eco-business: can it drag us out of these dark times?
We are living in dark, smog-filled times. In LA you’ll struggle to see the Hollywood sign through the pollution. A smog mask fashion show was recently held in China – to protect your lungs in style. Crop yields in India have been cut in half because of the toxic air.
These stories pollute the world every day – and they’re growing more frequent. And, if political activist and eco warrior Naomi Klein is to be believed, these times are only set to get darker.
Capitalism, according to Klein’s book This Changes Everything, is pushing the world’s eco systems into a perpetual state of decline. Businesses, trapped in a stalemate between commerce and ethics, simply refuse to cut their carbon footprint in any meaningful way.
They are, however, waking up to the fact that their actions have consequences. Major brands such as DuPont, Asda, B&Q and Tesco have all made commitments to cut carbon by a sizeable sum, although purely because it will save them cash. Indeed, consumers themselves are demanding better from companies. You simply need to turn on the telly to see ads proclaiming all-natural produce, organic goods and friendly to Mother Nature.
How accurate these claims are is open to dispute with most brands, but it does prove one thing – being eco-friendly makes business sense. These dark, smog-filled times might still surround you, but that doesn’t mean your business has to be a part of them. If you want to improve your PR with customers, try these tips.
Despite their indisputable improvements, renewable energy still has a long way to go before it can usurp fossil fuels. Before that time comes, improve your gas connections to allow it to flow more effectively.
Some gas companies even keep the environment specifically in mind, ensuring soil purification after pipes have been fitted and offsetting the damage done by planting trees and improving the state of the environment.
By partnering up with these companies, you can lower your carbon footprint and your bills.
Maintain your honesty
If there’s one thing a consumer hates, it’s being lied to. Remember the time you realized that Diet Coke didn’t really help you diet? Imagine that writ large, as so-called organic produce and natural ingredients follow the same factory made, smoke sputtering, carbon spreading process.
No matter what business you’re in, making good on your eco-claims is a must. Implement environmentally friendly strategies and make them transparently available to the public.
Especially for larger businesses, transparency is the only route to trust. Not only will this allow your company to push such a positive aspect of your company on consumers (and have the statistics to prove it), but it could lead to positive coverage from major green campaigners.
Ultimately, repurposing your business in the form of an eco-paradise won’t drag us out of these dark times. But it might just make the smog in your company that little bit thinner.
