Improvements – Better for Business, Better for Our Planet
Making your company more environmentally responsible can have a big payoff. You will avoid any penalties by complying with environmental legislation. You can also save a lot of money by using raw materials more efficiently and minimising waste to name a few advantages.
Customers, suppliers, investors, employees, and other stakeholders will all benefit from your company’s efforts. You’ll also boost employee morale, making it easier to hire new talent and retain existing employees.
In this blog, we’re sharing 3 ways your company can improve its environmental performance. We’ll also cover one way which advises businesses on how to take long-term steps to make their business more sustainable by implementing a management system.
1. Review Your Environmental Policy
Understanding your current environmental policy is the first step toward improving your environmental performance.
Environmental performance starts with an environmental policy that clearly outlines success criteria and performance expectations. If your environmental performance is not meeting your goals, it’s possible that your policy is to blame.
Begin by reviewing the strategies and objectives mentioned in your policy. If they don’t align with your broader objectives, that’s going to become a problem. Also, look at the policy’s wording; if it doesn’t clearly explain performance criteria, it could easily create confusion.
2. Manage Purchases
Your company can manage purchases to further reduce your environmental impacts. If you are an office-based firm, it’s likely that you will purchase a wide range of goods and services, from paper and computers to catering and cleaning services. It’s vital that you select suppliers who are also just as conscious about their carbon footprint, as by doing so you are ensuring that you only work with companies that are environmentally responsible.
When purchasing a product or service, consider the environmental implications over the product’s whole life cycle, including:
- What raw materials are used to manufacture the products or provide services?
- Will the products or services contribute to the circular economy?
- How much will it cost to dispose of the product, and what will the environmental impact be?
- How will the product or service function in usage, e.g., will it require energy, water, or produce waste?
3. Implement ISO 14001: Environmental Management Systems
ISO certification exists to ensure good health and safety, eco-friendly practices, and more. ISO stands for the International Organisation for Standardisation, and they are a non-governmental, independent body that publishes the standards.
Standards give customers and other stakeholders confidence as in order to obtain certification, organisations are audited by a third-party external assessor.
ISO 14001 is the recognised standard for Environmental Management and specifies requirements for an Environmental Management System. It is used by businesses globally to improve their environmental performance and demonstrate their commitment to the environment. The standard can apply to any business, regardless of its size, sector, or activities.
Ready to implement ISO 14001? Get In Touch Today.