The Importance of Sustainable Business Practices

Sustainable Business Practices Matter

In recent years, sustainable business practices have become the foundation of successful enterprises worldwide, and Merkaela is no exception. Fact is the longevity of a business is very much tied to the wellness and longevity of the community it serves. That is because the long-term effects of manufacturing, production, and consumerism could have a monumentally negative environmental and social impact. Therefore, it’s immeasurably important for emerging enterprises to make sustainability one of the pillars on which they build their business.

How does one define “sustainability”?

In ecology, it’s the ability of a biological system to remain diverse while highly productive for long periods of time; in other words, indefinitely. In simpler terms, however, it refers to the ability of something to endure, whether it’s a biological system, a business model, or a process of some other kind. One of the ways of making sure something lasts is through sustainable development, which envelops the following four verticals: ecology, economics, politics and culture. Neglecting one of these inevitably causes problems with the others.

Let’s talk about “sustainable development”!

In many ways, the politics and economics of a particular country can directly dictate what happens to the ecology and culture of that region. It’s difficult for us to talk about the negative environmental and social impacts of illegal poaching and exotic animal trafficking in an area where people are starving, have absolutely no social or economic mobility, and are missing infrastructure and/or institutions geared toward rectifying the situation. While we may understand the devastation these activities can bring, we must also realize that without sustainable development these problems will continue.

Recently, it looks like this understanding is starting to seep in, especially among new business entrepreneurs. For one, governments across the western world have been putting increasing pressure on businesses to implement practices that have little to no negative environmental impact. Furthermore, an increasing number of investors started to show interest in sustainable businesses, seeing them as more worthy projects with better long-term revenue projections.

If for example, the environmental and carbon footprint of a newly emerging enterprise is too great, investors may not want to be associated with the company as it will hinder their investment prospects in the future. Statistical analysis shows us that companies that have a proven track record in global as well as local sustainability are more successful than companies that don’t, and this is not surprising in the slightest. Employee productivity is higher, customer retention rates are better, and a lot more partnership and sponsorship opportunities come around for businesses that make sustainable development one of their main priorities.

What about the people?

But sustainability has also been a growing interest among the public, which is becoming increasingly more concerned about the devastation certain big businesses are causing in their pursuit of natural resources. When we consider the simple fact that 7.4 billion people now populate our tiny planet, it’s blatantly clear that without sustainable business practices we can easily irreversibly damage our water, air, and soil. The rise in public demand for improvements has led to a business that previously showed absolutely no interest in going green to pursuit more manageable long-term solutions.

According to Eco-Officiency:

“The Natural Marketing Institute (NMI) has found in their consumer research that knowing a company is mindful of its impact on the environment and society makes consumers 58% more likely to buy their products or services. A subculture called ‘Cultural Creatives’ has been emerging for the past 40 years and is now in the mainstream leading this sustainable revolution. This demographic according to the NMI is roughly estimated at 68 million adult Americans who make purchasing decisions based on their personal, social and environmental values.  They find consumers are willing to spend up to 20% more on environmental sound products and services.”

At Merkaela, we realize the importance of sustainable business practices, which is why we are dedicated to bringing you the products made of materials ethically sourced from around the world. But, we are also actively working with local brands and companies that are dedicated to sustainable development to ensure our ecological and carbon footprint is absolutely minimal. Furthermore, our advocacy is not only limited to NOT contributing to the problem, we are also dedicated to doing what we can to solve it, which is why we donate a % of our revenue to improving water infrastructure as well as other environmental causes.

By engaging in sustainable business practices, we make sure that our wellness products are not only good for you but are also good for the world we share.

References

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/sustainability-key-corporate-success
http://www.eco-officiency.com/benefits_becoming_sustainable_business.html
http://merkaela.com/