How Logistics Companies Can Ensure Their Activities Align With Sustainability

Julie Starr • February 15, 2022



Logistics companies have a huge responsibility to ensure their activities align with sustainability. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it’s also becoming more and more important as consumers become more environmentally conscious. This blog post will discuss the different ways logistics companies can make sure they’re operating sustainably. We’ll cover topics such as reducing energy consumption, choosing environmentally friendly transportation options, and recycling and composting. By following these guidelines, logistics companies can help reduce their environmental impact while still providing high-quality services to their customers!

1. A Sustainable Vision

The first step in ensuring your logistics company operates sustainably is to create a vision for sustainability . This means setting goals and targets that you want to achieve and creating a plan on how to reach them. It’s important to make sure all team members are on board with the vision, as everyone will need to work together to make it a reality.

To ensure buy-in from your team, make sure they’re involved in creating the sustainability vision. This way, they’ll feel like it’s their idea and not just something imposed on them by management!

Once you’ve created your vision statement for sustainability, it’s important to present it to the rest of your team, so they understand what you want them all working towards together. Presenting this information upfront will also help motivate employees who might be skeptical about how much impact their individual actions can have on such a large problem as climate change or pollution levels worldwide.

2. Sustainability Leadership Throughout The Company

Once your team is on board with the vision for sustainability, it’s important to ensure that leadership supports and promotes sustainable practices throughout the company. This means setting an example for employees by implementing sustainable policies and initiatives in your own office and working with suppliers and other companies to promote similar practices.

Having key team members walk the talk and set an example for others to follow is one of the most important ways to ensure a sustainable vision becomes a reality. When people see that management is serious about making changes, they’re more likely to get on board and work towards common goals.

3. Create Awareness On How To Achieve Sustainability

For logistics companies to make changes that will positively impact the environment, everyone involved needs to know what’s going on. This means creating awareness campaigns on everything from reducing energy consumption to choosing environmentally friendly transportation options.

These campaigns must be interactive and engaging, so employees feel like they’re part of the process rather than just being told what to do. Providing information in an easy-to-read format is also helpful, as not everyone has time to attend long meetings or read through lengthy reports.

By providing regular updates and making sure employees are aware of your progress towards sustainability goals, you’ll create a sense of ownership and responsibility within your team. This will help ensure that everyone is working together to make your logistics company more environmentally friendly!

4. Conduct Environmental Impact Assessments

It’s important for businesses to understand their environmental impact to make changes where necessary. Conducting an assessment can help logistics companies identify areas of concern and develop targeted strategies for addressing them.

You should consider conducting assessments on all aspects of your business : from how you manage waste disposal at the office through to what type of fuel is used in delivery vehicles (and whether it could be replaced with a greener alternative). It may also include an evaluation process that looks at topics such as energy use or water efficiency within buildings owned by the company.

By assessing these areas regularly and adjusting accordingly, you’ll ensure that every part of your organization has been reviewed – including any suppliers who might contribute towards emissions or pollution levels worldwide. This way, there is a collaborative effort to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainability.

5. Set KPIs And Targets

In order to track your progress towards sustainability goals, it’s important to set key performance indicators (KPIs) and targets. This will help you measure how well your company is doing in terms of reducing its environmental impact and becoming more sustainable overall.

A variety of KPIs could be used when measuring sustainability , depending on the specific goals of your organization. However, some common examples include carbon emissions levels, energy consumption, water usage, and waste generated.

By setting targets for each KPI and then tracking your progress over time, you’ll have a concrete way of knowing whether you’re making headway or not. This information can also be shared with employees, so they know exactly what’s being done to make the business more environmentally friendly.

6. Source From Sustainability Minded Suppliers

As you’re probably aware, not all suppliers are created equally. Some may have better eco-friendly practices than others, which could make them a more sustainable choice for your logistics company. It’s important to consider this when sourcing materials or equipment from different providers.

By choosing sustainability-minded partners that share the same vision as you do, it will be easier to implement new strategies within your business and ensure everyone is working together towards common goals. This also means there’ll be less resistance along the way when changes need to happen quickly in response to new developments outside of their control.

For example, choosing a contractor that conducts HSE risk assessments before working on heavy equipment has a lower risk of an incident or an impact arising from their activities. Logistics companies have the serious mechanical infrastructure to service. Oil spills and other environmental impacts can severely expose the company to risks. Click here to check out M&L Truck Service to get an idea of the type of work logistics companies can be expected to carry out.

7. Learn From Environmental Impacts

If an environmental issue has impacted your business, it’s important that you take time to understand what went wrong and how this could be avoided in the future. This will help ensure similar mistakes aren’t made again – which means there’ll be less chance of another incident occurring as well!

Environmental impacts can come from many different sources: natural disasters like wildfires or floods; human error such as spills during transport operations (e.g., oil tanker accidents). It may also result from poor management decisions at higher levels within logistics companies who don’t consider their actions when planning out projects such as deforestation for road construction etc. Learning lessons should involve taking responsibility on all fronts too so everyone understands where their role fits into preventing these types of things happening again.

Making small changes to how your logistics company operates can have a big impact on the environment – and it’s something that we should all be striving for. By following these five tips, you’ll be well on your way to creating a sustainable vision for your business!

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.