Beyond Greenwashing: How To Make A Real Impact On the Environment, And Your Business

Greenwashing is a big issue. It’s a technique that’s often adopted to detract attention from business models and activities that cause significant environmental damage. What’s more, organisations that take part in it are actually damaging their own reputations.

Of course, not all businesses who greenwash begin with that intention, and it’s easy to fall into the trap when there’s little guidance on how to make a real impact. So we’re here to share actionable ways you can do just that.

Design a Social Value strategy – and stick to it

Your sustainability efforts can’t be a series of random movements. There needs to be a deliberate strategy behind it that forms part of your contribution to increasing social value. By designing this strategy, you’ll be able to analyse your present environmental impact and what you can do to reduce it, like opting for more eco-friendly products or suppliers in your supply chains, or an electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme for employees.

Customers will resonate with your strive to be more sustainable. But change won’t happen overnight, so be careful not to shout about the results until you see them. Likewise, make sure action actually occurs; a strategy is great, but you must guarantee it’s implemented.

Allocate resources effectively

Within your strategy, you should mention how you’ll distribute resources to turn intentions into action. You could allocate these to perform some of the following beneficial responsibilities:

• Collate emissions data
• Set targets routed in science
• Educate stakeholders on initiatives
• Establish business areas with high emissions
• Research methods to improve efficiency of operations, products, and services

Measure data

A key way to ensure your strategy is actually implemented – and to generate ideas for it – is to measure your data. For instance, you could use carbon accounting software to gather comprehensive data on your supply chain.

This will provide evidence, backing up your sustainability claims and allowing you to see how close you are to meeting your goals. Be specific, and if the figures aren’t as high as you’d like, simply outline how you’re going to improve them. It’s better to be transparent than to risk greenwashing.

Remember internal sustainability

Your sustainability aspirations can’t just be external, they should spread to your internal practices and policies too. This will help ensure your green efforts aren’t seen as something you are doing just for show. Plus, you’ll identify areas where you can save costs.

An important part of your internal work will be to stay updated with sustainability best practices. Carbon offsetting is no longer enough. By keeping up to date, you’re able to do your best for the environment. And if you need to adjust your claims accordingly, you can.

Ensure sustainability with certification

Another actionable way of being sustainable is to verify your organisation through alignment with PAS 2060 – a specification that shows your commitment to carbon neutrality. It also provides a framework to help you measure, cut, and offset your impact on the environment.

The verification will help you to:

• Utilise resources responsibility and cut waste
• Reduce spending on wasteful activities, improving costs in the process
• Comply with, and go beyond, legislation
• Show social and environmental responsibility, building trust with the public
• Improve transparency in your eco-friendly practices

Here at Centre for Assessment, we’re ready to deliver a comprehensive assessment process that will lead to your organisation attaining PAS 2060 certification. Get in touch today to discover how we can meet your business’ needs.