Becoming more eco-friendly, however, can be a complicated business. If you are building a new brand or checking out a brand's work practices here are some things you need to consider to create or improve a brand's eco-friendly credentials.
Transportation
Although this can't apply to every work environment, does the brand give their staff the opportunity to work from home wherever possible? As well as saving time on travel, many people have to use a car, bus or train to get to work. If you work from home you can save on transportation costs (and the costs of getting your child to childcare) and the pollution from the environment too. If you have to travel to work, could you consider walking, cycling or car sharing instead and does the brand support eco-friendly ways of travel? Setting up a bicycle park could be one way for a brand to encourage their workers to cycle to work, having bicycling parking from Barriers Direct would be a great step to encourage this.
Resources
An eco-friendly brand should look at the resources they use carefully. Using 'green' energy companies is a great step for an eco-friendly brand but there are other things they can do as well. From cutting down on unnecessary photocopying and backing up electronically rather than printing out, to using renewable and sustainable resources, there is much a brand can do to be eco-friendly in the resources they use. Eliminating plastic cups, plates and cutlery can be a good place to start, as well as using sustainable wood products. If you have to have business cards, use a recycled card, or email it. Simple.
Reducing miles
Brands need to consider using local companies for resources. As well as supporting the local community, there are less 'miles' the item has travelled. If the workers wear a uniform, can this be made in the UK? If the brand has a canteen can they source locally produced fruit and vegetables from organic companies or from a farmers market? If items can't be sourced locally are they Fair Trade so that the workers are paid a fair rate and the environment is protected? Buying local is very important to me as a consumer and brands realise it makes good business sense too.
Encouraging recycling
There are many ways a brand can encourage recycling, from simply having recycling bins available, and to refilling the printer cartridges they use, to looking at how they can recycle other items they use in the business.
Big technology brands like Apple, often have incentives to recycle their tech products (or there are companies like Plunc who recycle various tech products from Apple, Samsung or others.) Makeup companies are encouraging recycling of their packaging and clothing companies are now looking at ways to reuse old clothes all for the better of the environment. I am glad that at last brands, as well as consumers, are looking for ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.
So here are some ways to create a more eco-friendly brand. Are there any eco-friendly brands you support?
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I think anyone can be eco friendly brand and recycle. It’s super easy to do and I also love the idea of sourcing items locally too.
ReplyDeleteThe only issue I find with brands becoming more Eco-Friendly is the prices suddenly increase, so somehow we need to find a solution x
ReplyDelete