Advantages of sustainable business practices
How taking a sustainable approach for your business can help to reduce costs and risks while improving your reputation.
Taking a sustainable approach to business means that your business has no negative impact on the environment or society, while remaining financially sound. It encourages you to focus on long-term goals and strategy, and offers a wide range of benefits.
A sustainable approach will help your business comply with regulations and avoid any non-compliance costs. It can also help you qualify for reductions in environmental taxes such as the climate change levy.
There are significant savings to be made by using resources such as raw materials, energy and water more efficiently.
You should aim to take responsibility for your business as a whole, not just what happens under your roof. This means looking at the behaviour of your suppliers and your customers. Your supply chain could be a source of major inefficiencies, especially if you source materials from overseas. Do you know how your supplies reached you and how they were manufactured? Equally, are your products simple to recycle?
Improved reputation through sustainability
A sustainable approach can improve the reputation of your business and the products and services you offer. Many individual consumers prefer to buy from responsible businesses, while business customers may choose sustainable suppliers as part of their own commitment to sustainable development.
A good reputation can help you attract and retain employees, and improves your standing with the local community. By reducing the risks in your business and showing that it is well managed, a sustainable approach can also make it easier to attract investors and to work with regulators.
How to manage your environmental impacts
To help you manage, measure, monitor and report on your sustainability performance and to gain from the benefits, you could use an environmental management systems (EMS).