Every business can (and should) be doing its bit for the planet.
But when you’re busy running a company, it’s not easy to know just exactly what that involves. Luckily, the EcoSend team is here to give you some handy pointers!
A huge myth is that becoming more eco-friendly means you have to miss out. However, according to Forbes, 88% of customers are more likely to be loyal to a company that supports environmental causes.
Better still, some of the following 17 tips on becoming a more sustainable business in 2025 can actually save your business money!
#1 - Use Eco-Friendly Email Marketing Tools
Did you know that 300 billion emails are sent every day?
There’s a good chance your business makes up part of this stat, especially if you do any kind of email marketing.
Unfortunately, most people don’t know that email has a carbon footprint, with every email sent thought to generate up to 26g of CO2.
While there’s no need to actually give up email marketing, switching to a sustainable email marketing provider such as EcoSend can lower the carbon footprint of your emails.
Best of all, with EcoSend, you'll still get all the email tools and features you need to send amazing email campaigns. However, EcoSend runs on renewable energy sources to lower your email carbon footprint. Plus we’ll plant trees on your behalf of your business just for using us.
✉️ 👀 Want to try our sustainable email platform? Sign up today and get a free 7 day trial!
#2 - Reduce Event Emissions & Waste
Events went away for a little while but now they are back. The problem with that is so too are the carbon emissions generated from event-related travel, venue infrastructure, logistics, catering, printed materials, promotional materials and event equipment.
So how big is the problem? Research by MeetGreen found that the average event attendee creates around 176.67 KG of CO2.
For example, corporate events can include trade shows, workshops, product launches, team building activities and awards nights. Whatever event type your business is planning on hosting or attending, attention needs to be paid to reducing your carbon footprint from doing so.
Opting for remote or hybrid events can instantly cut emissions from events, as too can a consideration of the event location, transport, logistics and other resources needed.
💡 Bonus: Discover our top tips for event email marketing
#3 - Use A Green Web Hosting Provider
In our post How To Get A Zero Carbon Website we gave you some unmissable tips on reducing your digital carbon footprint, including our top list of green web hosting providers.
Similar to email marketing, few people think about the carbon footprint of their website. In reality, all websites require energy to make, load and share.
By using a green web hosting provider, your website will be powered by renewable energy sources. While further work may be needed to reduce the carbon footprint of your website, green web hosting certainly goes a long way to help.
#4 - Retrofit Your Office For Improved Energy Efficiency
If your business has an office space, or even if you work from home, making some improvements to the energy efficiency of where you work is a great way to cut both carbon emissions and costs in one move.
Getting an energy efficiency survey done can give you some tailored pointers based on your office building or home.
But in general, some ways of retrofitting a building to improve energy efficiency can include:
Adding insulation to walls, floors or roof spaces
Replacing old windows and doors with energy efficient glazing and frame materials
Sealing gaps where heat is escaping
Insulated rendering (EWI)
Solar panels to replace gas or electric power as much as possible
Green construction materials used for renovation works
Smart technology to control energy use and reduce waste
Using thermal window film
Replacing old lighting with energy efficient LED
Got any more ideas based on work you’ve done to make your office greener? Let us know!
Discover more ideas: 11 Green Construction & Home Renovation Trends For 2025
#5 - Upcycle, Recycle Or Donate Old Office Furniture & Equipment
If you do plan on reducing the number of screens you use at work, or even upgrading old or inefficient tech - why not donate it instead of sending it to landfill?
The EcoSend team recently did just that, when we donated some old office tech to Community Tech Aid. Based in London, Community Tech Aid refurbishes laptops, phones and tablets that have been donated and gives them to those in the community who are in need of such equipment.
Beyond tech equipment, there’s always someone who would appreciate your old office furniture. Places such as Gumtree make it easy to donate your old items for free.
Discover: Hull’s Library Of Stuff Is Reducing Waste, Household Clutter & CO2
#6 - Provide Corporate Sustainability Training For Your Team
They say knowledge is power. So when it comes to improving your sustainability efforts as a business, why limit the conversion to the CEO or management?
Sustainability training comes in many forms. But the central aim is to make everyone aware of how they can do their bit while at work to reduce the carbon footprint of the business.
If the research we mentioned in our post What Is Climate Quitting? is anything to go by, your team is more eager to do their bit than you think.
This is based on 70% of workers saying they would be ‘proud’ to work for an employer who was committed to climate action.
#7 - Consider Switching To A Four Day Week
By taking one day a week off the typical 5 day work week, it’s perhaps no surprise that 1/5th of the carbon emissions generated by commuting can be reduced.
Even if your business works remotely, less time spent working can result in reduced digital carbon emissions from things such as email marketing, using Zoom or even having lots of computer equipment switched on for longer.
It's common to assume that working less days means also less output for your business. However, a four day week study actually found that productivity increased by 22% and 65% fewer sick days were taken.
So think less dress down Friday and more switch off Friday. 😴
#8 - Switch To Renewable Home Or Office Energy
As a business owner, you pay utility charges on things such as electricity or gas. So if you want to become a more sustainable business, it makes sense to switch to a renewable energy supplier for your operations, including if you work from home.
Renewable energy suppliers generate energy from the likes of solar and wind power. If you’re based in the UK, you might find our post A Full List Of Green Energy Suppliers In The UK helpful.
#9 - Use Green Pension Providers
Did you know that where you save or invest your money can impact the climate crisis?
On the EcoSend podcast Series 2 Episode 1, Dan Sherrard Smith told us that for every £5,000 someone holds in a Barclays current account, it equates to about 1.5 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Make My Money Matter also states that “much of the £2.6 trillion in UK pensions is contributing to the deforestation of the Amazon, helping tobacco companies sell cigarettes, and funding new fossil fuel projects.”
As a business, you can play your part by using green pension providers, and also sharing green savings and investment ideas with your team.
#10 - Unplug Electrical Devices When Not In Use
It’s a tip we all know we should be doing. The question is, do you actually do it? 🔌
As a business, you could reduce your energy consumption by up to 10% just by unplugging appliances that you’re not using. So whether that’s equipment in the middle of the day, or when you’re ready to go home in the evening - don’t leave stuff switched on that’s not in use.
According to Uswitch, the average electricity bill in the UK for 2023 is £738.45. For businesses, this figure is likely much higher. So the ability to save circa £73+ in every office or home which is somehow connected to your business (factoring in remote working) isn’t a bad deal.
This is even before you get to the carbon savings!
#11 - Own Your Office? Build An Office Rooftop Garden
While this post may be dedicated to becoming a more sustainable business, let’s not forget the need to improve biodiversity for just a second.
Adding a green roof or garden to your office roof can be extremely beneficial for the environment in your local area. This is especially the case if you work in an urbanised area with few green spaces.
Some of the most common associated benefits of rooftop gardens include:
Improved air quality
Increased bird and insect habitats
Rainwater management
Thermal regulation to reduce heating and cooling needs
Can be used to grow produce
Longer roof lifespan to reduce repairs and material requirements
Reduced noise pollution
Adding a green roof can also increase the value of a building, which could be yet another incentive for business owners to add one to their space.
Don’t have a rooftop? Introducing real office plants is the next best thing, and can also have benefits for productivity and wellbeing.
#12 - Reduce Physical Waste Produced By Your Business
While SaaS businesses might have a larger digital carbon footprint, most other businesses create some kind of physical waste.
Waste can come in various forms such as plastic, cardboard, e-waste (electronic equipment), textiles, packaging, food, construction materials, furniture, clothing and scrap metal.
As a business, your products and services may produce certain types of waste. However, other types of waste may also be produced by attending events, creating physical marketing materials or even renovating your office space.
So now is the time to think broadly about how you can reduce your material consumption and overall waste output across your entire business.
#13 - Support Remote Or Hybrid Working
A recent report by The Guardian found that "people who work from home all the time cut emissions by 54%" compared with those who work in an office.
We know that remote working or hybrid working isn’t a new concept.
However, 44% of companies still don’t support remote working according to Apollo Technical.
Granted, not every job role can be done remotely. But where your team can perform their duties with a computer and internet connection, there can be huge benefits for the climate.
In fact, when much of the world switched to remote working in April 2020, this resulted in a 17% total reduction in global CO2 emissions compared with the same time in 2019.
#14 - Stop Making & Clicking On Made For Advertising (MFA) Websites
Many advertisers use clickbait as a trick to get people to click on their content. As a result, they make money from the display ads shown on the page.
However, companies are being urged to move away from this business model, after it was found that the amount of CO2 generated by clickbait per year is the equivalent of flying 1.35 million people from London to Paris. It would require 3.7 million trees to absorb this amount of carbon.
We’re hopeful that no business reading this post uses clickbait to promote their own products and services. But even avoiding clicking on clickbait news articles or blogs can also reduce CO2 emissions.
In short, don’t create or support clickbait.
Read more: The Carbon Footprint Of Clickbait
#15 - Collaborate With Like-Minded Sustainable Organisations
As a business, it’s not always possible to do it all alone. In particular, the fear of greenwashing or greenhushing often holds businesses back when it comes to making environmentally-conscious changes.
However, by collaborating with sustainable organisations as well as your fellow business leaders, important and insightful conversions can be had. Remember, this is a learning curve for everyone!
In 2023, EcoSend partnered with TreeApp, who now plants all of our trees based on our customer usage. We’re also constantly learning about how to be more sustainable through the guests we meet on the EcoSend Podcast.
So what we’d say to other businesses big and small is to do the same. Get talking, make connections, attend sustainability events and learn how you can play your part. So long as you don’t shy away from the climate crisis, you’re at least moving in the right direction.
🗞️ - Want to keep up to speed with our efforts to reduce our impact on the environment? Sign up for the EcoSend Weekly Newsletter.
#16 - Offer Eco-Friendly Packaging Or Delivery Options
If your business sells any kind of physical products, then reducing the amount of packaging you use while lowering CO2 from shipping and logistics should be a priority for 2025.
141 million tonnes of plastic packaging is generated every year. With 99% of plastic being made from fossil fuels that adds up to a huge problem for the environment.
Online shoppers are well aware of the issue, as Statista found that 81% of consumers believed items ordered online contain too much packaging.
In a recent episode of the EcoSend podcast, we met Chemist-turned-Entrepreneur Loïc Vandermeeren who is trying to change things for the world of packaging, by making it his mission to eliminate single-use delivery boxes.
In 2025, it's time for every business to take a leaf out of Loïc's book.
#17 - Monitor & Track Progress With ESG Reporting
The Drum reports that 51% of digital advertising businesses aren’t measuring their carbon emissions. It’s fair to say that whether your business sells software or socks, that kind of mantra just won’t do if we are to solve the climate crisis.
That’s why for 2025, every business should look to monitor and track its carbon emissions through ESG reporting.
Also pay attention to sustainable vs regenerative efforts to help the climate. That’s because we can’t just sustain what we’re doing. Instead, we must do more to make up for the last 100+ years of damaging output that has led us to where we are now.
EcoSend Sustainable Email Marketing - Email Campaigns That Plant Trees
Inspired by the above tips to become a more sustainable business in 2025?
Whatever changes you make to lower your carbon footprint as a business, we hope sustainable email marketing will be one of them!
Scroll up to get a free trial of EcoSend. Or if you’re ready to jump in, our email marketing packages start at just $29 per month.
Have any questions about using EcoSend for your business? Let’s chat!
You can also learn more about EcoSend by following us on LinkedIn.
