The emergence of the green economy has resulted in a huge scramble – especially as what’s considered sustainable has changed rapidly over the past couple of years. More people are more aware about green washing and fake sustainability, so in order to thrive in the green economy and changing business landscape, you will need to actually improve your business’ sustainability. According to Deloitte, over a quarter of consumers consider sustainability over price when it comes to choosing a company – and this number is rising. Here are 4 things you need to do to improve your company’s sustainability in 2024.
Educate Your Staff
Your staff will be your first line of defence when it comes to making your business more sustainable. By ensuring that your staff know all about sustainability – what it is and isn’t, why it’s important, and how it can be achieved – they will be able to make day-to-day decisions that will make your company green. For example, small things like choosing to use different suppliers or using a supplier in close range can make a huge difference. Educating your staff through green skills training, seminars, talks and more can make a huge difference when improving your company’s sustainability in 2024.
Upskill, Upskill, Upskill
In order to thrive in the new green economy, your business will need to have the right green skills to be able to compete with other businesses and gain the right customers. Green skills training is a good way to do this, however, qualifications and developing the actual skills needed for your industry is a good place to start. For example, construction workers are investing in qualifications that will equip them to do more green work – construction NVQs in insulation, solar panel installation and heat pumps are extremely popular. Upskilling with the green economy in mind is essential if you want to grow your business and keep in line with your sustainable aims.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Knowing the basics of sustainability and eco-living is essential if you want a good system of office management that reduces waste, reuses items when possible, and ultimately recycling waste. For example, good office management would mean that employees can’t waste materials such as paper and water. Recycling bins placed around the office would also help the space become sustainable – getting these basics in place can go a long way when it comes to reducing the waste your office produces.
Energy Efficiency Is King
Recycling in the office is just one way to start – however, investing in the actual structure of the building can be incredibly useful if you want to improve office sustainability. The amount of light and heat energy that is wasted if your office is in an older building could be significantly damaging your company’s sustainability – and could be costing you a lot of money too! By making the initial investment into your office space through retrofit (insulation, solar panels, etc) you could save yourself a lot of money as well as the planet. Before choosing an installer, make sure they have the right retrofit qualifications in place to ensure all sustainable protocols are met.
