The earth is changing faster than we can keep up with it. This is primarily because of global warming and climate change.
Many people worldwide are suffering due to these changes, and small businesses have something to do with it. Greenhouse gases are being emitted more than ever, and if nothing is done this year, the world will suffer from it.
Carbon Footprint
If there is one thing that science has been telling us through the years, is that the earth is dying, and quite rapidly. The world’s carbon footprint has never reached this high before, and something needs to be done.
Carbon emissions spiked last year, reaching record highs when it was on its record lows when the pandemic started. A new report has stated there is a sharp rise in carbon emissions in the coming years, as various economies worldwide work on overdrive to catch up with backlogs. In addition, different industries will be working hard to regain lost profits during the pandemic.
It’s estimated that every employee in a small business can generate one to six metric tons of carbon emissions every year. So a company that has ten or so employees can generate thirty metric tons of carbon emissions. If you multiply that to the 31 million small businesses in the country, that equals 9.3 billion carbon emissions every year.
As a small business, it’s reducing carbon emissions is crucial so that the world can last for years to come. One way this can be done is through sustainable marketing.
What Is Sustainable Marketing
The current generation with the most spending power in the country is millennials. It’s estimated that they have four trillion dollars in spending energy globally. This is why so many companies are trying to reach them. However, there is a simple way to reach them without making it look too selfish: the environment.
A staggering amount of millennials care about the environment. It makes sense since they are the generation most exposed to the effects of global warming and climate change. This is why every marketer must try to reach them through science and sustainability. This is what sustainable marketing is all about.
Sustainable marketing is about using scientific knowledge to explain what climate change is doing to the world and what the company is doing to stop it. It also utilizes marketing strategies that are sustainable (more on that later). Moreover, sustainable marketing promotes various sustainable products that can make a difference in the world.
Sustainable marketing is impacting both the world economy and the scientific community. It’s a new and simple way to reach consumers without too much carbon emissions. Moreover, it’s more advanced way advertisements can be done. The best part of it all is that it’s accessible.
Ways To Do It
Going Digital
Going digital is one of the simplest ways you can do sustainable marketing. Many digital advertisements practically don’t emit any carbon emissions at all. The only process that can emit carbon emissions is when marketers have to produce it. Video cameras and computers still use electricity, and this utilization of electricity produces carbon emissions. So there are still some remnants of indirect carbon emission from this kind of sustainable marketing, but it’s minimal enough not to do any damage.
Going Sustainable
Another way to do sustainable marketing is to go sustainable and then promote that to people. There are many sustainable programs you can try. For example, you can try a recycling program by partnering with your recycling plant. You can go to an outreach program and plant trees by partnering with a local eco-friendly non-government organization (NGO). All of these can be marketed to millennials.
However, the sole purpose of going sustainable is to protect the environment and to decrease your carbon emissions. If you’re only doing it with profit in mind, then your consumers will see right through you. This will affect your business’s overall reputation and can affect your overall sales. So go sustainable for the sake of reducing your business’s carbon emissions and not because you want to turn a profit.
Promoting Sustainable Products
Lastly, your business should start promoting sustainable products. This means partnering with sustainable businesses that are willing to reduce the world’s carbon emissions. There are many businesses right now that have this in mind, and it’s up to you to contact them. By promoting their products and their mission vision, your company can make a difference not only in the world but in the company’s growth.
Businesses should prevent climate change and global warming. They should market companies while putting the environment in mind. If everyone starts sustainable marketing, both climate change and global warming can be a thing of the past.