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It’s all too common for businesses to make some kind of promise, only to ignore it in the future and pretend that they never even made it in the first place. This has mostly been the case when it comes to making environmentally-friendly changes to a business. To many people, this is now referred to as greenwashing.
Greenwashing is defined as behaviour that makes people believe a company is doing their best to protect the environment. In reality, the company is just talking and not actually acting on anything they’ve said. Greenwashing is a problem in any industry, but it’s starting to affect creative businesses due to the different types of materials and processes we use.
As such, it’s a good idea to learn how to avoid greenwashing and actually stick to your promises.
If you’re going to make expensive promises, you better follow through with them
Many companies make promises about their energy usage and going carbon neutral, but rarely do they follow through once they realise just how expensive it can be to do something like installing solar panels. Reducing energy usage often has a direct impact on profits as well, so it’s not something they can easily promise.
However, if you’re willing to go through with these big promises, then you may want to get in touch with companies like Melbourne Energy Group that can help you identify areas where you’re using too much energy and then find solutions (such as solar panels) to help you offset them. The more work you put into going carbon neutral, the more expensive it’s going to get. However, it’ll help you save money in the long run and it’ll make things a bit easier on your public image when you start making those promises to go green.
Start taking a serious look at your processes and how to go eco-friendly
There’s really no end to what a business can do if they want to be more eco-friendly. Some believe that it’s all about energy usage, but there are also many ways to go green with the materials you use as well. This is especially true for a creative business that might use a lot of paper, ink and other materials for printing their work.
For example, you can now find water-soluble inks that are much more friendly to the environment. You can also look for more environmentally-friendly materials for printing creative goods, and there is a massive range of eco-friendly designs and printing equipment that can help you reduce waste.
Some final words
When it comes to levelling up a small business, it’s common to have lofty promises and dreams. However, if you can’t follow through with them, then it’s going to be difficult for your business in the long run because your audience will start to lose faith in you. So if you’re serious about going green, avoid greenwashing and actually go through with your plans no matter how much time, effort, and money they may take.
