Climate Class: That's Your Business
The U.S. Postal Service estimates it will deliver 900 Million packages between Thanksgiving and New Years. Most of these items are purchased between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Approximately 1 million packages will be returned to retailers daily through December and early January. With everything available with a click of a finger, plus free shipping and returns -- what is the real cost of all this holiday cheer?
The Industry Sector is responsible for 22% of the total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Solutions for decreasing these emissions are similar to the suggestions we covered in our Climate Class, Home Edition:
Upgrading equipment to energy efficiency products, including LED light bulbs
Pulling your electricity from clean sources
Recycling and Compost programs
Educating staff + customers on acting sustainably
These are all important steps that business owners or even inspired employees can push to make within a company. Today we zoom out and focus on the collective economy that is driving all business and consumerism in general.
Most businesses take part in a LINEAR ECONOMY : Take-Make-Waste model.
Here is how it works : Resources are taken from the ground to make products which are used. When the products are no longer needed or wanted, they are discarded as waste.
This linear path we are on is not sustainable.
It is our responsibility as business owners and consumers to build a CIRCULAR ECONOMY : an industrial system that is restorative and regenerative by intention or design.
We must transform how we manage resources, how we make + use products, and what we do with the material afterwards.
The Ellen Macarthur Foundation describes the circular economy through three principles:
Design Out Waste + Pollution
Are the materials you use in your product ethically and sustainably sourced? Do they contain hazardous substances?
How do you package your product? Can it be package free? Is it free of plastic or other non-recyclable or reusable materials?
How are you getting your product to customers? Are you sending as few boxes as possible? Are you using recyclable or reusable materials for shipping? (check out Ecoenclose)
What pollution is attributed to the production and distribution of your product? Can this pollution be mitigated or eliminated with alternative technologies or practices?
Keep Products and Materials In Use
What happens at the end of the product's life? Can you design your product and components to be reused, repaired, or remanufactured?
If the components can’t be reused or repaired - can they be recycled or composted so they don’t end up in a landfill?
Regenerate Natural Systems
Are the decisions you make for your business simply to do less harm to the environment or are you improving it? How can we give back instead of just taking?
These companies have already entered the Circular Economy through one of the 5 Models laid out in Waste to Wealth.
One of our favorite small businesses, Tiny Bones Press, is a great example of a commitment to a circular economy and how that pays off in equity and sales.
Megan sat down (emailed) us about how she did it:
Over the last few years, I've tried to be really mindful of anything that both comes into the studio and leaves the studio. My first big step towards doing this was not using the plastic packaging that is standard in the stationery industry. This involved some investment on my end - researching paperboard, coatings and creating a design that still fit in with my brand (and didn't break my bank account), but it has been the biggest step I have been most proud of. All the sleeves we use are eco-cellulose and are able to be composted. Any packaging that we receive from outside vendors, we reuse in shipping out larger wholesale orders. I put a note on there to let the receiver know that the packaging choices, while sometimes unsightly, are done in an attempt to mitigate excess waste. From a studio perspective, my letterpress process is also sustainable as I manually press all pieces (no ink or operation motors) and I ship back my old plates to be recycled at the factory where they make new plates from them.
The payoff continues to evolve - I think that my customers appreciate the commitment to using sustainable practices and that does then make an impact in their own lives. It almost serves as a pay it forward type of thinking, and I hope inspires them to do a little bit of what they can to be mindful of what they take in. Being aware of this is my own business has made me really appreciative of other companies that make this extra effort and that affects my own shopping habits. And I have realized that as a consumer, I will pay a little more for a product from a company who is concerned with these values (and practices them) and that in terms helps to lessen the financial risk / stress involved in choosing that path for my own business.
The whole art of letter writing is a thoughtful process, and by making these mindful shifts, it only strengthens my brand in a holistic way. Some shifts are easier than others to make within your own life or business, but anything one can do will help the greater cause and it should be all of our minds as we move forward. There doesn't have to be the immense pressure to change every aspect of your business - do what you can do and gradually do more and more. To be concerned with the way we interact with materials in our environment is an act of affection for our planet, and really, who doesn't benefit from being a little more caring?
A Doughnut Economy
Kate Raworth takes the Circular Economy model one step further and turns it into a Doughnut. In her book, Doughnut Economics, she advocates for an economy that is designed to THRIVE, not grow continuously. Her Ted Talk explains the importance of regenerative and distributive designed economies that look more like a doughnut than a straight line. An economy where no one falls short on life’s essentials, while ensuring that collectively we do not overshoot our pressure on Earth’s life-supporting systems -- such as a stable climate, fertile soils, and a protective ozone layer.
Still need more convincing to switch over to a circular or doughnut shaped economy?
Let’s put it in terms of businesses' bottom line : The Carbon Disclosure Project recently found that companies could potentially be faced with roughly $1 trillion in costs related to climate change in the decades ahead unless they take proactive steps to prepare.
Our Economy as a whole needs change in order for us to stay in business on this planet.
Recommended Reading:
Want to find out how your business is performing in terms of a sustainable + circular economy?
Companies like our partners at Long Trail Sustainability offer consulting services on sustainable product development and life cycle assessment.
Additionally, businesses can hold themselves accountable and communicate to their customers that they are redefining what success looks like by building a more inclusive and sustainable economy through B Corp Certification.
B Corporations and leaders of this emerging economy believe:
That we must be the change we seek in the world.
That all business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered.
That, through their products, practices, and profits, businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit all.
To do so requires that we act with the understanding that we are all interconnected and have a responsibility to take care of each other and the natural world for future generations.
PRESENTED BY: BEST X GERMANTOWN LAUNDROMAT X LONG TRAIL SUSTAINABILITY