Every business, no matter the size, industry, or number of employees, has an address somewhere on Earth. In 2022, the world’s population was estimated to be 7.963 billion people. Every year around the world, there are approximately 140 million births, and by 2050, there will be roughly 9 to 10 billion people who call Earth home. In the business world, there are over 80 million businesses on Earth. To say that we all must do what we can to honor, preserve, and protect the place we call home, both personally and professionally, is an understatement. It’s imperative that we do everything we can to ensure we have a sustainable and healthy planet for today and future generations and businesses alike.
Earth Day, celebrated on April 22nd, is an annual event that raises awareness about local and global environmental issues. It’s the world’s opportunity to evaluate how we contribute to protecting and preserving our one and only planet. Here are four ways businesses can implement these practices into their operations based on the key environmental issues affecting all of us today and every day.
#1. Monitor your carbon footprint to help with climate change
Our climate is changing, and global warming is a real issue in certain parts of the world. Driving electric, taking public transit, walking to work, or carpooling helps. When you work from home, ensure your lights are off in rooms you’re not in, or use energy-efficient light bulbs. This can be done by business leaders in their offices as well! At Credico, we purchase recycled and earth-friendly office supplies, offer recycling, and even provide staff with reusable water bottles and encourage the use of “real” kitchen supplies rather than disposable plates and forks. Many of our paper forms have been converted to digital processes, and we have upgraded to a more efficient printer for office use. There is a filtered water dispenser in our kitchen, and each new employee receives a reusable water bottle on their first day. And of course, choosing videoconferencing over business travel where feasible can really make a big difference!
#2. Reduce, reuse, and recycle to help with waste management
Environmental health is essential for ensuring a healthy environment in the future. The three Rs – reduce, reuse, and recycle – are ways of managing harmful materials and preventing waste. Reduction and reuse are the most effective ways you can save natural resources, as the most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. And recycling the items we do create reduces the need to extract additional resources such as timber, water, and minerals for new products. And there are economic benefits, too! The national Recycling Economic Information (REI) Study found that in a single year, recycling and reuse activities in the United States accounted for 681,000 jobs, $37.8 billion in wages, and $5.5 billion in tax revenues.
At Credico, we work to reduce disposable items in our kitchen with cupboards of reusable dishes and glassware for staff to use, and recyclables are separated from regular trash. By following the three Rs, we can easily remember to do our part in reducing the global impact of waste on Earth and ensuring we all have clean air, land, and water.
#3. Plant a tree to help circumvent deforestation
According to Earth.org, we might have only 10% of our forests by 2030 due to deforestation. And in 100 years, there will be no more trees if this doesn’t stop. Planting trees offsets the hundreds of trees we lose each day, month, and year. And it’s not just about having pretty trees to look at; in addition to providing wildlife habitats and supplying water to millions of people, forests in the U.S. offset between 10 to 20 percent of U.S. emissions each year. Reforestation helps sustain and increase the carbon sequestration potential of our National Forests, mitigating the effects of global climate change. While it may seem impossible to replace all the trees we lose due to deforestation, we can make an effort to plant new trees and replace the ones that were lost. By doing so, we can help replenish this source of oxygen and create a habitat for all the living things that depend on trees for survival.
#4. “Planet vs. Plastic” to curb plastic pollution
This year, Earth Day is all about the fight between plastic and the planet. The goal of this year’s theme is to cut 60% of the world’s plastic production by 2040. Plastic is everywhere – we use it to carry our food, groceries, and lots of the things we need every day. And it vastly outweighs its own use – a plastic bag has a working life of a few minutes, followed by an afterlife of centuries. Producing a plastic water bottle requires six times as much water as the bottle itself contains. And even after plastics disintegrate, they remain as microplastics, minute particles permeating every niche of life on the planet. With plastic production now topping 380 million tons per year, the solution is to ditch the plastic and go for reusable options like glass or recycled products instead.
Whether your business is remote, hybrid, or in-office, celebrating Earth Day is a way to give back to our true home, which does not consist of just brick and mortar. Our home is where the trees are rooted, and the birds fly up and away. It’s a place where squirrels roam alongside other four-legged animals. True business success goes beyond simply having a product or service that people want to buy. It is also about helping to sustain a world where we are free of pollution, where our air quality is good, where the animals we coexist with are taken care of, and where the ground on which our business stands is fertile and thriving. Let us consider Earth Day 2024 as a day of service to our one and only home.