As the importance of sustainability increases, businesses from around the world are seeking new ways to go green. For those unfamiliar, this means discovering alternative resources and innovative uses of existing assets to preserve the environment. The problem, however, is the fact that almost every business prioritizes their profitability. Thus, although they may want to be eco-friendly in their operations, they must maintain focus on their revenues.
So, is there a way to go green while also increasing profits as a direct consequence of better sustainability?
1. Saving on Overhead Costs
Every organization has to deal with overhead costs. These are the expenses that are not directly related to the company’s product or service. Consider, for example, a company that produces cars. For them, direct costs would be the actual materials and labor used to create those cars. Overhead, on the other hand, are expenses such as the depreciation on the office building, electricity, water, and so on.
Well, according to a climate change expert, Adrian Rubin, going green will allow businesses to noticeably reduce their overhead. A great example would be switching to LED light bulbs or using solar energy as the main source of power. That way, the traditional electricity that is consumed will be minimized while the business uses renewable sources.
2. Paper
According to the latest findings, each American uses approximately 700 pounds of paper annually. Such a mind-blowing figure is even more concerning when it is multiplied by the entire population and accumulates to a whopping 90 million tons. This is why a lot of large corporations are switching to electronic, paper-free systems. Banks like Chase and Bank of America, for instance, now offer their customers the option to go paperless.
This means that their monthly statements would be delivered to them online via their customer portal. Doing so reduces the amount of paper used which, in turn, decreases spending. After all, those 90 billion tons are quite expensive when compared to the alternative of keeping all documents online.
3. Transportation Systems
When dockless scooter companies came to the market in 2017, a lot of investors were skeptical. After all, how likely are electric scooters to overtake the old-fashioned transportation methods like cars? Well, as it turns out, more than likely! Some of the companies that operate in this market include Bird and Lime, both of which have already reached a multi-billion-dollar valuation.
Moreover, they are solely responsible for preventing millions of tons of carbon emissions that would have normally been released. Thus, building their business model around the principle of sustainability has proven to be quite effective as they are growing at an unprecedented rate and reaching incredible revenues within the first year of operations.
4. Start Telecommuting
According to Adrian Rubin, telecommuting is another area where many companies are gaining a competitive advantage over their opponents. The way that they are doing so revolves around letting people work from home as much as possible. This is achieved through state-of-the-art assets like on-the-go databases, video conferences, screen sharing, and so on.
So, instead of mandating that every employee drive to work every day, some businesses are simply asking them to do their job to the best of their ability. Whether they choose to do it from the office or the comfort of their own home is irrelevant. That way, companies can increase efficiency levels and expect more productivity from their workers while reducing the number of unnecessary miles that people drive.
5. Contribute to Sustainability
Donating funds or time to non-profit agencies that promote sustainability can also be very helpful. More importantly, it can actually make the organization’s profits rise.
How so?
Well, a lot of customers tend to seek businesses whose operations align with their personal views. Meaning, when a company shows that they truly care about the ecosystem, they are very likely going to gain a significant number of new buyers. So, their original donation to sustainability can be viewed as an investment that is going to be very lucrative later on.