Over the last decade, companies have been shown the reality of their futures if they do not wake up and start implementing sustainable and environmental policies that will aid future generations. Many promises get made about reaching the climate energy goals, and what companies can do to ensure this becomes a reality. But it is interesting to analyse what companies were the most sustainable within the UK across the last year; and what they did to achieve this.
Innocent Drinks
These tasty smoothies are not only good for you but are now good for the environment too. This is achieved by how and where they get their fruit and vegetables from. Through the organisation Rainforest Alliance, farmers who work on the land have the right to conserve the land’s biodiversity.
This also protects the farmworkers’ rights when the company buys fruit from them. Innocent was also one step ahead of other companies since 2003. This is when they started using recycled plastic for their packaging. This contributes to stopping excess plastic production. Through the reuse of materials, less pollution will result in aiding the fight against climate change.
Bulb
Bulb was officially launched in 2014 and had a hard start competing against the already well-established six leading energy providers across the UK. Bulb is an energy supplier that was acquired by Octopus Energy in 2022. Bulb ensures 100% renewable electricity as it aims to strike down speculation that renewable energy must be expensive. This has led them to controlling 5% of the UK household electricity and energy market, with over 1.5 million members.
Olio
This is a great concept to ensure food is not wasted and people can choose from an array of different foods. This app will connect you with local businesses; any surplus and unwanted food will be shared for free. This decreases the amount of daily waste.
This is now used in over forty-nine countries, has gained over £7 million, and has expanded to include other products. This involves books, clothes, toiletries, and more. Decreasing the amount of waste takes a huge stress off environmental issues. The majority of waste ends up in landfills, which causes further pollution. Or in the ocean which endangers marine life and their ecosystems. This sustainable and no waste idea is why they have been further recognised and validated.
Toast Brewing
Further continuing the pattern of no-waste companies is one named Toast Brewing. This ingenious idea is a Yorkshire-based product whose efforts are focused on decreasing the huge food waste problem within the UK.
Bread makes up for 44% of this issue, which contributes to the 20-billion-pound waste problem. Toast Brewing gives all money from its efforts to charities who’s aims also further help to decrease the amount of waste produced.
They achieve this by using unsold bread and crusts from bakeries to make their famous beer. The statistics from this venture are extremely impressive, with the company stating the amount of bread slices stacked up would be four times over the height of Mount Everest.
Unilever
This a UK multinational consumer goods company and one of the most noted sustainable companies across the country.
The company has well-targeted, clear, and impressive goals around its social and environmental impacts.
New packaging such as paper bottles instead of plastic ones are examples of how to decrease plastic production and waste.
They reach social economic goals which in turn lead to a further sustainable company by employing 93% of leaders from local communities. This employment within a sustainable company raises the standards of living globally.
Unilever employs 127,000 people globally who work for over four thousand branded names. This spans across 190 countries altogether. It is reported that steps towards sustainable living and an increase in the standard of living could help to cut emissions 70% by 2050. These are all steps to help reaching these climate change targets.
Overall, these companies have extremely high success rates for their environmental implementations, which is why they are all being recognised for their climate change efforts.
It is important to keep learning more about what companies can do to increase or improve their mark on the environment, and how others can learn from these well-established companies.
