🌱 A few months ago Sara Ibrahim and I were having a 121 after meeting for the first time at Zoco Networking about our respective businesses. We quickly realised that there were some synergies with regard to the efforts and messages we were discussing with our clients about sustainability and the impacts that sme‘s can make.
🌱 We started off talking about the 3R’s then swiftly moved on to the 5R’s and then 10.
We then decided to arrange a webinar discussion around this topic and it was held online about the 10R’s in business and personal choices and with an added bonus of 4 more R’s.
Here were the key takeaways.👇
1. Refuse: – Conscious act of saying NO to products, services, and activities that harm the planet.
2. Reduce: – The deliberate act of reducing consumption and all our small actions collectively make huge impacts to protect the planet.
3. Reuse: – Finding creative ways to extend the lifespan of products and materials and encourage a circular economy to ensure items are used to their fullest extent before they are discarded.
4. Repurpose: – Another word for “upcycling” and ensuring that items we have can serve more than one purpose.
5. Recycle: – Converting waste to new products to prevent the need for new raw material extraction and increased energy consumption.
6. Restock: – Looking at what we have already got before we buy, what do we use the most, and prioritising reusable items over single use.
7. Repair: – Make sure we repair things before we discard them to move away from a throwaway culture when something is worn or broken.
8. Resell: – Cost-effective benefits for seller making some money from old items and a buyer saving money on cheaper 2nd hand goods rather than brand new ones.
9. Redistribute: – Giving used or unused or unwanted items a new purpose and reaching those in need. Bridging economic disparities and equitable distribution to foster well-being.
10. Reassess: – look at how we use something, wear it in a different way, look at personal habits and find efficiencies in the home and business with energy, transport, food choices, and supporting local businesses.
The 4 bonus R‘s were around:
Rethinking: – Question our choices and assumptions about what we need and want and consider the long-term impacts of our choices.
Rotting: – Give back to the planet with composting which we can all do.
Regifting: – Why not give someone a gift that was previously received and not used by someone else.
Recording: – We should all be noting down the impacts we are making to mark our efforts on our sustainability journey.
We all need to start our sustainability Journey now and the R’s can help us get off the starting blocks.
I work with clients who see sustainability as the stepping stone to creating a business that acts responsibly, by weaving core sustainable strategies throughout its operations. This is done with clear targets to ensure they and the business are making a difference in everything they do. It is also something that resonates deeply with me and my business and working together we can then ensure that every decision that is made, makes an impact.
If you would like to find out more about how to start your sustainability journey for your small business then do get in contact and let’s get started.
