Sustainability: Getting small businesses started.

What if we could get every organization, small or large, on the path to sustainability? They could get there voluntarily, or be brought to the path by value chain pressure; it would not matter as long as the outcomes were sustainable.

Large organizations have the resources to pursue and report on sustainability, but small organizations may think they do not. And so, we need to find ways to help small organizations get started on the sustainability journey.

Using Pareto thinking, a small organization could quite easily put in place the main elements of a sustainability plan. They could identify and engage important interested parties (stakeholders); list material issues; develop plans and metrics to improve performance on selected issues; provide some basic training; and perhaps assemble a one-page sustainability report. The initiative does not have to be big or fancy, but it must be authentic.

An authentic sustainability initiative for a small organization would measurably and demonstrably reduce its negative impacts and enhance its positive ones. Examples might include better working conditions, stronger community ties, lower greenhouse gas emissions, or reduced waste.

Verasiti can provide the basic tools to any size of organization to help it make a relatively easy and productive start down the path to sustainability.