6 ways to make your business more sustainable
It's Earth Day on April 22nd and, as this year's theme is `Invest in Our Planet`, we have decided to share what we do at Foxmere to invest in our planet and how and why you might implement similar practices.
The best way to keep waste out of landfills is by never sending it there in the first place, and so this article starts with the basics; the three Rs of recycling:
1. Reduce
`Reduce` is the first of the three Rs, and arguably the most important, because reducing how much you use and waste will simply reduce how much you need to replace and consume. For example:
- Make your office paperless
- Don't use disposable cups with your water cooler; use ceramic or glass cups
2. Reuse
As the old adage goes: "Waste not, want not", and, similar to `reduce`, the more you reuse items, the less you will need to buy new items. For example:
- Recycle old boxes and packaging materials
- Buy pre-owned office chairs and furniture
- Buy furniture that is made from reclaimed materials
3. Recycle
`Recycling` is the last, and the most commonly used, of the 3 Rs. Recycling is the act of changing discarded materials into new products to avoid using more virgin resources. For example:
- Purchase recycled packaging materials
- Purchase merchandise and marketing materials made using recycled materials
4. Support Local Businesses
Not only is supporting local, independent businesses great for the economy, but the reduction in fuel usage also significantly impacts the environment.
Where possible, Foxmere supports local businesses and currently uses local, independent firms for staff recruitment, IT, software, marketing and print.
5. Stop Driving to the Office
According to a survey by Project Solar UK, 75% of Brits commute less than 10 miles to work, with 20% commuting between 5 and 10 miles. What's more, a surprising 12% of commuters travel less than a mile to their place of work.
Therefore, encouraging your team to walk, ride or use public transport isn't unreasonable, and it's not just for the environment, either — it's cheaper than driving and it's great for your mental and physical health.
At Foxmere, we encourage our team to ride to work with a cycle-to-work scheme, which allows staff to save 25-39% on the cost of cycles and accessories. We also encourage staff to use public transport and we offer a modest staff library, so our team can read on the way to work.
Alternative ideas might be to offer a company well-being package, where staff get free access to Audible or Headspace so that they can listen to books or meditate on their commute.
6. Invest in Our Planet
Considering the total cost of ownership is a major part of how we make commercial decisions here at Foxmere because, to us, "cost" is more than just the price of an item.
Like we say on our about page: “We believe in a healthy, sustainable future where our children can prosper on a thriving planet. That's why everything we do [...] is sustainable whilst scalable.”
And so, whilst our environmentally-friendly packaging, serverless IT infrastructure and reclaimed-wood furniture have a higher fiscal cost than their old-fashioned alternatives, they offer a lower environmental cost, and that is an investment we're prepared to make.
