Tag Archives: Spending Time


4 Steps To Developing A Sustainability Plan For Your Business

Posted on by
Reply

Making the decision to make your business more sustainable has gotten considerably easier in the last few years.  That’s because as consumer awareness grows there are more and more benefits associated with “green” business practices.  A restaurant supplies a great example: Chipotle has succeeded in a down economy without significantly lowering their prices because they advertise their sustainable practices.

If you’ve set a sustainability goal for yourself, then the next thing you need is a plan.  How are you going to make your operation more sustainable?  What are the areas that can provide the maximum benefit with the least amount of investment?  How do you plan to market your efforts to your customers?

All are good questions, and you’d better have answers before you start spending time and money. 

Here’s four steps to get you started towards a greener, more profitable future:

Improve energy efficiency.  In most businesses this is the easiest place to cut costs with minimal investment.  The added bonus is that you get to tell your customers how committed to sustainability you are after you’ve cut energy bills.  Simple improvements like training your staff to manage equipment efficiently, cutting heating and cooling bills, and investing in energy efficient water heating can make a huge difference.

Of course, every business is different, and the strategies that work for you aren’t going to work somewhere else.  When you’re creating your sustainability plan, identify where you can improve efficiency then estimate how much you’ll save on future bills versus how much it will cost you to implement your plan.

Come up with a program.  Another key to a successful sustainability plan for your business is figuring out ways to reduce waste.  Recycling and composting programs are the two most common ways to address this.  Unfortunately, unlike energy efficiency improvements these waste reduction programs are either cost neutral or increase your operating expenses.

That doesn’t mean they don’t provide benefits.  The public relations mileage you can get out of a good recycling or composting program can prove invaluable.  Remind customers you recycle or compost waste.  The local newspaper in your neighborhood is also another great way to get the word out about your program.  Newspapers run stories like this all the time, and it can be great free advertising.

Change your buying habits.  You’re a consumer just like everybody else.  The purchasing decisions you make for your restaurant say a lot about how you run your business.  Making sustainable decisions will also make your operation a lot greener.  

Some places to start:

  • Source products locally and/or create your own
  • Use compostable disposable items like corn cups
  • Buy only certified sustainable raw materials like timber

Don’t be bashful – talk about yourself!  Implementing a successful sustainability plan doesn’t do you a bit of good if no one knows about the hard work and money you’ve invested.  As you put this plan into action, don’t be afraid to tell everyone you can think of about what you’re doing.
Talking about your sustainability plan shouldn’t be a one shot deal.  It’s going to take time to implement, so make that process an ongoing conversation with your customers.  Don’t be afraid to utilize multiple methods for communicating as well.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised just how interested the world will be about your sustainability efforts.

5 Great Reasons To Start Growing Your Own Fruit And Vegetables

Posted on by
Reply

A lot of people would like to start growing their own vegetables but often think that it is difficult and time consuming.  The truth is although you might need to spend a large amount of time setting things up at the beginning, the daily maintenance of your crop really doesn’t take too long.  You also don’t need a lot of space to be able to do it.  You could use a local allotment or a small raised garden bed and still get an abundance of great tasting organic vegetables.  There are a whole range of different benefits to growing our own vegetables and here are five of the best. 

To Keep Healthy – Everyone knows that they should eat five portions of fruit and vegetables each day to have a healthier lifestyle.  You will often find that people who grow their own vegetables will tend to eat more of them, more often.  Not only this but spending time in the garden preparing the soil and maintaining everything you are growing is good exercise. 

Save Money At The Supermarket – When you are able to harvest your own vegetables you will notice that you will save considerable amounts of money on your weekly food shopping.  Supermarkets tend to have special offers on packs of carrots and other veg, which often means you buy more than you need.  This means that you tend to be left with a lot of unused vegetables that get thrown away, with your own vegetables you just use what you need so you don’t end up wasting money.  

For The Fresh Organic Taste – Nothing tastes better than eating fresh, organic vegetables.  Before vegetables in a shop or supermarket make it to the shelves they have had to of been picked, gathered and transported.  This means that a lot of that truly fresh organic flavour is lost during this process.  

To Avoid The Use Of Unknown Pesticides – It is hard for any company to guarantee that no pesticides or other chemicals have been used on the plants and soil the vegetables are grown in.  These sorts of pesticides are often harmless to us and protect crops from disease and pests but many people don’t like the idea of them being used.  You can control what you put on your crops to make sure you know exactly what you are getting. 

To Encourage Your Children To Eat More Healthy – It can often be a struggle to get children to eat things that are good for them.  It is a great idea to get your children involved in growing fruit and vegetables as it helps them learn and also will get them more motivated to try the different things they have helped to grow.  This is a great way to help promote healthy eating in your children from a young age.