How to make your business more sustainable

April 1, 2021
By Dave Olson, CSP®, REP® | Corporate EHS & Sustainability Director

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Whether your driving force is to help the planet, or you just want to reduce expenses, sustainability has something for everyone. Cutting back on freight costs? That’s money saved and fewer emissions. Customers signing up for paperless invoicing? That’s cost savings on postage and less paper used. Sustainability serves many purposes in a business.

Steps to sustainability

1. Identify areas within your spending that offer the greatest opportunities.
2. Find local suppliers to support your efforts. These can range from simply identifying environmentally friendly products up to calculating the effect that making a switch would have.
3. Designate an employee to lead the effort. In theory, everyone on your team could be advocating sustainable business practices, but it helps to have someone in charge and keeping the momentum going. 
4. Work directly with employees, purchasers, and managers to coordinate and educate key stakeholders to support the cause.
5. Let people know what you are doing. Tell your extended team, your customers, and your community. Create a conversation around the solutions you used to become more sustainable. 

Tackle your surroundings

• From the lights above us to the air we breathe, there are savings to be had all around us.

​What to expect

• Reduced consumption of energy, fuel, and materials
• Boosted productivity from process changes and behavior changes
• Lower operating costs for four reasons
  • Less consumption
  • Less waste
  • Added efficiencies
  • Improved performance
• Increased employee morale
• Boosted brand image
• Positive impact on the environment and our resources

See where you can improve
Reduction, recycling, and conservation can all help keep the ecological balance in line while also saving the bottom line. Use our checklist to mark the items you are already doing. Then go after the unchecked areas that would be the easiest to implement. Finally, look for any that would have a big effect on your business. Those are where the biggest savings are likely hiding.

Download Your Steps to Improve Checklist

​You may also like:

Sustainability Serves Your Bottom Line (and the Environment)

Five Paths to Sustainability: Realigning Business with Cost- and Plant-Saving Changes

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Find More Help Online
Fastenal.com can help you pick products that promote sustainability through the following.

• Energy conservation
• Green cleaning and maintenance
• Waste reduction
• Water conservation

Environmentally preferable products on are identified with the green leaf symbol.

​Start switching to sustainability today!

Use Recycling Programs
Looking for ways to recycle items like ink cartridges? We can help! ​

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