A universal sustainability strategy

I am constantly in touch with wonderful people at companies that are taking action to have a positive impact on people and the planet. Over the years, I’ve noticed almost everyone hits a sticking point on their sustainability journey, and after giving this some thought I think I know why. And I have a recommendation to share to help you keep moving and hopefully avoid the sticking point altogether.

A company’s first efforts towards improving its impact tend to be things like eliminating plastic from packaging or products, producing smaller quantities to reduce the waste of overstock, choosing to make timeless, high quality products that can be worn for decades, or eliminating toxic ingredients and materials.

I think of these actions as common sense and values driven; you know you’re moving your company in the right direction, and many of them may be deal breakers on an ethical level. With these first commitments, companies are not necessarily weighing one action over another, but proceeding with the efforts they feel are non-negotiably part of the company’s future. And though some shifts sound pretty simple and straightforward, they all require a great deal of time and thought (and often money) to execute and deserve to be commended.

Companies move forward with a change rather quickly and successfully, I believe, when they feel confidence and clarity around it being an essential action. Which serves as a boon at first, but when companies run out of steps they are sure they need to take, it becomes confusing and overwhelming to figure out what to do next.

There is a never ending menu of ways to pursue positive impact. The menu unfortunately isn’t published anywhere and is unique for each company anyway. We are consistently bombarded with new choices and avenues. And to make matters worse, it’s difficult to compare and rank all of those options to determine which would be most impactful and most in alignment with your company’s unique mission, vision, baseline impact, size, and budget.

Today I’d like to recommend an approach to make it much easier to identify impactful actions and gain confidence that the time and money they require is worthwhile for your particular company (or organization or even household).

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