Earlier this month, we had the pleasure of attending Sustainability Live in London. We’re not ones to gatekeep, so we’re here to give you a rundown of the latest innovations and goings on in the world of sustainability from the event.
Latest innovations in sustainability
With today’s desperate environmental landscape, whether it’s the energy crisis or how oil giants are directly causing forest fires, it can be easy to feel down about the future of sustainability. However, Sustainability Live and events like it are always a joy to attend and see and hear from some cool companies and experts that restore our hope in paving a greener future.
Just some of the cool innovators we met at the event include Chestnut Biopolymers, who make plant-based biopolymers that match the strength of fossil plastics and are biodegradable! Watch this space for the future of materials that are less costly to the environment.
We were also impressed by RouteZero, who are incentivising companies and their employees to reduce their carbon footprint. They collect and present data that calculates the emissions and cost of different types of business travel. If the employee picks a lower business travel option than budgeted, cost savings can be passed on to the employee as well as the company improving its ESG score – a win win.
Future-proofing business with sustainability
There was a real sense of collaboration during the event. People were excited to share ideas and are clearly passionate about tackling the climate crisis, and one of the workshops we attended completely brought this to life.
Titled ‘Future-Proofing Business’, it spoke to how sustainability strategies are becoming imperative to the long-term success of a business. A panel of experts shared some eye-opening insights and some hard-hitting truths, one of which was that, unfortunately, getting airtime for issues on sustainability has become increasingly more difficult.
Companies are willing to be sustainable, but only if there is no cost (often a financial one) to them.
This could be perceived as quite a pessimistic view on issues of sustainability. However, this doesn’t mean the situation is hopeless, and there are practical ways to address it:
- Business as usual has costs: sometimes the initial cost of a sustainability initiative can be off-putting to business leaders, but in reality doing nothing will end up hurting profits more in the long run. When pitching new initiatives, it is important to clearly communicate how green ideas can not only reduce a business’s environmental impact but also improve efficiencies and reduce costs.
- A good reputation goes a long way: Fortunately, there are people out there who do view sustainability as a priority, and partnering with a brand that has a solid green reputation can be a dealbreaker. We heard this firsthand from Tottenham Hotspur FC during the workshop – despite a period of disappointing results on the pitch, they were still managing to get more partners on board. All because of their reputation for being the greenest team in the Premier League.
- Get your ideas in front of government: If you think a green initiative is right for your business or industry, you need to get your message across to the government. This was a telling insight from IPPR, explaining how it can be vital in changing policies and securing funding. This doesn’t just mean writing to your local MP. You have to be loud, campaigning to get your voice heard… so they have to take notice.
Making a positive impact
It was amazing to connect with so many different people looking to make the world we live in a better place. If you are a sustainability company looking to grow awareness, secure funding, or showcase important announcements, we’d love to support your journey. To learn more about how we can help, please get in touch with us via .