Walking the Small Path of Sustainability

If asked how to build a sustainable and environmentally friendly business, the answer is relatively simple: reduce emissions, manage waste, decrease water and energy usage—in short, become a green company. But the question arises for service-based businesses like consultants, event organizers, or creative industries. It seems far more difficult to create a business roadmap filled with environmental issues while being an enterprise that has a relatively minimal negative impact on the environment.

This question came up last week during a discussion with Maghleb Elmir, co-founder and executive at Maxima Impact Consulting. The question was simple:

How can companies with a small carbon footprint like Maxima participate in sustainability?

The answer was once written by Andrew Winston in his article on SAP in the May 2010 issue of Harvard Business Review. Interestingly, what Winston proposed in that article is something Maxima has already been doing.

First, Walk the Talk.

Do what you preach. Business sustainability generally refers to the actions and strategies a company uses to reduce its negative impact on the environment. Since last year, Maxima has been measuring its carbon footprint, from waste and water usage to electricity bills (to calculate energy consumption and emissions). After the pandemic, Maxima also implemented a combination of work-from-home and work-from-office, reducing emissions from transportation. The idea is simple: Identify and reduce your carbon footprint!

Second, Talk the Walk.

Encourage employees, partners, clients, and stakeholders to join in on this sustainability journey. Share during town hall meetings, become agents of change, or spread inspiration and learning through blogs or LinkedIn posts. The more people involved, the bigger the impact.

Third, collaborate with clients to reduce their ecological footprint.

As a company offering sustainability services, Maxima can and has been promoting sustainable business practices by encouraging online meetings, reducing time and energy consumption, and using software and digital platforms for sharing work and documents, which reduces paper—along with electricity and ink!—usage. Last year, I received a tote bag and tumbler as a gift, which I still use almost every day.

Fourth, it’s essential to clearly communicate the services you offer and help clients achieve their sustainability goals.

Sustainability practices are usually measured by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) indicators. Maxima leverages its expertise in impact measurement to help clients understand and translate these indicators into relevant and meaningful topics for their business. Push your rank by helping others do the same.

So, if you haven’t found the right role to get involved in the sustainability movement, perhaps Maxima’s early journey can serve as an example. How they blend green business, sustainable business, and business growth. WWF once had an interesting slogan about this: What is good for the earth is good for business.