Solopreneur Sustainable Business Challenge: What is Sustainability?
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This is not a formal challenge, just one I gave myself: I wanted to see what I do already that’s considered sustainable and if I could do more. As a solopreneur who works from home, I don’t have as much of a carbon footprint as many other businesses, but I bet there are some things that will surprisingly turn out to cause more emissions than I thought. Anyways, I can always try to do better in being more sustainable. I’m also going to examine the cost of some of these sustainable practices and see if they’re affordable for the average freelancer/solopreneur.
Though I just want to note that this is not a series about promoting the idea that climate change will be solved by individuals’ adjustments rather than corporations putting in the hard work, since 100 companies are responsible 71% of global emissions.
From what I’ve learned, the first step in making your business more sustainable is identifying just what sustainability means in a business context. In short, sustainability in business means that the company (or in this case, me) conducts business “without negatively impacting the environment, community, or society as a whole.” So, a sustainable business strategy aims to positively impact either the environment or the community, or both.
Examples
Using renewable energy sources
Using reusable materials rather than single-use (plastic) materials
Using more eco-friendly cleaners and other such products
Using public transportation rather than a car
Conserving water and energy use
Volunteering, community outreach, charity
I already implement some of these practices, and others are somewhat out of my reach. Yet I am going to do my best because, as research shows, cutting back on disposable materials and energy consumption saves you money and improves the perception of your business.
The next step is to conduct a sustainability audit; see you next month!