Businesses going green: 5+ mistakes and how to avoid them

• By
• Toby Barazzuol

Image by iStock

Common mistakes businesses make in attempting to navigate the path toward sustainability

Jill Fehrenbacher, CEO of Inhabitat.com, recently posted "5 Mistakes Businesses Make Trying to Go Green" in which she raises some interesting points for businesses to consider before "going green."

In 2010 sustainability is no longer a buzzword—it has become the leading edge of business thought. In fact, I believe that understanding sustainability is the single greatest investment that any business can make towards its future success.

So I agree with Jill: by taking a bit of time to learn the principles of sustainability and then figuring out how to apply them to your business in a meaningful way, you can increase your bottom line by improving staff morale, differentiating your company, saving resources, creating new opportunities and doing business in a more satisfying way.

The path toward sustainability is like a journey—you will discover beautiful things along the way and you will also encounter obstacles. So let’s re-examine some of those pitfalls, as Jill outlines, that prevent some companies from taking the first steps of the journey.

Mistake 1: Assuming that “going green” is going to be expensive

For many businesses, cost concerns are the roadblock that prevents them from taking the first steps. In some cases, if you’re considering big infrastructure investments, this might be true—but there’s no need to start this way.

There are lots of low cost ways to get started: going paperless, turning off lights and computers, printing on both sides of paper, switching to filtered tap water instead of water delivery, using natural light, or switching to 100 percent green energy through a provider like Bullfrog Power. These are simple greening options that will save you money, while allowing you to dip your toes into the sustainability waters.

It’s also important to remember that eventually you can (and should) market your sustainability initiatives to help create value and differentiate your company. At Eclipse Awards, we’ve turned our sustainability commitments into our primary marketing message through Regenerative Marketing.

Mistakes 2 + 3: Underestimating your customers’ ability to smell BS and assuming that all you need is beige packaging

Here is the part where understanding sustainability is important. You can’t simply use a new logo or green-coloured packaging or the word “eco” as today’s informed customers will see right through this. Similarly, people are getting overwhelmed with the glut of green leaf logos and eco-certifications. These are the kinds of superficial changes that have led to the creation of the term greenwashing.

Customers want to see that you’ve thought about sustainability and applied it in meaningful ways. Have you reduced or eliminated packaging? Have you developed new green products? Have you stopped making some products because they aren’t environmentally sensitive? Have you drastically reduced the waste your business produces? Have you changed your operations in some substantial way to conserve resources?

If you can’t be bold in your sustainability commitments, wait until you can and then incorporate them into your brand and mission.

Mistake 4: Overestimating your customers’ time and attention spans

Jill makes another good point here—although today’s customers are more informed and intelligent, they are also more pressed for time. This means that it’s up to you to thoughtfully communicate your green initiatives so that your clients understand what you’ve been up to.

As with any well-crafted marketing message, you need to do this in a way that makes sense and resonates with your clients. In many cases, this means simplifying your message for the masses (i.e., “we’re carbon neutral”), but then supporting these claims with more in-depth information on your website or blog for people that want to understand more (i.e., “these are the steps we took to become carbon neutral”).

Mistake 5: Thinking that unless you make everything 100 percent, then there’s no point in calling attention to your green credentials

This is the biggest sticking point of all because, ironically, it means that the greater the backlash towards greenwashing, the more reluctant companies will be to start down the path toward sustainability. Essentially, consumers who are trying to prevent false claims of sustainability by accusing companies of greenwashing may actually be preventing companies from embarking on legitimate sustainability initiatives.

From a company perspective, it’s important to remember that the benefits of pursuing sustainability are far greater than not pursuing it. If your efforts are legitimate and thoughtful, your staff and clients will support you. As you gain confidence in your sustainability initiatives, be sure to communicate them honestly and transparently. It’s okay to admit that you’re not perfect and it’s a process— and that’s perfectly fine. Start on the path toward sustainability with conviction and it will lead you to amazing places and revitalize your business.

From a consumer perspective, don’t be too quick to jump on a company for green efforts that you feel are inadequate—choose your battles wisely. Yes, there are companies that need to be called out for misleading claims. But remember, no one can go from 0 to 100 overnight. The journey toward sustainability can be a messy process—and we are all learning as we go. Do we want to encourage a toddler’s first steps, or discourage them?

[Bonus] Mistake 6: Green is for companies that are already green

Many companies think that green is for “other companies” or companies that already have a green product or mission. In fact, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Every company stands to gain by learning about sustainability and how to apply it to their business. Whether you’re a chemical producer, a forestry company or a heavy industry—the principles and benefits of sustainability are the same for everyone, so don’t let this opportunity pass you by.

Get started

We are at an interesting time in the world of business. For the sake of our planet, it’s imperative that we change how we do business, but how do we start this change?

We have to understand that it won’t be easy and it won’t necessarily be neat, but it will be rewarding both financially and on a personal level.

They say a journey of a 1,000 miles begins with just one step. How will you take your first steps down the path toward sustainability?