1. Your small business meets…
sustainability

2. Why are we here?

3. Me

4. Not me

5. Kids

6. My story

7. Suppliers

8. Energy

9. Web hosting
thegreenwebfoundation.org

10. Banking

11. Mobile phone provider

12. Values Business
Personal

13. Values
Environmentally aware
Approachable
Ethical sourcing
Ethical consumer
Trusted brand
Business
Personal
Outdoorsy
Reliable
ethical
trustworthy

14. Values
• Who we are
• Personal fulfilment
• Consistency
• Compass
• Enhance brand

15. Purpose
• Why do we work?

16. Purpose
Why do we work?
• …to get paid
• “Work to live. Don’t live to work.”

17. Purpose
Why do we work?
• …for meaning
Purpose is more why you do what you do than what you do
• What’s your business philosophy?
• What do you believe?
A mission is a manifestation of your purpose
• What do you want to achieve by the time you retire?

18. Sustainability

19. What does “sustainable” mean?

20. Sustainability
• The triple bottom line
• 3 Ps
• People
• Planet
• Profit
• 3 Es
• Equity
• Environment
• Economy

21. Sustainability
“Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs.”
– Our Common Future, United Nations Brundtland Commission, 1987
“Managing today while preparing for tomorrow”
– Alexandre Magnin, sustainability consultant

22. Sustainability definitions
• CSR = Corporate Social Responsibility
• ESG = environmental, social and governance
• GHG = greenhouse gas
• CO2e = carbon dioxide equivalent
• SDGs = UN Sustainable Development Goals, 2015

23. Net positive

24. The business case
“The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are quite simply the world’s
greatest business plan.”
– Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, now co-founder of IMAGINE
“A business using best-practice sustainability approaches can increase
its profit by 51% to 81%.”
– Alexandre Magnin, sustainability consultant
“B Corps grow 28 times faster than UK GDP” (2018)

25. The business case
“Companies that don’t adapt [to climate change] will go bankrupt
without question.”
“It’s not just a niche part of the economy. It’s a whole economy
transition. That’s where the focus increasingly is.”
– Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of England

26. The business case
• Reduced waste, reduced energy, reduced materials
• Better efficiency, increased productivity
• Potential savings, increased profit
• Minimise risk
• Renewable sources of energy offer a reliable and secure energy
supply
• Better resilience when the unexpected happens
• Attracting staff, reduced employee churn
• Attracting clients – increasing demand for ethical businesses

27. Steps towards sustainability

28. Steps towards sustainability
• Commit
• Measure
• Change
• Monitor

29. Make a commitment
• Set goals
• Make a pledge
• Establish policy

30. The Plan
Topic Goal Steps Time frame

31. Make a commitment
• Set goals
• Make a pledge
• Establish policy
https://businessdeclares.com/

32. “I’m a business owner and I
give a damn!”

33. Make a commitment
• Set goals
• Make a pledge
• Establish policy

34. Measure your impact
• Financial
• Environmental
• Social

35. Measure
• Start somewhere
• I started with a spreadsheet

36. Measure: where to start
1. Reduce waste, identify efficiencies
2. Enable remote working, reduce travel
3. Office energy use
4. Look at your supply chain, source ethically
5. Company culture, engage staff

37. Measure
• Start somewhere
• I started with a spreadsheet

38. Measuring sustainability
• Broad subject
• Overwhelming
• Abstract
• Not an exact science
• What does it look like?

39. Mike Berners-Lee, Small World Consulting, How bad are bananas?

40. Measure your environmental impact
Quick start:
• Use a free carbon footprint calculator to estimate the carbon footprint of your work
activities, such as:
• Giki Zero – zero.giki.earth
• Pawprint – pawprint.eco
• WWF Footprint Calculator – footprint.wwf.org.uk
More work, but more accurate
• Document what you already know (inventory analysis)
• Start collecting data
• Impact assessment
• CO2e emissions
• Other waste
• Analyse using Defra’s GHG Conversion Factors or Greenhouse Gas Protocol

41. Measure your environmental impact
The main business activities that release emissions may include:
• Business travel
• Vehicles
• Staff commuting
• Energy: electricity, gas, efficient use
• Water
• Waste and recycling

42. Simple carbon footprinting
• Find a tool that fits your business
• Use it to get a starting point
• Identify your biggest emitters
• Make changes
• Periodically adjust the tool to recalculate
• Make progress

43. Simple carbon footprinting
• Scope 1
• All direct emissions, those under your control, e.g. transportation
• Scope 2
• Indirect emissions, essentially under your control, e.g. energy suppliers
• Scope 3
• Indirect emissions, those not under your control, e.g. supply chain

44. Measure your social impact
• Perhaps more qualitative, but there are numbers too (social ROI)
• Document what you already know
• Existing initiatives
• Good causes important to you, your business, your staff, your sector…
• Start collecting data
• Impact assessment
• Profit put towards building social value
• Number of people who benefit
• How they have been impacted

46. Engage stakeholders
Find out what matters for:
• Clients
• Suppliers
• Employees
• Beneficiaries
• Shareholders

47. Analyse
• Interpret your findings
• Adjust your plan
• Make new goals as necessary
• List possible actions
• Pick your battles

48. Your people
• Living Wage Employer
• Disability Confident Employers
• Employee ownership and profit-share
• Flexible working
• Remote working
• Encouraging cycling or walking to work
• Encourage use of public transport
• Extra days off for staff staycationing or using public transport
• Staff volunteer days for environmental or social initiatives

49. Your office
• Building insulation
• Low energy lighting
• Intelligent lighting
• Waste minimisation
• Encouraging recycling
• Encouraging reuse (over single use)
• Solar power grants

50. Offsetting
• Should be a last resort
• Aim to reduce first

51. Social value
• Giving to ethical / environmental causes
• B1G1
• 1% for the Planet
• Tree planting
• Community initiatives
• Pro bono work for charities
• Raising awareness

52. Sustainability frameworks and certifications
Future-Fit
B Corp
The Planet Mark
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Environmental Management Certification (ISO 14001)
Carbon Neutral accreditation (PAS 2060)

53. https://www.fastcompany.com/40583176/climate-positive-carbon-neutral-carbon-negative-what-do-they-mean

54. Closing thoughts
"…there’s no such thing as sustainability. There are just levels of it. It’s a
process, not a real goal. All you can do is work toward it.”
– Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia founder
• Better, not perfect
• It takes a village
• Humanising business
• Most important…

56. Thank you
dotjay.com
greenerdigital.com
linkedin.com/in/jongibbins

57. This talk was developed with the help of North Somerset Enterprise Agency, Greener Digital,
and funding secured from Quartet Community Foundation's Megawatt Community Energy
Fund, funded by Bristol Energy Cooperative and Low Carbon Gordano.
&

58. Copyright 2021 Jon Gibbins, Dotjay Ltd trading as Greener Digital.
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Most images are from the wonderful Unsplash community:
https://unsplash.com/