Cost of taking action: £/$/€ FREE
Small businesses have a big role to play!
Many large organisations will have formal environmental policies in place. Sometimes these arise from genuine commitment to working in more eco-friendly ways, and sometimes they are part of “greenwashing”, i.e. a public display seen as something that has to be in place.
Smaller organisations and self-employed individuals may not have a policy in place, and many businesses consist of just one or two operators. It might not feel although a policy can make a difference, but it can. Here’s why every small business should have an environmental policy:
- it reminds you and your staff of the importance of operating in a clean, sustainable way
- it reminds your customers and suppliers of the same
- actions you take as a result make a difference in practical ways to carbon and plastic emissions
- you can generate goodwill and good PR from demonstrating responsible business behaviours
- your business credibility is enhanced
- you can access the ever-growing millions of “green” consumers
- it costs nothing to make a statement and has no downside at all
So our action today, if you run a micro-business, is to adopt an environmental policy and publish it, perhaps even on your website, and make a news story about it.
To help you, here are two useful documents you can tailor to suit your own business and website or social media:
Sample environment policy statement
Sample environment policy announcement
Take action now
If you run a small business or operate as self-employed, please adopt a policy now and let others know about it, thank you.