The importance of sustainability

Martyn Ward, CEO of the UK’s premier mobile coffee business Cafe2U, explains why ‘becoming more sustainable’ should be high on every organisation’s to-do list and provides some tips on how to get started.

With the UK having recently hosted a climate summit on delivering ‘net zero’ – the balance a company, city or country must make between the amount of greenhouse gas it produces and the amount it removes from the atmosphere in order to reduce its impact on the environment – the issue of sustainable working is once again at the forefront of many people’s minds.

With speakers including Bank of England chief Andrew Bailey and Egyptian foreign minister and COP27 President Sameh Shoukry, some of the climate summit’s focuses included building climate resilience and championing sustainable growth over the next 20 years.

So what can companies in the UK do to implement and work towards their own sustainability targets?

Your first port of call should be to review your daily operations to discover if there are any obvious changes that would reduce your carbon footprint. Things like ‘going paperless’, switching the lightbulbs in your office to energy-efficient LED bulbs or swapping your current energy supplier to a green energy alternative are all quick but effective ideas.

Next, consider how you can make – and keep – your company sustainable in the medium-to-long term. Here, it is important to recognise that although changes can take a while to implement and roll out across a network, there will be incremental steps that can still drive improvements in the meantime. 

For example, if your business relies on vehicles in some capacity – whether you’re a ‘mobile’ company, offer company cars to employees or deliver goods and products – you could begin investing in emission-free electric vehicles and rolling them out across your organisation, with an eye on using electric vehicles exclusively over the next few years.

Not only are electric vehicles better for the environment, they also grant their drivers access to otherwise unreachable areas, like emission-free zones or even indoor events. 

Similarly, if your current fleet of vehicles features electronic devices that are powered by diesel generators, replacing these with environmentally-friendly lithium-ion batteries will enhance your green credentials too.

Although investing in new technologies and developments doesn’t come cheap, it is important to view this as an investment in the future of not just your business, but also the future of your staff, partners and customers too. Don’t forget, it is becoming increasingly common for customers and potential new employees to turn their backs on businesses that are not explicitly sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Another effective way your company can become more sustainable is by taking part in fund-raising events relevant to your industry. An event we like to support at Cafe2U is National Coffee Week, which typically sees participating coffee shops, retailers and foodservice outlets raising funds for Project Waterfall, a charitable initiative that brings clean water, sanitation and education to coffee-growing communities across the world. With the help of modern technology, finding and taking part in such initiatives has never been easier, enabling you to make a demonstrably positive impact on the environment. 

You could even start your own awareness event to encourage your customers and staff to become more sustainable, or explore the possibility of partnering with another sustainable organisation to help boost each other’s profiles.

It is also worth remembering that it can be easy to overlook external factors when evaluating your sustainability profile. For example, you could look at the food and drink provisions in your workplace. Things like only offering recyclable or compostable cups if you have drinks machines on your premises, or only using food suppliers whose products come in 100% recyclable packaging can make a big difference to your carbon footprint. 

There has never been a more important time for business owners to ensure they are operating as sustainably as possible. If you are a sustainable company, you will attract new customers, boosting your sales and profits. You will also make employees more likely to stay with your business for longer, reducing labour turnover, improving productivity and increasing the likelihood of attracting the most talented people when positions become available.

All this will help establish your company as a leader in the fight against climate change; failure to do so will risk it being left behind in the wake of those who do.