The 6R’s of Sustainability
All businesses have a responsibility to the environment beyond the legal and regulatory requirements and each business has its own particularities, so the steps one company takes won’t necessarily be the same as the steps others may take.
It doesn’t have to be complicated and time consuming and there are several simple ways for small businesses to reduce their impact on the environment and we should all aim to incorporate environmental factors into our business decisions.
Within the waste hierarchy, there are six agreed-upon principles of sustainability and an easy way to begin is by using the 6R’s:
- Rethink - Be mindful of what you buy. Ask yourself if you really need something
- Refuse - Don’t buy something you don’t need. Refuse to buy products that cannot be recycled or reused
- Re-use - Take a product / item and repurpose it for a different item
- Repair - Fix, don’t replace your products
- Reduce - Cut down on the number of products and services you use
- Recycle - Recycle what you cannot reduce, re-use or repair.
Start small, have a look around your office and consider the following:
Culture - What can you do?
- Set the standard and involve staff for greater commitment and improved performance
- Provide staff with relevant environmental information/training
- Continually find ways to improve and reduce environmental impacts
- Incorporate environmental factors into business decisions
Energy and water – What can you do?
- Reduce the amount of energy used as much as possible
- Switch off lights and electrical equipment when not in use
- Adjust heating with energy consumption in mind
- Take energy consumption and efficiency of new products into account when purchasing them
- Use energy efficient light bulbs or LED lights
Paper - What can you do?
- Go paperless or minimise the use of paper in the office
- Choose to buy recycled and recyclable paper products
- Reuse and recycle all paper where possible
Office supplies – What can you do?
- Choose green company suppliers
- Consider how any new products you intend to purchase will impact on the environment
- Choose to purchase environmentally friendly and efficient products wherever possible
- Reuse and recycle everything you can
Travel - What can you do?
- Reduce the need to travel and restrict it to necessary trips only
- Promote the use of travel alternatives such as e-mail or video/phone conferencing
Maintenance and cleaning - What can you do?
- Ensure any cleaning materials used are as environmentally friendly as possible
- Ensure any materials used in office maintenance and refurbishments are as environmentally friendly as possible
- Only use licensed and appropriate organisations to dispose of waste
Office kitchen - What can you do?
- Avoid plastic cups and other disposable cutlery
- If you have a coffee machine, use environmentally friendly coffee pods
- Replace the kettle with an instant hot water tap
The above is not exhaustive but hopefully provides enough information, as a starting point for you to begin reducing the impact your business has on the environment. As we know, going 100% zero-waste is not physically possible, because there will always be something that can’t be recycled, but our objective should be to generate the least amount of waste as possible and the 6Rs are an excellent tool to achieve this!
Sheila Mann, Admin Support