Keeping up with sustainability

Thanks to the focus placed on sustainability by governments and the media, it’s no wonder most companies are committed to becoming more environmentally friendly.

There are many elements of modern businesses that can impact an organisation’s carbon footprint, but printing remains one of the top concerns.

The impact of chemicals and the by-products produced during printing were evident long before global warming was headline news, but there’s never been a better time to embed the use of print within your sustainability goals.

How to keep up with sustainability

Staying green isn’t easy, but there are some common tactics businesses of all sizes can adopt to keep up with sustainability:

• Plug your device gap. If you’re inadvertently running costly, unreliable personal printers, an influx of modern hardware will bring with it features and energy efficiencies that are far kinder to the environment.
• Review your processes. By engaging with a Managed Print Services (MPS) provider, you’ll be able to identify processes within your business that needlessly use ink and power to be completed.
• Consider the culture. Inefficient processes and poor printing practices are often embedded within businesses over many years, resulting in organisational cultures that are out of step with modern sustainability practices.

Just remember that reducing your carbon footprint and keeping up with sustainability should continue long after any initial reviews. Choose an MPS provider who will ride with you, and it will become a long-term strategy as opposed to a flash in the pan.

The link with long-term financial performance

In an article by 3BL Media, it’s suggested that there’s a link between a business’s sustainability commitments and its financial success.

The article quotes a study by MIT Sloan Management which found that 90% of investors will likely measure a company’s sustainability performance before they put their hand in their pocket.

Companies that are attractive to investors for this reason have likely been investing themselves in sustainability for a significant amount of time, resulting in a culture that views those efforts as a differentiator.

Going green and keeping up with sustainability should be part of your value proposition and will provide you with a competitive advantage. There’s a tangible momentum in businesses to be more eco-friendly, and while it takes a lot of energy to begin with, far less power is required in the future to sustain the effort.