With World Environment Day fast approaching, DocuSign is today calling on small businesses to sharpen their focus on sustainability.
For any small business, driving sustainability across their organisation in order to “go green” is a challenge. COVID-19 has put small businesses under immense financial pressure, and with lean teams, small businesses are typically too focused on the day-to-day running of their business to devote time to implementing sustainable practices.
Despite these challenges, during COVID-19 many businesses have made the transition to online, helping to reduce travel, emissions and the use of paper, presenting opportunities to save time and resources.
Dan Bognar, Group VP and General Manager for DocuSign Asia Pacific & Japan, said: “As the world continues to face environmental disasters, and local demand for resources increases at an even faster pace, a sustainable future depends on businesses adopting the three principles of sustainability – reduce, reuse and recycle (3 Rs).”
“We can decide today the kind of world – and workplace – generations to come will live and work in.”
“With World Environment Day upon us, now is the time for businesses to get involved in implementing sustainable business practices,” Mr Bognar said.
“DocuSign recommends thinking big but starting small. This can be as simple as reducing paper-based processes through digital automation. A single A4 piece of paper is equivalent to 10 litres of water. When you consider that the average Australian worker consumes the equivalent of 10,000 sheets of A4 paper per year, this is enough water to fill a backyard pool.
Furthermore, reducing the friction of paper from a home office will not only reduce your environmental footprint, it will return time and cost savings back to your business.”
“This is an easy method to implement. Recent research from DocuSign confirms that two-thirds of Australian organisations have significantly reduced their use of paper since working from home, with almost half of them moving towards being completely paperless,” he said.
In addition to saving paper, Mr Bognar said there are other easy ways small businesses can be more sustainable. Here are three of his favourites:
- Recycle it: Recycling is one easy way to make your office more sustainable. Just provide separate bins dedicated to glass, paper, plastics and soft plastics. If your coffee machine uses pods, recycle the capsules. Also, think of ways to reuse items, such as replacing disposable kitchen items with steel cutlery or encouraging reusable coffee cups.
- Use sustainable packaging: Seek out suppliers offering eco-friendly solutions, such as recycled paper and cardboard or bioplastic products made from plants, not fossil fuels. This helps the environment and increases brand loyalty among eco-conscious consumers.
- Buy carbon offsets: Carbon offsetting brings many benefits including more trees, cleaner waterways and further investment into clean energy. Some carbon offsetting programs also offer the chance to specify the project you’d like your payment to go on. During your research phase, make sure to check for third-party certification and learn about the projects where investments are being made.
