Sustainable Growth Small business success through adopting sustainable practices Jon Dee SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 1 18/01/11 14:01 “ How can your business make an impact on the economy, society and your environment? What does sustainability mean? And, more importantly, what does it mean for small businesses? This timely and relevant book provides the answers.” — Suzi Dafnis, Community Director Australian Businesswomen’s Network www.abn.org.au This publication is printed on ecoStar, which is manufactured from 100% post consumer recycled paper in a process chlorine free environment under the ISO 14001 environmental management system. The fibre source has been independently certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced to net zero through carbon offsetting through the CarbonNeutral Company. The ecoStar paper has been supplied by Raleigh Paper and the printing has been undertaken by Vega Press, using soy and vegetable based inks on a printing press that operates alcohol free with closed loop water recycling systems. Both companies have FSC Chain of Custody Certification. Vega Press is an ISO 14001:2004, ISO 14064-1:2006, ISO 12647-2 certified printer and the final product is certified printed carbon neutral by the Carbon Reduction Institute®. print paper FSC® C022512 SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 2 18/01/11 14:01 Sustainable Growth Jon Dee SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 1 18/01/11 14:01 Also by Sensis in this series: Small Business, Big Opportunity: by Rob Hartnett Published 2006 Small Business, Big Opportunity: Winning the right customers through smart marketing and advertising by Rob Hartnett and Karina Keisler Published 2008 by Sensis Pty Ltd (Second edition) Small Business, Big Opportunity: Sustainable Growth by Jon Dee Published 2010 by Sensis Pty Ltd Small Business, Big Opportunity: Sustainable Growth by Jon Dee Published 2010 by Sensis Pty Ltd (Second edition) Cover and text design/art direction: Kristian Parrott, OMG! Creative Illustrations: Kristian Parrott, OMG! Creative Photography: Cameron Murray Photography Editor: Equilibrium OMG Editor: Jillian Bowen Printed and bound in Australia by Vega Press Typeset in Optima 9pt/13pt by Jeremy Norgren, Velocity Graphics ISBN 978-0-9807228-2-6 Published by Sensis ABN 30 007 423 912 222 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000 Sensis commissioned Jon Dee to author this guide and is proud to present this free resource as part of its commitment to sustainable business practices. Disclaimer: The material contained in this guide is general only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not intended as a substitute for legal and/or financial and/or professional advice on any other matter. You should seek independent advice before acting on any information in this guide. This guide has been compiled with care. However, Sensis does not warrant that the information is free from errors or omissions or suitable for your intended use. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Sensis does not accept any liability for any loss, damage or expenses incurred by you in connection with the contents of this guide. SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 2 18/01/11 14:01 Contents Contents i Message from Bruce Akhurst iii Introduction from Jon Dee v Understanding the bottom line 1 .............................................................................. 1. Sustainability: a turning point for your business 3 2. The hot issue of climate change 19 Boosting your performance 35 ................................................................................. 3. Sustainable procurement: ‘green up’ for business growth 37 4. Lifting the lid on waste and recycling 51 5. Get on board with sustainable transport 65 6. Reduce, reuse, recycle: easy steps to cut out paper waste 83 7. Seeing the light: energy choices that save money and the environment 97 8. Splash out with water savings 123 9. It’s all around you: sustainable buildings and workspaces 137 10. Eco-design: the environmental impact at every stage of your product’s life 155 11. Get connected with sustainable IT and business devices 163 12. Bringing it together with an environmental management system 177 Engaging others 185 ................................................................................................. 13. Tell someone who cares: communicate your commitment to sustainability 187 Resources and tools 195 ........................................................................................... Further resources 197 Glossary 201 About the author 221 About Sensis 223 About this book 227 Index 230  i SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 1 18/01/11 14:01 “ We all know that we need to change our habits to protect the planet. This book really demonstrates how doing that can also be good for business. For small businesses operating on small budgets – every business practice needs to deliver value. This guide to ‘Sustainable Growth’ shows us how.” — Michelle Gamble, CEO Marketing Angels www.marketingangels.com.au “A s much a valuable handbook on crucial environmental issues as a sustainable growth manual for small business, but certainly a comprehensive database which opens the door for SMEs that want to save money, reposition their brand and prepare for the ‘beyond business as usual’ era. Dee has provided up to date information, relevant Australian and international examples and identified the importance of leadership and who is providing it. ‘Sustainable Growth’ explains how reducing resource use, managing waste, transport and buildings’ systems and making smart energy choices will both manage your ‘bottom line’ and build your reputation with customers and suppliers.” — Rob Gell, environmental geographer and sustainability consultant. Director, World Wind Pty Ltd. www.worldwind.com.au “ Plain-talking and straight-shooting, Dee’s book covers all the ‘sustainability for SMEs’ bases in an effortless, easy-to-read, manual-style format. Comprehensive, sensible and convincing, it’s an inspirational book for any small business owner that thinks they don’t have the time or expertise to become sustainable. Throughout the book, Dee zeros in on the legislation, organisations, regulations, myths, technical terms and concepts that are specifically relevant to SME owners, which will no doubt see ‘Sustainable Growth’ get passed from business-owner to business-owner around the block.” — Kate Hennessy, Features writer Nett Magazine www.nett.com.au ii SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 2 18/01/11 14:01 Message from Bruce Akhurst Chief Executive Officer, Sensis Welcome to the second print run of Small Business, Big Opportunity: Sustainable Growth, a free resource for small and medium enterprises in Australia. We first launched the Sustainable Growth book in May 2010 and distributed nearly all 50,000 copies in the first six months! We decided to print extra copies because we wanted to continue spreading the word about environmentally sustainable business practices. Also, the growth and prosperity of the SME sector is key to our success. By supporting this sector to operate more efficiently, we’re investing in the long-term prosperity of new and existing customers. At Sensis, we have been helping Australians find, buy and sell for more than 130 years through our Yellow Pages® and White Pages® directories, which generates significant economic value. Our products play a vital role in delivering customers to small businesses throughout Australia and as such play an important role in contributing to Australia’s economic prosperity. SuStainableGrowth iii SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 3 18/01/11 14:01 Today, Sensis’ multichannel network spans across print, online, mobile, over the phone, and new devices including the iPhone, iPad, Android phone and Telstra’s T-Hub®. Our content is available via search engines including Google™, Bing and Yahoo!, and information can be shared from online to mobile and social networking sites. Our network connects people with businesses, services, government departments, community organisations, individuals and local information, anywhere, anytime and in any way people choose. In the same way we recognise the importance of connecting people with information, we also understand that sustainability needs to be at the heart of our corporate strategy, guiding our behaviour and daily operational decisions. This means how we do things at Sensis is just as important as what we do. We’re proud of our sustainability achievements, such as the carbon neutral certification of our Yellow Pages® and White Pages® print and online directories through the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Friendly™ program.* The carbon emissions created through the production of our directory products from 1 February 2010 will be offset through accredited providers and projects in Australia. We made environmental sustainability the topic of this book to help small businesses understand how to save resources and become more sustainable. Sustainable Growth follows the popular Small Business, Big Opportunity advertising and marketing editions we published in 2006 and 2008. We have proudly given away 130,000 copies to SMEs all over the country free of charge. You can download both books online at www.about.sensis.com.au/small-business along with other useful resources for your business. On behalf of us all at Sensis, I wish you every success with your business. Kind regards, Bruce Akhurst * The Greenhouse Friendly™ program transitioned to the National Carbon Offset Standard, Carbon Neutral Program on 1 July 2010. iv SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 4 18/01/11 14:01 Introduction from Jon Dee Founder and Managing Director, Do Something! Why should you read this book? After all, you’re incredibly busy and your first priority is to look after your customers and your business’ bottom line. If that’s what you’re thinking, then this book is for you. It has been written to help Australian businesses, especially small and medium businesses, increase their efficiency and productivity. Caught up in daily management, most of us are too busy to explore the many ways we can do more with less. But consider this: in many cases, using fewer resources will save your business money. So you can help the environment, support your community and make more money all at the same time. SuStainableGrowth v SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 5 18/01/11 14:01 Business sustainability can: n enhance operational efficiency n improve productivity n save you money. It’s not just about helping to create a sustainable environment; it’s also about maintaining a sustainable business and a sustainable society. Businesses need to take into account the expectations, standards and laws of the communities in which they operate. As such, this book shows you that being a sustainable business is about building sustainable relationships with your employees, customers, business partners and communities. The move to sustainability in business is gathering momentum across the world and Australian SMEs are discovering that companies already on the path to sustainability increasingly prefer to do business with other sustainable companies. That’s why understanding sustainability has become a vital part of continuous business development. This book is also about positioning your business for the future. The world is starting to put a price on carbon pollution and your customers will start to prefer doing business with companies that are sustainable. If you don’t prepare and adjust for these changes, then the opportunities for your business could be severely undermined. Your business has the potential to make a real and positive difference to the environment and at the same time enhance its bottom line. Small Business, Big Opportunity: Sustainable Growth shows you how. In many cases, the tips and strategies in this book do not require significant time, money or resource investment. For the modern and efficient business it’s not a case of having a successful company OR a healthy environment. In a truly sustainable world, you must have both. Jon Dee vi SENS0047_Book_online_p4a ONLINE.indd 6 18/01/11 14:01