Following a week that has seen disruptive and exceptionally passionate protests in London, all in the name of caring for your planet, fighting climate change and making the right (and large enough) steps to aid recovery, and the yet again inspiring and frightening new documentary from Sir David Attenborough being defined as a call to arms, Earth Day could not be any more at the forefront of the news and our minds.  As business leaders, the question is how do you create environmentally friendly companies? 

There are an endless number of ways in which we as individuals but also and just as importantly as businesses, can help to reduce the effects that we have on the environment – still that’s not to say they are the easiest changes to make and even baby steps are travelling in the right direction.  The Carbon Majors report by the Climate Accountability Institute in 2017 stated that around 70% of the world’s greenhouse gasses can be traced back to just 100 companies.

We’re taking a look at some of the environmentally friendly companies and brands who are lighting the way in the quest for an environmentally friendly future.

• Beyond Meat: Beyond Meat are a plant-based meat company who are concerned with solving four growing issues attributed to livestock production: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources and animal welfare. Compared to a meat-based burger, a Beyond burger takes 99% less water, 93% less land, 90% fewer carbon emissions, and 46% less energy to create!

• Who gives a crap: Accompanying this memorable brand name is a company who produce 100% recycled toilet paper, use 100% recyclable packaging and deliver in bulk to offset their carbon footprint. Plus 50% of their profits go to building toilets where they’re needed around the globe!

• Boston tea party:  Bristol based company Boston Tea Party have factored the loss of profits into their business plan and have experienced a £25000 loss on sales since last summer when they banned single-use take away cups. They have banned the sales on takeaway drinks, not in a reusable cup, which has placed them at the forefront of complete enforcement and not only incentivised offers and techniques- this was quite a bold move! Instead, they offer the options to bring your own, purchase a reusable cup with them or pay a deposit and return the reusable cup.

Brands have an increasing responsibility to both know their impact on the planet and actively work to reduce this in whatever way they can. Making a loss on profit may be a real possibility depending upon the changes you make; as a larger company, you may be more able to withstand this change more easily and as a smaller company the changes you make are likely to be smaller and therefore cost you less, then as you grow you can make environmentally informed decisions on distribution and sourcing materials etc as you grow.