5 Business Strategies Your Business Should Consider to Move Towards Sustainability

Julie Starr • July 6, 2021



The corporate world is becoming more aware and proactive to reduce its carbon footprint on the planet. As a result, there is a general shift from the traditional business model to more responsible and environmentally conscious structures. It won’t be long until this demand for sustainability has legal consequences for businesses worldwide.

Therefore, since this shift is inevitable, it is in your business’s best interest that you get on board and seek out partners who share these sentiments. Sustainability has three facets: social, economic, and environmental. If your business can attain these facets, it will cater to market demands and make profits. 

There are several ways to attain sustainability, and your business can take any of these paths. However, the following suggestions can guide your business in the preliminary phase:

Improve Business Visibility and Sales

As you may know, advertisers have had a problem with Google Ads, and other social media advertising platforms don’t necessarily channel your posts to the target audience. Anyone has a chance to see your advert, but the conversions are not guaranteed. Through private marketplace advertising , you can contact your buyer directly. 

PMPs also eliminate the many cases of ad fraud and going to the wrong audiences. Such scenarios are otherwise impossible with traditional public advertising. Eventually, through PMPs, your business can attain economic sustainability from the guaranteed sales.

Go paperless and Recycle

Thanks to cloud technology, you can store your data on the database. So say goodbye to the physical safes at your offices and embrace firewalls and cybersecurity strategies to protect business information.

Moreover, whenever possible, recycle anything you can get your hands on, be it glass, plastic or metals. Contribute to the elimination of all landfills and the dumping of waste in developing nations.

Embrace Ethical Transparency

The age of politics around business conduct is almost gone. Your business should openly declare its policies and the health of its supply chain. Because, for the first time in history, the lowest people in the supply chain have a voice as well, and you need to provide humane working conditions for them. These changes will guarantee business social sustainability in the long run.

Know the Community around You

Corporate philanthropy is at its highest, and your business will do well to understand how to go about taking part in mitigating community disasters and calamities . Therefore, as a business, involve yourself in any local fundraiser or awareness campaign.

 For example, if frequent forest fires around your area of operation, involve your business to fund relief services to affected communities. This involvement will tackle social sustainability as well.

Eliminate Overproduction and Limit Wastage

For your business’ economic sustainability, continually optimize your profit margins. In the corporate world, this translates to innovation to reduce overall production costs. Furthermore, do not produce anything you don’t need to cut down on extra fees. However, if there are extras, find ways to recycle or reuse them to avoid wastage .

Final Thoughts 

Sustainability by definition manifests in terms of people, the planet, and profits. If you want to remain operational for a long time as a business, you will need to attain the three; there are no shortcuts. The days of firms disregarding the welfare and safety of people or the planet are long gone.

5 Everyday Items That Can Quietly Boost Your Brand

By Julie Starr • July 17, 2025
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.

How Student-Led ‘Energy Audits’ Are Cutting School Costs (and Lighting the Way Forward)

By Julie Starr • July 14, 2025
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.