How Your Business Can Contribute To Sustainability-Focused Awareness

Julie Starr • October 15, 2021



Perhaps one of the more interesting conversations surrounding the impact businesses have on wider society involves discussing exactly what obligation a business has in terms of spreading awareness or standing behind stated values. Of course, often the conversation comes to the relative agreement that businesses generally confirm and justify whatever process it is they engage in by virtue of engaging in it. For instance, no matter how much your firm espouses the benefits of fair trade, using questionable suppliers abroad that do not partake in those priorities can denigrate this point and stain your professional image.

When it comes to sustainability, more and more businesses are not only seeing the benefit in adopting these processes as necessary but in learning how to spread awareness while also making this an essential component of their industry. After all, more and more consumers are starting to become shrewd and aware of the kind of practices they support when they vote with their wallets.

But how can your particular business contribute to sustainability-focused awareness? In this post, we’ll discuss that and more:

Guided Tours

If you have a worthwhile production line or have clearly introduced sustainability practices into your operation, then it could not only be educational to showcase this process via a guided tour but can serve as a great marketing measure and tactic to increase brand loyalty and familiarity. A worthwhile tour around your grow facility , production line, or studio could showcase the good work you do while also emphasizing the need for eco-friendly processing and how, conveniently, your firm is eligible for doing just that.

Showcase Your Progress

It’s not the case that all firms are expected to become perfect conduits for sustainability, at least not know, but showing how your firm is making a real dedicated effort to this cause can serve as a great and encouraging marketing measure. Of course, before marketing, you can also reap the benefits of ensuring your long-form sustainable effort leads to better resource adoption and production norms. So, why not discuss this, including the challenges you’ve faced, the lessons you’ve learned, the suppliers you’ve sourced, and how this is allowing you to become a new and innovative voice in your industry? It’s not hard to see why your audience may find this interesting, and you could achieve a real positive impact.

Package Design & Development

Every product we sell is a justification and expressed outcome of our operational standards. For that reason, curating our products and the packages they arrive in to conform to sustainability standards will be a real showcase of your focus on this necessary improvement. This might involve ensuring products are delivered in sustainably packaged materials, thoroughly lessening your usage of plastics, and even offering no-package delivery options to cut out that process entirely. For instance, many stores that offer delivery may now offer collections or may encourage you to use biodegradable packaging as necessary with recyclable properties.

With this advice, we hope your business can more easily contribute to sustainability-focused awareness and reap the benefits of doing so.

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.