tariff that you can switch to.
• Air-source heat pumps. Appliances like air-source heat pumps will reduce your emissions and save your business money in the long run. 
• Smart meters. They measure your energy usage. Most suppliers (e.g. British Gas, EDF) offer the installation of smart meters to help you track your consumption and lower costs.
• Smart lighting. Philips Hue or Caséta by Lutron allow you to control your lighting via an app and set timers to ensure lights are never left on or can be turned off remotely. 

However, if you’re not in charge of your energy - speak to the building manager about the energy provider, waste management etc. that’s already in place and see if there’s the option to go greener.  

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4. Work with climate-conscious suppliers.

This is one to add into your procurement process for new suppliers and platforms. 

While you can’t control the carbon emissions of suppliers and platforms you can ask them for the results of their emissions report or whether they do any activities to help reduce their carbon. 

For suppliers you’re already working with, whether it’s your payment provider, manufacturer, ecommerce platform etc. reach out to them to discuss what their plans are to reduce their carbon emissions and details on any green initiatives they may have in place. 

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5. Encourage employees to use greener transport options.

A lot of businesses have now adopted a hybrid approach (working part time from the office and part time from home). This shift has already had a major impact on the amount of time people are commuting as well as weekly emissions from cars, trains, buses. 

But for the journeys that they do need to make into the office, to visit clients or to attend meetings encourage employees to think green, such as:

• Carpooling. If people are leaving the office together or live close-by, encourage people to carpool to and from the office or meetings. 
• Train rides. This can be more costly but by taking the train, employees can reduce carbon emissions (especially on long journeys). It also gives them time back to relax or prepare for upcoming meetings. 
• Cycle to work scheme. This government-backed scheme allows your employees to purchase a bike for cycling to work, that they can then pay back through their salary. It allows people to save up to 42% on buying a new bike, promotes a healthy lifestyle and reduces emissions from commuting.
• Electric or hybrid vehicles. If your business owns vehicles - when it’s viable, making the switch to electric or hybrid vehicles will save money on fuel and benefit the environment. 

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6. Become a paperless business.

This is an easy one. And one you’re likely already doing, but…

Realistically, we don’t need to use paper in the quantities that we used to. This reduction can require putting some alternative solutions in place but it could save you money and will definitely help you become greener. If you haven’t already, look to:

• Take notes digitally. Encourage note taking or meeting minutes to be recorded digitally.
• Offer digital receipts. If you normally print invoices or receipts, consider switching to or offering a digital option. This not only makes it easier for the customer to keep track of their purchases but reduces your paper usage. 
• Buy recycled paper. In instances where you do still need to use paper, opt for recycled paper to reduce the impact using paper has on the planet. 

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7. Become ISO 14001 certified.

This is a biggie, so we’ve put it last in the list, but it’s a great certification to achieve if you have the resources. ISO 14001 is a set of business standards (by the International Organisation for Standardisation) for best practices on reducing your environmental footprint and adopting an environmental management system (EMS). 

Achieving this certification requires a lot of work but shows a company’s commitment to reducing their impact on the environment. 

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Conclusion

While the journey to making your SME green can take time, every step taken (no matter how small) will have a positive impact on the environment and will help to future proof your business. Customers are increasingly aware of the impact businesses have on the environment. It’s no longer a nice-to-have to make sustainability a priority - you need to start embedding a “green approach” into your day-to-day decisions. 

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