Companies around the world are working to reduce their environmental footprints, but small businesses play a particularly important role in preventing any negative impact on the environment, community or economy – the three pillars of sustainability.
Small businesses, generally described as having fewer than 50 employees, represent about 97 per cent of the total business establishments in Canada, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. As a result, the green efforts of small enterprises such as motels, bed and breakfasts, grocery and convenience stores, auto repair shops, florists, restaurants and hair salons form the foundation of workplace sustainability efforts, many experts say.
Liz Nield
“One of the things we’ve already done by choosing that location is we’ve made it accessible for employees to get to work, so they can take transit or walk instead of drive, and people can work at home if they need to,” Ms. Hall says. “We’ll also look at energy-efficient appliances, low-flow water fixtures, even simple things like paint selection and flooring have more sustainable options, and we’ve already joined the local business improvement association” to address the community aspects of sustainability.”
But how can other small businesses go about getting on the road to sustainability?
Aryne Sheppard
“You need everyone participating – it really is about taking ownership, and that can happen much easier if you have a small team,” she says from the foundation’s Toronto office.
While one downside of running a small enterprise is being able to afford office and building upgrades and retrofits – many small companies rent, and therefore don’t want to spend on new lighting, heating and air conditioning systems – there are a slew of green initiatives that can be taken at little or no cost.
Get staff onboard
Have a conversation with everyone in the workplace. “Set up a meeting to come up with creative solutions, and include people from different areas of the organization – management, administration, IT staff, custodial staff – because everyone will have a different perspective,” Ms. Sheppard says. It’s easier to get a smaller workplace thinking green without even appointing a team leader, but if a company has more than a dozen or so employees, ask for volunteers for a special committee that is given sustainability planning time during the workday.
Do your research
Conduct an audit into current energy costs, how much paper is used, waste disposal practices, how many employees drive alone to work and how many cycle, take transit, walk or carpool, to help determine priorities and have baselines from which to measure progress. You don’t have to pay for a professional audit or consultant, who can charge $100 or more an hour. Industry Canada, for instance, offers assessment tools (Three Steps to Eco-Efficiency, Part 1, http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ee-ee.nsf/vwapj/finaltool.PDF/$FILE/finaltool.PDF).
Start small
Focus at first on the three Rs: reduce, reuse, recycle. Cut paper use by setting printers to the two-sided default, separate waste and recycling (place small recycling bins at each desk), and conserve energy by turning off lights and computers when not in use. Success here will help staff become more confident to tackle more ambitious initiatives. Make it a policy to purchase eco-friendly office and cleaning supplies, materials from green suppliers, energy-efficient appliances, and second-hand furniture and other fixtures.
Make going green fun
