Sustainability is more than a buzzword, it has become a necessity. Businesses have an environmental responsibility because they use resources, be it electricity, water, or any other raw materials used for manufacturing a product. This translates to an impact on the environment.
Environmental responsibility can be defined as the ethical obligation that any organisation, including businesses, has to deal with in a way that enhances the well-being of the environment. This includes factors such as sustainability, conservation and regulatory compliance.
For South African businesses, environmental responsibility the term corporate social investment (CSI) is used interchangeably with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and contains multiple branches, one of which is solely focused on the environmental impact that organisations have on the environment.
The National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) 107 of 1993 specifically states that development should be socially, environmentally and economically sustainable. Furthermore, it outlines that chemicals and dangerous goods should be carefully handled to prevent pollution of air, water or soil.
The Importance of Environmental Responsibility
Through strategic planning and careful consideration of businesses, executing their responsibility helps to futureproof it. What’s meant by this is that the company is able to ensure the availability of resources in the future. This is done in four ways.
Saves Costs: Environmentally friendly practices such as energy-efficient appliances and machinery, implementing recycling strategies, and reducing emissions also directly have a cost-saving impact.
Manages Risk: With strong environmental stewardship, many risks can be circumvented. As a business starts to identify and tackle issues that affect its environmental sustainability, it also improves its reputation and addresses its financial and regulatory risks.
Retain Talent: Businesses that interact responsibly with their surroundings are more likely to retain staff in the long run.
How to be Environmentally Responsible
For a business to be environmentally responsible, it needs to use renewable energy wherever possible. It will also consider where it sources its materials from, making sure that it only uses responsible suppliers that source materials from local producers. You can also consider the following:
- Reduce packaging waste.
- Recycles materials.
- Uses energy and water-reducing methods.
- Necessary packaging materials are made from recyclable/recycled materials.
- Responsibly disposes of waste, especially human, animal or e-waste.
- Use transport that has lower emissions.
- Offsets negative impact through planting trees or donating to related causes.
Ask yourself if you are implementing any of the above strategies in your business. If not, ask yourself how you can start.
A Responsible Stewardship Mindset
Businesses with a positive outlook on environmental stewardship inadvertently contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. The strategy they employ can be summed up as follows:
Invest in Employee Education and Engagement
Employees who understand the environmental impacts your business can have are also the ones who are able to help you prevent these problems.
Improve the Accuracy of Measuring Carbon Emissions
Before being able to call a business ‘green’, ‘responsible’ or ‘sustainable’, it first needs to measure the degree to which it is currently not succeeding. Not only does this create a starting point from which to improve, but it also gives the business a way to measure its progress.
Set Clear Goals
Whenever you are attempting to achieve something, it’s important to set a clear goal. This states what you are aiming towards and how you intend to achieve it.
Adopt Green Energy Practices
You can make a list of the ways that a business is considered to be green. From here, you can investigate what you are able to do to turn your enterprise into a more sustainable business. To foster an environmentally responsible work culture amongst your employees, encourage them to contribute to sustainable solutions or take ownership in the small ways they contribute to saving the environment. This can include anything from recycling to switching off lights when you leave the room
