Sustainability is about doing things that are good for everyone in the long run. Things that are stable, things that are beneficial and things that contribute more to the whole than take away from it.
We are big believers in voting with our wallet and you'll often find us eating and shopping at local restaurants and stores, preferring to buy local produce, LOVING farmers markets and signing up for CSAs - to the causes that support our mission of sustainability.
After starting a business, we realized there is SO MUCH a business can do to support the causes we believe in. Here are our top 3:
1. Spend our money wisely - as businesses we have a lot of expenses - we buy ingredients, work with manufacturers, work with various service providers and even have lots of money going in and out of bank accounts. We want to work with the best in each of these areas - manufacturers that pay their staff living wages, suppliers that care about sustainability, banks that invest in green projects. There is so much to do here - we aren't there yet, but we are trying to shift every aspect of our business to a sustainable, fair trade and eco friendly one!
2. Provide equality in opportunity - find skills that work for the job and a personality that fits in with the team - but welcome people of all backgrounds, races, genders etc.
3. Make incremental progress - right now we are a small company and sometimes our goals feel far too large and just unachievable. We have to keep telling ourselves to go one step at a time and just make incremental progress.
What else do you feel businesses should think about?