Businesses are increasingly seeing the opportunity to be a force for social good, and consumers are increasingly demanding green practices from the businesses they purchase from.
There are a number of useful online resources that can assist you in creating a sustainable, environmentally-friendly business.
Visit the business.gov.au page on environmental management and your business to learn about how to manage your environmental impact, including advice on:
The Shire of Augusta Margaret River has partnered with Climate Clever, a free software platform that helps families, businesses and schools measure - and reduce - their carbon footprint. The partnership is a key part of the Shire’s Climate Action Plan, which aims to help the local community reach its Net Zero 2030 target.
The easy-to-use online platform and mobile app enables users to accurately track their carbon emissions as well as their consumption levels and costs from energy, water and waste. Using simple analytics, it then offers suggestions for reducing carbon emissions and potentially making quick cost savings too.
Visit the Climate Clever for Business to learn how to:
Responsible Cafes engages with cafes, councils and the community to improve sustainability. The organisation provides the café community with tools and a platform to bring about positive change and reduce their ecological and carbon footprint.
To find out more, including how to register your café, visit Responsible Cafés.
The ECO Certification program certifies tourism products (tours, accommodations, attractions) with a primary focus on nature. It assures travellers that certified products are backed by a strong, well managed commitment to sustainable practices and provides high quality nature-based tourism experiences.
Climate Action Certification is designed for all sectors of the tourism industry including hotels, attractions, tours, transport, restaurants, travel agents, tourism commissions and industry bodies.
The Respecting Our Culture (ROC) program encourages the tourism industry to operate in ways that respect and reinforce Indigenous cultural heritage and the living cultures of Indigenous communities.
To find out more, including how to become certified, visit ECO Australia.
Being a lean, green, sustainable business can be great for your marketing profile. Letting your customers know about the initiatives in your business that help you reduce waste, conserve water, reduce energy use and carbon emissions is a great way to position your business as a responsible part of your community and a good corporate citizen.
If you are going to make direct claims about your products or services that pertain to their environmental or health impacts, you must be sure that these claims are legitimate, and that you can substantiate them.
Find out more about green marketing and the Australian Consumer Law.
For more information on business sustainability call the Shire's Sustainable Economy Officer on (08) 9780 5250 or email [email protected]
