When businesses take meaningful steps to enhance sustainability, it says a lot about the caliber of their leadership, mission, and values. Every individual needs to be conscientious about how their actions impact the environmental crisis, and that moral imperative is even greater for businesses. To some extent, individuals are looking to businesses for sustainable solutions. Moreover, businesses look to one another for standards about sustainability. When everyone can really show something for themselves, the resulting effect is that businesses will collectively continue raising standards and making positive changes. 

Here are some of the most important things that businesses need to do in order to effectively make their day-to-day operations more sustainable.

1. Reduce Waste

The volume of commercial waste that businesses in the United States produce every year has reached truly astounding levels. Unfortunately, managing waste in a way that meets current needs is somewhat feasible in the long run. Businesses must adapt to these challenges by finding ways to produce less waste through modifications to their activities.

Ideally, businesses should reuse or repurpose items whenever possible. They should attempt to use fewer disposable items, so some changes to how they stock up on supplies. Of course, reusable items are not always an option, so businesses should take advantage of single stream recycling options to minimize the quantity of items that they flow away which are made of paper, plastic, or aluminum.

2. Install Infrastructure for Renewable Energy

Commercial energy consumption is a major source of carbon emissions. Companies which are able to power their operations with renewable energy can significantly boost the overall sustainability of their activities.

Installing solar panel energy systems is an excellent option for businesses to take advantage of the only truly green energy platform that is currently available to power single facilities. In time, wind and water-based alternatives may be more widely available. For now solar is the preferred renewable energy source. This improvement can allow businesses to lower their overhead costs, and there may be financing available to pay for the requisite initial investment.

3. Use and Promote Eco-Friendly Transportation

Companies that are purchasing vehicles should look towards electric options which are finally better-designed and more widely available for commercial applications. The recent rollout of electric vans and trucks has given many different types of businesses a way to operate sustainably.

Even companies that don't directly use vehicles in their regular operations can help to support sustainability and transportation. They can provide stipends for employees to use public transportation to get to and from work, for example. Companies can also encourage employees to use electric vehicles, electric scooters, and bicycles to do their daily commute. They can structure bonus incentives for employees who purchase or use green transportation. Employer organized carpools may help to lower the total number of cars on the road and also make it easier for people to afford transportation costs.

4. Source Supplies Sustainably

Companies should be discerning about who they purchase supplies from and where those supplies come from. Whenever it is possible to purchase material that is produced from recycled goods, buying managers should seize that opportunity. For example, recycled paper is a cost-effective and practical choice for any business' basic administrative supply needs. 

Companies that manufacture goods should attempt to use sustainably sourced raw materials. They should avoid buying materials from distributors that do not demonstrably make an effort to operate sustainably.

5. Prevent Water Waste

Clean water is going to become increasingly scarce. It is already becoming more expensive for commercial and residential customers in many parts of the country. Within the past few years, poorly advised legislation curtailed attempts to minimize waste and protect clean water sources.

In addition to wasting less clean water, it is also imperative that businesses produce less waste water which can be a very onerous strain on municipal sewer systems. Taking steps to address water usage can benefit entire municipalities while also undercutting an average companies’ water and sewer expenses dramatically.

Conclusion

Enhancing sustainability can have multiple advantages for businesses. It projects a positive image, positions themselves well against competitors, and it may reduce expenses.