How can your business and brand be more sustainable? Let’s explore a few ways you can introduce sustainable business practices in this blog. 

I’m all about simple, stress-free changes that you can easily make to your brand and business so it becomes more sustainable, eco-friendly and ethical. So here are a few small, sustainable ethical steps that you can take that don’t cost the earth to make your business brand more sustainable…

How to make your business more sustainable

1. Sustainable ethical business practices on-the-go

One of the easiest changes to make your business more sustainable is to carry re-usable items with you when travelling with your business to cut down on plastic waste and make your business more sustainable. I’ve had my trusty KeepCup for over 5 years and try to bring it in my bag or when I’m travelling anywhere to fill up with tea. I also cary a re-fillable water bottle around with me and a tote bag for impromptu shopping trips. 

As an ethical sustainable design business I make sure that whatever I bring with me to a meeting is sustainable. For example I have a cork notebook and ipad case, PELA phone case and try to cycle to meetings when I can or use public transport.

2. Supporting Local ethical, sustainable Independent brands.

When we shop local we are choosing to use our money to empower another sustainable business with good ethics and sustainable practices.

Many large companies lose their soul as they grow, but most smaller independent businesses really care about what they do and have sustainable business practies. There’s also less of a carbon footprint as many items are locally sourced and without unnecessary packaging.

Holding business meetings in independent coffee shops who care about sustainability is a great way to demonstrate your commitment to supporting your community and being more sustainable. Choose somewhere that offers biodegradable cups and encourages the use of reusable coffee cups. I also like to see if they are stocking local, fair-trade teas and coffees and cakes from local suppliers.

Don’t be afraid of changing a client suggestion to meet too! One client asked me to meet in a big chain hotel but I then made an alternative suggestion to meet in a lovely coffee/bookshop nearby and explained that I like to support the independent cafes wherever I can. The client loved my suggestion and hopefully will hold more meetings there in the future!

3. Use the power of branding to attract the right type of customers

A sustainable business involves ensuring that every part of your brand is considered and doesn’t exploit people or planet. Often you will be charging more for your products or prices to reflect this ethical stance, so it’s super important that you create a brand and website experience that draws the right people to your brand. These are the people that are prepared to invest in products and services that make a difference and appreciate a thoughtful and trustworthy brand. Your brand experience is how you can emotionally connect and WOW these potential customers to choose your brand over another less sustainable brand or corporate chain.

To learn more about how to create a sustainable brand experience you can read more in my free ebook below…

4. Embrace ethical business digital tools for your sustainable business

To introduce sustainable business practices, I rarely print anything off and use PDF contracts, online note-keeping, online forms and paper-less banking to ensure I’m not wasting paper and ink. You can also encourage your clients to do the same by asking them to keep documents digital. Having a Google Drive or Google Document are both quick and easy ways to share items without printing.

5. Buy sustainable and ethical business brand marketing materials 

Feel good when handing out your branded business marketing materials. There are a great range of sustainable business cards, flyers and roller banners available that can be printed using vegetable inks on re-cycled paper and even out of re-cycled coffee cups. 

Really think hard if you need to get something printed or is there a digital alternative. PDF’s and Ebooks can be made to look really professional and can be emailed to your prospective clients as opposed to sending over brochures or flyers in the post.

Read about my top sustainable ethical business suppliers here.

6. SUPPORT COMMUNITY EVENTS AND CHARITIES to be a more sustainable business

You can use your business brand to ‘do good’ by attending community events and using social media to show your support and highlight your sustainable business practices. Businesses and social enterprises can benefit each other. You may have talents that may be more beneficial to share than a percentage of your profit. Perhaps you have extra materials that you don’t need and could donate to a local art project, or you could sit down for an hour a month with a charity and give them a few marketing tips. Sometimes these small acts of kindness are far more impactful than money donations.

You could also organise your own sustainable business event. I recently organised a mass Litterpick in my local town and spread the word on Instagram and it was a great way to give back without the typical donation route which can sometimes feel a little cold.

Some sustainable businesses like to choose a charity and donate a percentage of their profit to them at the end of the year too. Again try to choose a smaller charity that may benefit from your support. Even better if it is a charity that fits in with your brand ethos and sustainable business practices.

So start small, maybe try and make one change and let’s join the movement to create a more ethical, sustainable and conscious business world!

want to learn more? Keep on reading below…

• Why authentic brand experiences are so important
• My top 5 Business tools for small businesses and solopreneurs
• How to build a personal brand when you are an introvert
• The power of intuition in business