Make your business more sustainable

Use this page to explore how you can make your business more sustainable in response to the Climate Emergency.

Local businesses account for a third of carbon dioxide emissions in Bath and North East Somerset. However, there are some excellent opportunities for local businesses to help tackle the Climate Emergency and prepare for the emerging low-carbon economy.

There are several ways your business can reduce its environmental impact. Please explore the information below to find out more.

Get advice and support from organisations

There are many organisations that can help you:

• The West of England Combined Authority offers Green Business Grants and carbon audits of your business to help you improve the energy efficiency of your buildings and business operations
• The Carbon Trust provides support and advice to businesses that want to calculate and reduce their environmental impact and carbon footprint and save money
• Future Leap Network is a membership-based business network that delivers weekly sustainability-related events and networking opportunities
• Travel West provides business support and grants for sustainable travel options. They provide journey planning tools, regular updates about sustainable travel initiatives and resources for businesses, developers and schools
• Bath Business Improvement District (BID) is a member's community that funds improvements to Bath City Centre. If you become a member, there are also services to help with financial savings, waste and recycling

Manage business waste sustainably

Disposing of your business waste responsibly is an essential step towards becoming more sustainable. It can also make your business more profitable by reducing waste and ensuring materials are used more efficiently.

You can find out about the many ways you can manage your business waste sustainably and arrange a collection by visiting our Business Recycling and Waste webpages. You can also check our Simpler Recycling page to ensure that your business is compliant with the latest government legislation.

Apply for grants and funding

There are several organisations and resources that can help you with grants and funding to green your business:

• The West of England Combined Authority offers Green Business Grants and carbon audits of your business to help you improve the energy efficiency of your buildings and business operations
• For grants and funding advice for business, including financing for energy efficiency measures, please visit the Business Support pages
• For more information and to find out what other support is available on running a low carbon business please email economic_development@bathnes.gov.uk

Switch to a renewable energy provider

There are several ways you can find out about renewable energy and why it's important. Consider some of the following actions for your business:

• Look into switching your energy provider and use comparison sites to find the best green energy tariff for your business.
• Investigate local renewable energy providers like Bath and West Community Energy and Keynsham Community Energy
• Explore the Energy Saving Trust and the Centre for Sustainable Energy to find out how renewable energy can benefit your business and community
• Consider installing solar panels. Bath and West Community Energy is looking for suitable buildings to build free solar arrays on. Find out how to get involved
• Explore Green Business Grants from the West of England Combined Authority

Use technology to minimise the need for travel

Using technology to its full potential in your business can minimise the need for employee travel, reducing your carbon footprint and improving staff wellbeing.

The following actions can help to minimise the need for travel:

• Introducing flexible work arrangements
• Investing in online conferencing and remote working solutions
• Investing in cloud-based file-sharing systems to make document sharing and collaborative working easier

Encourage sustainable behaviour in the workplace

Encourage your staff to behave sustainably in and out of work by offering incentives and encouraging cultural changes.

The following ideas can help you to encourage sustainable behaviour in the workplace:

• Avoid single person car journeys on business travel and incentivise car sharing or offer a cycle to work scheme
• Get support to conduct a travel plan audit to better understand your workforce's travel behaviour
• Ensure you have a recycling station set up in shared areas
• Consider becoming a paperless office
• Use public transport, walk or cycle wherever possible. For help planning a route using public transport, visit the Travel West website
• Get help to replace or adapt your vehicle so that it meets the required emission standards if you regularly have to travel through the Clean Air Zone

Talk to your supply chain

Consider approaching your supply chain about their sustainability practices in the following ways:

• Ask your supply chain if there are more sustainable or local options for deliveries. Explore schemes like last-mile deliveries, offered by local services such as We Go, and Three Bags Full
• Reduce any unnecessary packaging and ask your suppliers to do the same