Carbon footprint means the overall amount of greenhouse gas emissions, namely carbon dioxide, associated with an organization or production. The increase in carbon footprint is associated with climate change and the carbon footprint of companies has a negative impact on climate change. As a company, you can implement practices to help reduce your organization's carbon footprint and encourage this sustainability over time.

The values of a company and that of its employees should align and having your employees on board with your company's vision would ultimately benefit the company. A good idea is to engage your employees in sustainable activities, or by even considering setting up an in-house green team or organizing company-wide environmentally friendly activities which are tied to incentives for employees.

Sustainability improves brand image and helps get a competitive edge

Nowadays consumers are more aware of environmental issues and prior to purchasing anything, research not only about the product but also whether a company's sustainable. Therefore, embracing a green policy would give you a competitive advantage. Practising sustainability improves the brand image, but can also be a cost-saving measure. For example, consuming less electricity would help the finances of the company.

On the other hand, embracing sustainability policies would increase employee satisfaction, as employees would be proud to work for a company that has the environment at heart. Your employees are your biggest brand ambassadors and the company will have a competitive edge if it embraces sustainability as it would not only attract consumers but align employees' values with that of the company.

Sustainability enhances production and minimizes costs

When a company embarks on a journey to reduce its carbon footprint, it not only is helping the environment but will also decrease its costs. One of the ways to reduce the carbon footprint is to reduce water and electricity consumption. Replacing lighting with energy-efficient lights will generate savings in the electricity bill. The same principle can be applied to water consumption.

Regular inspections of working equipment not only, in the long run, reduces costs, but it ensures machines run more efficiently, thus reducing its carbon footprint. If your company requires some form of packaging, changing to environmentally friendly packaging could also free up some space. Offices can start recycling but also go paperless thus drastically reducing stationery costs. Sustainability can improve your bottom-line.

Employee retention and recruitment rate will be enhanced

As people are more aware of environmental issues, prospective employees would also be looking at a company's environmental policies. Of course, people want to be employed by a company that supports environmental programs, rather than with companies that cause ecological disasters. Employees that work with a company that has similar values to their own, feel a sense of pride in their workplace.

Engage your employees in sustainable activities, and you will see how teamwork increases. Working together to implement sustainable initiatives, gives employees a sense of forming part of a family, and this generates company loyalty. Working towards sustainability also improves innovation because if a company is looking at ways to become more sustainable, it may have to reconsider how operations are implemented.

Can sustainability help you comply with regulations?

It is not just individuals who are concerned about climate change, but also governments around the world. As the concern grows, governments are implementing new legislation to save the environment. Different industries have regulations to abide by in order to reduce their carbon footprint. If your company is already implementing a number of sustainability measures, it could also benefit from incentives.

How does sustainability help you attract investments and funds?

As governments introduce new legislation to reduce the carbon footprint, a number of funds would be available to upgrade equipment or introduce new concepts to meet the new requirements. These funds for new equipment would help the companies to embrace sustainability and be more efficient. A company that has sustainability policies in place, attracts similar companies that want to invest and collaborate.

The Social Impact

All the above-mentioned benefits help with the profitability of a company, but they also make a difference to the environment. As your carbon footprint is reduced, the number of toxins in the atmosphere reduces too. Ultimately it's the future generations that would benefit from cleaner air and waters. Sustainability practices make a company more marketable and more attractive to prospective customers.

When marketing the company, highlighting the policies and initiatives would attract customers that have the same values as the company. This could result in increased sales, customer loyalty, and customer engagement. Nowadays, even social media is more aware of environmental issues, and companies promoting sustainability, or even advertising their sustainability, could see an increase in their following across social media networks.

Are you ready to embrace sustainability policies?

The benefits mentioned above, definitely outweigh the drawbacks of embracing sustainability policies. Sustainability can support your business because it not only adds value but also attracts new customers. In the beginning, it might not naturally but as time progresses, it becomes the norm, even for your employees. Small changes within your company like changing to energy-efficient lights, will make big differences.