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Why small businesses should prioritise sustainability
Small businesses are uniquely positioned to get momentum going.
Tarryn Giebelmann
January 20, 2023
All businesses contribute to pollution, climate change, and the waste crisis in some way.
But the ones that take responsibility for and try to reduce their impact are generally more successful than those that don’t.
Why?
Because people are starting to think twice about the brands they support and what they spend their money on.
Every purchase we make is a vote for the future we want, and we’re increasingly making decisions with the environment, our health, and sustainability in mind.
But research has found that although SMEs want to do the right thing, many don’t know where to start.
They believe that they’re too small to make a difference, they don’t have the resources that large enterprises do to drive change, and they’re not sure how to embed it into their day-to-day operations.
David > Goliath
The reality is that any business (and any person) – no matter how small – can be a catalyst for change. In fact, small businesses are uniquely positioned to get momentum going.
It starts by deeply questioning the role you play in your community – and the impact you have on your employees, customers, and the surrounding environment. Once you understand this, you can identify deliberate actions you can take to trigger the ripple effects.
Good thing, then, that improving your business sustainability doesn’t have to be hard or expensive. You can start small, have an immediate impact, and improve over time. The most important thing is that you just start.
What are the advantages of being a sustainable business?
Here’s what the research says:
“A great company respects and nurtures the people it employs and the customers it serves. A great company doesn’t just thrive because it’s profitable; it’s profitable because it helps people to thrive.”
How to turn ambition into action
Sustainability has to do with the impacts and long-term implications of your products or services on the environment and people.
Before starting your sustainability journey, you need to get crystal clear on your purpose.
Once you’ve nailed that, you can try some of these ideas to reduce your impact:
The biggest takeaway from this is: By being responsive to the needs of your community, you’ll identify more opportunities to influence change.
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Want to dive deeper? Here are my sources for this article:
This week's news worth noting
🌎 Global decision-makers are gathering in Switzerland this week for the World Economic Forum meeting to discuss the “polycrisis" facing the world today, or as I prefer to think about it, the clusterfuck of global risks that include climate change, war, inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, a breakdown of societies. And because the crises are too massive and complex for governments to solve on their own, the private sector and billionaires like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are having a massive impact on climate policy development and are driving the global renewable energy agenda.
🌡 Connecticut has become one of the first states in America to make climate change studies compulsory in public schools. Climate change will now form part of the science curriculum for Grades 5 to 12.
🦈 A new study has found that nearly 60% of coral reef shark and ray species globally are at risk of extinction. This makes them the second most-threatened group of animals on reefs after marine mammals. Overfishing is the main cause of elevated extinction risk, compounded by climate change and habitat degradation.
🍽️ From October, England will ban several single-use plastic items, including cutlery, plates, trays, and bowls, and some polystyrene cups and food containers. Wet wipes and tobacco filters might be next on the hit list.
🥵 The global average temperature in 2022 was 14.76°C, ranking sixth hottest on record. And 2023 is forecast to be one of the hottest years ever recorded.
☕️ Rising global temperatures threaten coffee production (nooooooooo!). New research suggests that coffee production will rapidly decline in countries that account for 75% of the world’s Arabica coffee supply. Not only does this impact supply and prices; it also threatens the livelihoods of millions of farmers, mostly in the developing world, who depend on productive Arabica to earn a living.
Well, that's interesting
The giant hole in the Ozone layer is starting to close and is expected to recover to 1980 values by 2066.
The ozone layer prevents us from being fried to a crisp by the sun’s harmful radiation. The bigger the hole, the more damage the sun can cause, including cancer, cataracts, and crop loss.
This achievement has been attributed to the success of the Montreal Protocol, and is proof that climate change can be reversed if nations work together.
What is the Montreal Protocol?
The Montreal Protocol is an international agreement between 197 countries designed to phase out the production and consumption of refrigerants, aerosols, and chemicals that deplete the ozone layer.
It came into effect in 1989 and was designed to restore damage done to the planet's protective ozone layer, and prevent further damage. It’s considered one of the most successful global environmental actions to date.
Without the Montreal Protocol, the Antarctic ozone hole would have increased in size by 40% by 2013, and Americans born between 1890 and 2100 will avoid over 280 million cases of skin cancer, 1.6 million skin cancer deaths, and over 45 million cases of cataracts thanks to the treaty.
I'll leave you on this happy note...
An army of Indian runner ducks march around a vineyard in South Africa, eating snails and other pests, earning the farm a biodiversity and sustainability certification.
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Tarryn ✌️