Challenges of Sustainability

How to make your business green?

Bojana Suzic Jovana Jovic Igor Tadic

Effects of the pollution on the economy

Pollution have impact not just on human health and environment, but it has large economic cost.

According to the research conducted by MIT in 2000 - health costs due to global ozone pollution by 2050 will be 580 billion USD.

Few facts
Medium/average car (580 km approx. per month) needs one tree to offset the monthly carbon emission. In average, each tree will absorb 1 metric ton of CO2 over its lifetime.

29. of April, 2013

How many trees do we need?

33 433 144 307.3

A lot!!!

What is the opinion of consumer?

In 2009, IPSOS conducted global study in nine countries (US, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, India and China) on consumer response the climate change -11,000 online interviews and 18 focus groups.

What is the opinion of consumer?

79% of consumers would rather buy from companies doing their best to reduce their impact on the environment this is most marked in China and Brazil, but least in the UK and US
89% of people are likely to buy more green goods in the next 12 months

35% are willing to pay a premium for green goods

Green as a key driver for competitiveness

Business environment is getting more challenging and the competition is rough.
Green business is one of the key drivers of innovation and competitiveness.

Benefits of green business

Cost reduction Increase in revenues

Risk minimization
New and innovative products and services Reducing impacts of business to environment Brand perception

Green challenges
Challenge of the management is not just to transfer to green but to implement the changes by influencing on behavioral habits inside the organization. Difficult task for the managers is to influence employees to accept and implement the changes in the organization.

How to make your business greener?

Conduct an energy audit - Most local utilities offer businesses free on-site consultations on how they can reduce usage and save money. Frequent suggestions include: Improve insulation, install timers to automatically turn off lights, use energy efficient light bulbs, keep temperatures at comfortable ranges that are not excessively cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Conduct annual "Going Green" or "Sustainable Organization" Surveys Survey your employees to assess how well your organization is doing with regard to implementing green business practices. The survey should request suggestions for becoming a greener organization. This can be a separate survey focused on going green issues only, or it can be added as part of an employee opinion/satisfaction survey. Conducting the surveys annually will enable your organization to assess going green progress and provide information, suggestions and insight for future actions.

How to make your business greener?

Go paperless - Encourage e-mailing. When paper is necessary, photocopy on both sides and use old letterhead for scrap paper. Recycle - Recycle glass, paper, plastic, metal trash and manufacturing waste materials. Go through your trash. You'll get a new sense of how much it costs to buy, store, and dispose of stuff. Eliminate unnecessary photocopying and reuse packaging for shipping. Reduce commuting - Encourage carpooling (provide preferred parking for carpoolers). Offer transit passes to employees who take the bus or subway, and bike racks for cyclists. Encourage employees to telecommute where possible. Reduce business travel - Teleconference instead of traveling. For must-go trips, keep track of the miles driven and flown and buy "carbon offsets" from a non-profit like Carbonfund.org to make up for the greenhouse gas emissions.

How to make your business greener?

Buy green - Tell suppliers that you're interested in sustainable products and set specific goals for buying recycled, refurbished, or used. Make the environment, and not just price, a factor when purchasing.
Detoxify - Many offices have toxic substances, such as used batteries and copier toner, on hand. Talk to suppliers about alternatives to toxics, and make sure you properly dispose of the ones you can't avoid using. Rethink transportation - Consider the petroleum it takes to ship and receive products. Evaluate the impact of products you buy or sell, and find ways to mitigate those impacts. Purchase or lease energy-efficient cars and trucks for your employees' business uses and delivery of products.

How to make your business greener?

Provide leadership and resources for going green - Assign a respected executive-level person to head up Going Green/Organizational Sustainability initiatives, and provide financial and other needed resources. Include "going green" in your company's mission statement and business plans. Get employees involved - Create a team to lead the company's eco-efforts and determine where you can have the biggest impact for the least amount of money. Communicate about Going Green issues - Inform suppliers and customers about your efforts. And get in touch with local regulatory agencies, many of which offer financial incentives to businesses that implement green initiatives. Keep employees and shareholders/investors informed about going green progress. Save water - Monitor sinks and toilets for leaks that waste water. Eliminate water waste in manufacturing processes and in watering the company's lawns.

How to make your business greener?

Explore opportunities for implementing alternative energy sources - Evaluate opportunities for using solar energy, biofuels, wind power and other alternative energy sources. Implement green manufacturing processes - Use energyefficient equipment, and streamline processes to use fewer steps and less materials and packaging. Implement green policies - Establish policies and standards such as hardware energy consumption, waste disposal, using recycled and environmentally superior content, water and energy efficient products and alternative fuel vehicles, among other measures.

Conclusion
Environmentally friendly actions don't have to be large to have an impact. Consistently reducing the amount of energy, water, and paper our businesses use can make a huge difference, both to the environment and to the company.

Thank you for the attention!!!