Make 2023 the year you take action to reduce your environmental impact

Make 2023 the year you take action to reduce and improve your environmental impact

Let’s make 2023 the year to take action within your business to reduce and improve your environmental and planetary impact!

With no context or information about ‘how’ to do this it can seem like a really big and unachievable ask, but, as with most things, if you have no knowledge or understanding then of course it is hard, and it seems crazy to jump in with both feet.

So how do we make 2023 the year to take action in your business? How do you start reducing environmental impact? And how do you know if you are achieving any reduction and making any progress?

First of all, don’t throw your existing assets, processes, strategies or frameworks immediately into the bin! Getting rid of everything and starting again is not the correct action to take, it will cost you more money, take you more time, and produce unnecessary waste.

Instead you need to start taking action from whatever point you are at within your business today.

How can you know how to reduce and improve your environmental impact it if you have no understanding or measurements from which to start from?

How you can monitor anything in business  if you don’t measure it… How can you know how well your business is doing financially if you have no accounts? How do you know how much stock you have if you don’t undertake regular stock takes?

Remember, every action and change you make from your starting point is an improvement, knowing what to change first can only really be determined by knowing where you are now, where you want to get to, and planning the route to get there.

So to make 2023 the year you take action to reduce and improve the environmental impact of your business, you’ll need to make some simple shifts in how you approach the whole  ‘Green Issue’.

There are 5 Simple Shifts we introduce all our clients to, which trigger action, and allow real impactful changes and huge progress to be made:

1 – Awareness and Acknowledgement – often the hardest step to take on any journey, harder than the implementation of any change. As a business you’ll need to consider the truth about where you currently, become aware of the real requirement to become greener, and acknowledge you are at the beginning of your ‘Green Journey’.

2 – Discovery – this is the true understanding of your business’s ‘current state’, in other words an effectiveness review or assessment. Every part of your business will have some form of environmental impact so an effectiveness review of each area will help provide you with a true ‘snap shot’ or ‘measurement’ of the current state from which to work and improve from.

3 – Education – each business is different which means that each business’s Green Journey will also be different, one size does not fit all! You will require a true understanding of what your business really needs to reduce and improve its environmental impact, a subsequent plan and roadmap, and incorporation into your business strategy and decision making framework.

4 – Ownership – this is another hard step to take as it requires real accountability at the top level. Nothing will really change and improve without radical responsibility and ownership of the ‘Green Journey’ within your business. You will need to dare to be different, incorporating and engaging green thinking business wide at all levels.

5 – Investment – the mere mention of this word often scares businesses into thinking they have to spend a fortune to be greener, BUT, investment in the first instance here means committing and dedicating time, resources, and energy into taking action. Becoming greener in many cases will save your business money!

By embracing the essential changes your business needs to make to progress on its Green Journey, you will already be investing time and energy. The correct initial investment in planning, strategy, framework, process and engagement is priceless, and essential for success.

So there you have it, some simple shifts and tips to help make 2023 the year you take action to reduce and improve environmental and planetary impact of your business!

For more green tips and inspiration take a look at our other blog posts, or pop over to Instagram and LinkedIn and check out @achievinggreenness where we provide you with the motivation, evidence, and tools you may need to become greener.

If you are a business looking for help to become greener then get in touch, we offer a free initial Discovery Call and provide a range of services from a Mini Green Effectiveness Review all the way up to helping you obtain REAL green accreditations and ISO certifications. We can provide bespoke Green packages for all your requirements.