Earth Day 2021: Sustainability Tips for Small Businesses

Earth Day 2021 is here and what better time to start thinking about the changes you can implement for a more eco-friendly approach to work. As we begin to further understand the impact both businesses and individuals have on the environment, it’s a great time to start highlighting the ways small businesses can adopt more sustainable practices.

Car-share schemes

Why not try implementing a car-share scheme amongst your team to help reduce your businesses’ carbon footprint? It’s a great way for your employees to socialise and get to know each other outside of work hours, and will dramatically reduce the number of vehicles traveling to and from your business. It's also a great excuse to create a drive-time playlist that each of your employees can get involved with!


Go Paperless

The best way to reduce the amount of waste from your workplace is of course, to go completely paperless. In the modern day, almost all of the traditional ‘paperwork’ can be done and stored digitally - accessible across many devices. If you have always given paper receipts to your clients, try looking at the possibilities of offering digital receipts, sent directly to a customer’s email address. You'll dramatically reduce your businesses' paper trail and could even benefit your email marketing efforts. With your customers’ permission via an opt-in form, you could begin to create a marketing mailing list to help promote your services and products to those who already love your store!


Charity Fundraisers

Introducing a monthly fundraising event for a charity of your choosing is another great way to promote out-of-office socialising amongst your team whilst doing your bit for the environment. Sponsored fun days, car washes and sports challenges are just a couple of the ways you can get your team to rally together for a good cause. These events are also great content opportunities for your marketing channels, to promote your business' ecological efforts.


Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

It’s an age-old phrase, but it’s one that works. If you’re looking to reduce the amount of waste your business generates, simply follow the three R’s. Whether you run a salon, store or office, ensure you always have clearly marked, easily accessible recycling points for your employees to encourage a business-wide eco-friendly approach towards waste. Equally, implementing a recycling scheme for your company's old electronics or resources is an easy way to help limit the amount of waste you send to landfill.

Support Local Businesses

As a business owner, you’ll understand the importance of supporting other local, smaller businesses. Next time you’re planning a team outing, or looking at switching suppliers, take a look to see whether you could utilise a local business. Not only will you be helping out your local economy, you’ll also be buying greener as locally-sourced products generally have less harmful effects on the environment, than those mass-produced by larger companies.