How to Create a Sustainability Policy for Your Company

September 16, 2022 | By Kevin | Filed in: Sustainability.

Sustainability is important for businesses of all sizes. Not only is it the right thing to do for the planet, but it can also save your company money and improve your reputation with customers and investors.

If you’re not sure where to start, don’t worry–we’ve got you covered. In this blog post, we’ll show you how to create a sustainability policy for your company to implement.

Why You Need a Sustainability Policy

Not sure if you need a sustainability policy? Here are a few reasons why having one can benefit your business:

-It sets the tone for your company culture: A sustainability policy can help define your company culture and values. This is important because it shows employees, customers, and investors what your company is all about. It also helps attract like-minded individuals who want to work for or do business with a company that shares their values.

-It saves you money: Sustainable practices can save your business money by reducing waste, increasing efficiency, and lowering energy costs.

-It improves your reputation: Customers and investors are increasingly interested in doing business with companies that share their values. A sustainability policy can help improve your reputation with these groups and set you apart from your competitors.

How to Create a Sustainability Policy

Now that we’ve gone over some of the reasons why having a sustainability policy is important, let’s take a look at how to create one.

1. Define Your Goals

The first step is to define what you want to achieve with your sustainability efforts. Do you want to reduce emissions? Increase recycling? Use more renewable energy? Once you know what you want to accomplish, you can start developing specific goals and targets.

2. Assess Your Current Situation

Take stock of where things currently stand by conducting an audit of your operations. This will help you identify areas where you’re already doing well as well as areas where there’s room for improvement.

3. Develop Specific Goals and Targets

Once you know where things currently stand and what needs improvement, it’s time to start setting some goals! When developing goals, be sure to make them SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. Having SMART goals will help ensure that your efforts are focused and effective.

4. Create Action Items

Once you have SMART goals in place, it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to achieve them! This step involves creating action items–a list of concrete steps that need to be taken in order to reach each goal. From working in waste heat recovery to appointing a sustainability team member, be sure to assign responsibility for each action item so that there’s accountability within your organization.

5. Put it in Writing

The final step is to put everything down in writing so that there’s a record of what needs to be done and who is responsible for doing it. Having everything in writing will also help ensure that everyone on your team is on the same page regarding the steps that need to be taken in order to achieve success.

A sustainability policy is a document that outlines your company’s commitment to sustainable practices. It should include a description of your company’s current sustainability efforts as well as your goals for the future. Having a sustainability policy in place shows your employees, customers, and investors that you’re serious about making a difference. Creating a sustainability policy will be easier when you follow companies like Energy Innovation Capital and learn exactly how you can make more of a difference. Your business will be well regarded when you have the right sustainability policy with you.