Fore Street is just one of many places in Exeter full of businesses striving to make their practices more sustainable. There you can find Zero Exeter, an organic food store with a zero-plastic policy to reduce waste; as well as The Roots Foundation, a barber who only uses vegan-friendly products; Chuckle Shoes, a shoemaker with non-animal material options; and The Flat, a pizzeria with vegan options. Similar businesses can be found all over the city, and they represent a positive shift in the way that we approach more sustainable means of living.
The move to sustainable practices has shaped the direction of companies everywhere as their owners seek ways to do good by their customers. In 2011 QuickPrint earned the prestigious ISO 14001 certification. Simply put, ISO 14001 stands as a testament to an organization’s dedication to a sustainable future, blending environmental responsibility with strategic business growth – the preferences that we continue to uphold to this day. In 2021 we partnered with World Land Trust, endorsed by Sir David Attenborough, and in just that time we’ve protected over 4,400m2 of critically endangered rainforest!
Of course, it’s easy to talk about how great it is to go green and be more sustainable, but there is the uncomfortable truth that making a business more environmentally friendly is also hard work and can feel thankless. We should be looking to highlight and celebrate the people that have been able to make it work.
However, describing this as feeling thankless doesn’t reveal the whole story. There are plenty of benefits that going green provides your business, even if not obvious at first. For one, making your business more sustainable is great at supporting employee morale, as reportedly 60% of employees feel more motivated and passionate about their work when they know the purpose of the business aligns with their own values. This is especially true for the younger generations, where over a third of Gen Z and Millennials claim that it would be a ‘deal-breaker’ if a potential employer didn’t have a strong sustainability culture.
This also applies for your customers. We love to support people or brands that use our support to do good, and your customers expect the same. This is how we build brand loyalty; one of the most precious commodities that a business in any industry can trade on. According to a study by Motista, customers that are emotionally connected to a brand typically spend twice as much as customers that are considered merely satisfied, and are typically associated with a customer lifetime value of 5.1 years vs. 3.4 years.
Additionally, the move towards sustainability is likely to be a huge help if you’re looking to cut costs. Energy saving modes on machinery are great for reducing your carbon footprint and help save on your energy bills! The best part is highlighted by Sustainable Jungle, who say choosing more eco-conscious purchases drives a demand for more, ‘in turn, this will eventually reduce costs for sustainable options’. In other words, the more that businesses invest in sustainability, the more resources become available for making these options more widely available, which in turn lowers costs.
So, now that you know the benefits of going green, what are some practical steps you can take to making more sustainable choices?
Any big shift requires a strong vision, but we can also help by breaking this down into smaller steps that can be taken right now. First, if you take advantage of print for your business, such as manuals, leaflets, brochures and stationery, you can effortlessly replace your paper for recycled options without significant variation in price. High-quality recycled paper options are more widely available than ever, and making the switch couldn’t be easier.
If you’re looking to replace your light bulbs, LED offers the brightest light for the least energy output, meanwhile if you’re someone that travels a lot for meetings you could consider arranging some of these meetings online. And according to gov.uk, your heating bill reduces by 8% for every 1oC decrease, which can have a massive effect in the long run!
Above all, the biggest thing you can do is to start today. Express your intentions to your colleagues and customers that you plan to take your impact seriously, and lead by example to encourage collaboration. Work these goals into your short- and long-term strategies for your business and you are sure to see massive returns on your investments while feeling good about your choices.
At QuickPrint we offer recycled and responsibly sourced options for plenty of our product ranges, and we encourage anyone interested to check out these materials where they’re available. Sustainability is extremely important to us, not just for what we stand to gain. It is clear that when we take our impact seriously and strive towards big changes, everybody wins.