Sustainable September - Sustainability: A Hurdle or a Gain for Your Business?

We are excited to kick off our Sustainable September campaign with the first of many insightful articles this month. To start, we are proud to feature insights from Cambridge Cleantech, a leading network dedicated to fostering sustainable innovation. In this article, Cambridge Cleantech shares practical tips and strategies for businesses in the Isle of Man to integrate sustainability into their operations.

Stay tuned throughout the month for more inspiring articles and practical advice from businesses across the Isle of Man as we collectively work towards a greener future.

Running a business is challenging, and sustainability might seem like just another hurdle. However, with the Isle of Man aiming to become a Net-Zero island, it’s time to view sustainability as a valuable project for your business, employees, and community.

Here are a few tips to get things moving:

1) Assess

Analyse your business operations to identify areas where you can reduce your environmental footprint. This includes energy consumption, waste generation, water usage, and supply chain practices. Depending on the size of your business, you can conduct this assessment internally or seek expert advice.

2) Set Clear and Achievable Goals

If you’re facing other challenges or are short on time, it’s perfectly fine to start small. Setting clear, achievable goals can help you make steady progress.

3) Engage Your Team

Achieving sustainability goals is a collective effort. Identify team members or groups willing to drive this project. The younger generation often seeks jobs with a purpose, so this can also be a way to attract and retain employees. Companies in the Cambridge Cleantech network have successfully used frameworks like One Planet Living framework or the Carbon Literacy project to engage everyone in their sustainability journey.

• The Carbon Literacy project give you an awareness of the carbon costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions, on an individual, community and organisational basis. Organisations in our network such as the British Antarctic Survey are using it very successfully and are happy to provide feedback.
• The One Planet Living framework is designed to support you to create a 'One Planet Action Plan' that acts as a route map towards a more sustainable future for your organisation. It comprises ten simple principles that cover all aspects of social, environmental and economic sustainability as well as detailed goals and guidance documents. This can work for business, local authorities, schools, community groups and construction sectors.

 4) Implement Good Practices:

• Upgrade lighting, heating, and cooling systems for better energy efficiency. Collaborate with other businesses in your community for group purchases. At the last Cleantech Venture Day, we had a few building tech and energy solutions that are worth checking out: Solskin,  solar tracked PV energy production with smart shading, or Anzen, the first climate wall with integrated solid-state heating, cooling, and heat recovery ventilation.
• Encourage employees to turn off lights, computers, and equipment when not in use. Simple but sometimes so hard to achieve.
• Reduce, reuse, and recycle. For example, Re-Universe, winners of the Cleantech category in the Innovation Challenge 2024, aims to eradicate single-use cups.
• Source locally when possible to reduce transportation emissions.
• Use your sustainability practices in your marketing but avoid greenwashing. Earthscope Isle of Man is hosting a workshop called ‘Comms and PR: kickstart your sustainability comms’ on 16 September which focuses on how to start effectively sharing your company’s sustainability story while learning to identify and avoid greenwashing. If interested in attending, you can book your ticket here.
• Share your progress to build a strong, supportive community. Ailuna, another finalist in the Innovation Challenges, is a great example of changing behaviour for the planet’s benefit.

5) Monitor and Celebrate Progress: 

Regularly track your progress and celebrate milestones to keep the momentum going.

In summary, think small or big but do not wait to start your journey to sustainability.  

At Cambridge Cleantech, we connect businesses, corporates and startups, investors, public sector, academics to create the right ecosystem for cleantech companies to thrive. Business Isle of Man is a Founder member of Cambridge Cleantech and therefore your business can be part of this ecosystem. Contact us to:

• Receive our monthly newsletter
• List your cleantech business on our website
• Get support to connect with other entities in the cleantech ecosystem.

If you would like to know more about Cambridge Cleantech, the sector and what we do, join us at Business Isle of Man’s Energy & Energy Forum in November – Details will be released shortly!