Becoming the ‘Green Link’ in the Supply Chain

Julie Starr • May 28, 2021



When it comes to running a business, every small business owner and manager knows that it takes an awful lot of work and collaborating with other businesses in order to make things work effectively. 

The supply chain is an essential part of running a business, but we are all aware of the environmental impact working alongside so many other businesses can have.
The good news is that no matter how small or large your business, every company can do what they can to create a better world to live in. 

So whether you’re in the game of bookkeeping or you make goods to sell to people’s homes, there’s always the potential to make things a little greener throughout your supply chain. Here are some ideas as to where you can start.

Use ‘Green’ Suppliers 

You may have considered changing suppliers previously and noticed a higher price in what they do compared to other companies. The reason they tend to charge more is due to the fact that greener suppliers have a huge effect on the carbon implications of bringing new products onto the market. 

Collaborate with green businesses, and that will have a direct impact on your own carbon footprint, as well as giving you the opportunity to learn best practices from them about how you can improve in the future. 

Taking the time to assess these alternative supplies should uncover several potential benefits of changing. One of the biggest being appealing to a range of customers, coming second to lowering your own carbon footprint.

Use Less Packing and Consolidate Shipments  

We have access to a range of materials that are designed to help companies to make their packages smaller and lighter. Not only does this reduce the overall cost of shipping but it also allows shipping containers to carry more products in a load. Using recycled or recyclable materials helps to eliminate excess packing materials that would otherwise go into landfills. 

Another thing you could do is to encourage your customers to consolidate all of their orders. Larger companies are able to offer their customers to pay less for shipping and have them all sent at once in less packaging. At the end of the day, your customers are going to enjoy the prospect of being able to save money easily. It also helps you as a business to reduce your carbon emissions. 

Try to Stay Local 

Shipping goods and services for long distances is possible and is a sure way of being able to reach a wider target audience, however, shipping long distances can have disastrous implications on the environment. If you also retrieve goods from far distances then your carbon footprint will increase tenfold. 

Try sourcing some of your products that are closer by or are closer by to major markets and watch your energy use reduce significantly. 

Using local couriers will also help you to be able to plan smarter routes that can help to further reduce carbon emissions. 

Reuse where you can 

For owners of small business premises, it may be tempting to buy everything brand new when you need to refit. However, you don’t have to spend more money than necessary making changes. Some gently used, pre-loved fittings, fixtures, and furniture can be all you need. Take a browse around local flea markets and online for some truly unique pieces that will make all the difference. 

Or if it’s just a small facelift that you’re after, head to your local hardware store to pick up some sandpaper and paint materials to upcycle your existing furniture. Not only will you then have unique-looking stuff, doing this will help you to get a unique aesthetic with a limited impact on the environment. It will help your small business, but will also have a domino effect on the supply chain on the whole. 

Start Now 

Buyers are placing an increasing amount of importance on eliminating waste and excess pollution from small businesses. Making progress and showing customers how you are doing that will enforce the positive impression of your brand to customers and employees. 

Focus on the things you can control within your own business and then prepare to advise other businesses throughout the supply chain and beyond each  and every company has the potential to begin its journey towards becoming more environmentally sustainable . It is important to start sooner rather than later, knowing that even the smallest of changes can make the world of difference to their carbon footprint.

Earth Day is a Moment. Sustainability is a Journey.

By Julie Starr • April 7, 2025
Every April 22nd, Earth Day reminds us of our shared responsibility to care for the planet. It’s a powerful moment for reflection, recognition, and renewed commitment to environmental stewardship. But for companies like Taiga, Earth Day is not just a day—it's a checkpoint in a journey that spans all 365 days of the year. Beyond the Day: The Power of Year-Round Storytelling While Earth Day is an excellent opportunity to spotlight your company's environmental efforts, the true impact lies in consistent, transparent communication about your sustainability strategy. Customers, investors, employees, and partners are increasingly interested in how companies plan, act, and improve over time. To build trust and inspire action, companies should: Share clear targets: What are your goals for emissions reduction, circularity, or biodiversity? Make them specific and time-bound. Report results honestly: Celebrate wins and be candid about setbacks. Progress, not perfection, is the story. Connect efforts to impact: Highlight how your initiatives benefit ecosystems, communities, or supply chains. Leveraging Earth Day as a Strategic Moment Think of Earth Day as a milestone that anchors your broader communications. Some ideas: Launch or preview new initiatives that reinforce your long-term strategy. Tell human stories: Showcase employees, community members, or suppliers contributing to sustainability. Host interactive events: Webinars, volunteer days, or innovation showcases invite people into the journey. Publish a sustainability snapshot: A visual, engaging recap of the past year's progress. Engaging Stakeholders Year-Round To keep the momentum going beyond April: Create a sustainability content calendar to share updates, behind-the-scenes looks, and educational content. Invite feedback: Use surveys or listening sessions to understand stakeholder priorities and ideas. Collaborate: Partner with NGOs, academics, or startups aligned with your mission. Recognize champions: Celebrate employees and partners who go above and beyond. Bringing It Together: A Continuous Narrative Earth Day is a valuable opportunity to raise awareness, but lasting impact comes from building a continuous narrative. At Taiga, we see sustainability not as a series of campaigns but as a shared journey with our stakeholders . When we connect the dots between moments like Earth Day and the year-round work behind the scenes, we not only deepen engagement—we accelerate change. So this Earth Day, let’s celebrate progress and recommit to transparency, collaboration, and bold action. The planet needs more than promises. It needs a plan. And it needs all of us.

Greener Clicks: How to Reduce Your Environmental Impact with Sustainable Digital Marketing

By Julie Starr • March 31, 2025
In the race to decarbonize our world, one area often overlooked is digital marketing. While it might seem inherently clean compared to print or physical campaigns, our online activities have a real and measurable environmental footprint. From servers powering your website to emails filling up inboxes, every click, stream, and scroll contributes to carbon emissions. At Taiga Company, we believe digital strategies can be powerful and low-impact. Here’s how to get started. Optimize for a Low-Carbon Web Why it matters: Websites and digital ads are hosted on servers that consume electricity, often powered by fossil fuels. Every time a user loads your site or ad, it uses energy. How to reduce your impact: Host green: Choose web hosts that use renewable energy or offset emissions. Clean up your code: Streamlined, efficient code reduces load times and energy use. Compress and reduce images: Smaller files mean faster pages and fewer emissions. Limit heavy media: Videos and animations are carbon-intensive; use them mindfully. A faster, leaner website isn’t just better for the planet—it also boosts SEO and user experience. Email Marketing with Intention Why it matters: Every email sent, received, and stored requires energy. Multiply that by millions of sends, and the impact adds up. How to reduce your impact: Clean your lists: Remove inactive subscribers to avoid waste. Segment wisely: Only send emails to those who will truly benefit. Use plain-text when possible: It’s lower in data and often more accessible. Reduce frequency: Send fewer, higher-quality emails with genuine value. Intentional emailing reduces not only emissions but also improves deliverability and engagement. Sustainable SEO and Content Strategy Why it matters: Search engines crawl, index, and serve up billions of web pages daily. Thoughtless content and bloated sites add to the load. How to reduce your impact: Create evergreen content: Focus on high-quality pages that stay relevant longer. Streamline your site structure: Fewer clicks to find content = less energy use. Use minimal plugins and scripts: Especially ones that load on every page. Green your CMS: Some content management systems are more resource-efficient than others. Sustainable SEO isn’t just eco-friendly—it’s good strategy. Fewer, better pieces often perform better than content mills. Rethink Marketing Automation Why it matters: Automated emails, ads, and data syncing can create a lot of digital clutter. That clutter eats up storage and energy. How to reduce your impact: Audit regularly: Retire old workflows and outdated automations. Optimize syncing: Reduce how often and how much data is transferred. Segment with purpose: Better targeting means fewer wasted sends. Use expiration dates: Don’t let outdated content or assets live forever. Efficient automation can reduce emissions and improve performance. Digital marketing isn’t going away—and it shouldn’t. It offers powerful tools for connection, education, and growth. But like all tools, it can be used more sustainably. At Taiga Company, we’re committed to helping organizations lower their environmental impact without sacrificing reach or results. Sustainable digital marketing is not only possible; it’s essential. Ready to make your marketing aligned with your company's corporate sustainability plan? Let’s start the conversation.
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