John McQuillan is the founder, chairman and CEO at Triumvirate Environmental.
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Amid increased public pressure on businesses to help protect the planet, leaders often set ambitious sustainability goals that they ultimately have a tough time meeting. Community pushback, internal struggles and cost can keep well-meaning organizations from getting their climate projects off the ground, much less meeting their long-term sustainability goals. Luckily, there are plenty of achievable steps you can take now to make progress on your organization’s climate goals and make your stakeholders happy.
Reasons You May Not Be Meeting Your Climate Goals
The biggest and best sustainability goals are often hardest to reach. If you’re struggling to meet your climate goals, these obstacles may sound familiar.
Community pushback: If your climate work involves installing renewable energy sources such as solar panels or windmills, community pushback can be your biggest hurdle to accomplishing your climate mission. People who live near the chosen location may be powerfully, vocally opposed to projects like these because they worry about property values, noise, vibration, unsightliness, etc. A solid case of NIMBY-ism (“not in my back yard”), assisted by local courts and government, can stop a development like this in its tracks.
Lack of funds: Many business leaders set 2050 climate goals knowing the technology needed to meet those objectives didn’t yet exist. It takes more than hope to create the innovation that will fill the gap. It takes money. Without investment, there is no way to bridge the gap between imagination and innovation.
Seeing sustainability as a threat: People in your company may see sustainability as a threat to profits and balk at changes that could make your company more sustainable. Remind them that business and sustainability can be complementary forces. Reduction in costs, greater employee retention and simpler future compliance can all result from improved sustainability practices. Today's buyers are more conscious than ever about the Earth’s limited resources and the fragility of our ecosystem. A recent Harvard Business Review study found that Gen Z and Millennial consumers are 27% more likely to purchase from a brand they believe cares about the planet.
Achieving Your Sustainability Goals
Sustainability goals often include items such as switching to renewable energy sources, reducing fossil fuel and water usage, eliminating wastewater generation and using fewer toxic chemicals in the manufacturing process.
Sustainability is a journey, not a destination. If you’re having a hard time meeting those goals 100%, that’s okay. Every small step is still progress that takes you closer to meeting your goals. Here are some tips that you may not have considered before to help you make even bigger strides toward your sustainability goals.
- Design for life (and beyond). When designing a product, consider its end-of-life journey. If possible, make your product easily recyclable or compostable. This will require different decisions in the beginning of the design process.
- Buy recycled materials. Putting your used cardboard in the recycling bin is all well and good, but if no one is willing to pay a little more to buy recycled paper products, all that cardboard still ends up in the landfill. Commit to buying recycled materials, which can increase their demand and ultimately lead to overall price reductions on recycled materials, making them more affordable for everyone.
- Find planet-friendly alternatives. Train your procurement and sourcing departments to find sustainable alternatives for your manufacturing source materials. Every time your company switches to a more environmentally friendly alternative, don’t forget to tell your customers (and potential customers) in marketing materials.
- Measure your waste. You can’t reduce your environmental footprint without knowing your starting point. Track the usage of electricity, fossil fuels and water as well as outputs of trash, air pollution and wastewater. Once you understand your baseline metrics, your organization can work to use less, waste less and recycle more.
- Seek credible third-party validation. A third party specialist can show you which areas to improve to reduce your environmental footprint, track your progress and verify your good results for the public. Partnering with an outside party can provide objective support for sustainability claims, which adds authority that your customers and shareholders will appreciate.
Sustainability Success Is Reachable
Sustainability goals can seem lofty, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reach them. When planning for your next quarter’s sustainability goals, use some of the ideas above to help you set and achieve goals that make a real difference in the world and your business.
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