Indeed, it appears small to medium-sized enterprises have the upper hand when it comes to developing innovative, sustainable practices and green products and services.
Andrea Carroll, corporate sustainability consultant with Arc Sustainability, believes they are more innovative.
“For big businesses it can be a case of retro-fitting, but small firms are innovating new sustainable practices through identifying products and services, and spotting a niche where there’s a new growth area for greener, sustainable businesses,” she says.
Yes, larger companies can commit the resources to boost their green credentials. Siemens highlighted this recently when it offered to lend the State money to install up to 1.1 million domestic water meters around Ireland.
The move by the multinational is part of a range of measures that has seen its own bank finance energy-saving measures in government departments and public buildings.
Also this month, Lagan Cement, which is part of the larger Lagan Group, positioned itself to the forefront of sustainable business practice by launching a biodiversity action plan and nature walk.
The company hopes to have one of the most environmentally friendly plants in Europe at its 600-acre manufacturing facility in Kinnegad, Co Meath. It has highlighted a number of species on the site, with the walk taking in areas including lakes and sandbanks created by prior excavation.
But fear not, small firms. Carroll acknowledges that large multinationals are often seen as leaders in the area of sustainability, but she says small firms have the ability to adapt quicker and change their processes and products to become more sustainable.
“They’re seeing and meeting a demand that’s not being met by bigger business,” she adds.
A NATURAL PORTFOLIO
Carroll points to the success story of Tom’s of Maine, a natural personal-care product company, which was founded by husband and wife Tom and Kate Chappell in the Seventies.
The company’s first product was a non-polluting phosphate-free washing powder called Clearlake, and it went on to develop a portfolio of natural soap, toothpaste and other healthcare products. Its policy has always been to advocate for clean water.
Over the years, it built a strong reputation for producing environmentally friendly products, and in 2006 was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive, which took a controlling 84pc stake in the firm, for a reported US$100m.
Cloud-computing company Dediserve is an example of an Irish small firm that developed with the green agenda in mind. The two-year-old Dublin-based firm provides hosting services to its clients, which in turn allows them to remove the need for hardware and high electricity costs.
HOW THE CLOUD IS GREEN
The cloud-hosting model is green because it requires less servers to host the same number of users than a dedicated server farm.
Managing director of Dediserve, Aidan McCarron, says that while cost is the main motivation for companies to use the service of a cloud-computing server, they are attracted by the green aspects also.
“Several new studies have been released claiming that the aggregate emissions of all web servers around the world will contain as much carbon as the entire airline industry by 2020,” says McCarron.
“Virtual servers consume less than 5pc of the power of a physical server while giving you the exact same functionality, which means you can run 20 virtual servers off the same power as one physical server. This reduces your power consumption massively.”
One Dediserve server rack is now the equivalent to 25 traditional racks of servers. McCarron says the green agenda is a big driver in terms of how business is being done. His clients agree, it would seem.
Set up in February 2008, the company is already in expansion mode and recently bought Belfast-based Venture Host. This has helped it break through to the UK market, and has clients around the world.
McCarron says the firm plans to make other acquisitions in the UK and US in the medium term.
Being innovative in your sustainability practices will win you clients, as many of the larger retail giants and businesses look to their suppliers to ensure they are also environmentally responsible.
SUSTAINABLE LAUNDRY
Dalkey-based firm Crisp Dry Cleaning and Laundry Service has won a lot of business due to its very innovative environmentally sustainable practices.
“In order to minimise our impact on the environment, we have actively pursued new technology and products to help us with that process,” says Andrew Collins, managing director.
The company worked with Louth-based manufacturers Dormer Ireland to develop plastic hangers made from 100pc recyclable products, and started providing them to customers two years ago. The hangers have been designed in such a way that they have eliminated the need for cardboard sleeves.
Crisp further reduced its carbon footprint by packing up its dry cleaning with nylon reusable loyalty bags, effectively eliminating wire-hanger and plastic-bag waste.
The firm also carries out a system called wet cleaning, which is a more environmentally sustainable form of dry cleaning.
“Our mission statement for the 21st century is to be as green and as responsible as we can be. Everything we can do and are doing and every piece of technology we look at putting into our business would back up this philosophy,” he says.
Every year, the company commits a budget to researching different systems to achieve those goals. Collins’ ultimate aim is that Crisp will eliminate the non-sustainable dry-cleaning system and replace it with a more environmentally sustainable system.
He says the decision to implement this policy into his business was both a personal and a professional one.
“It’s important because first as a father with two very small children I wanted to be environmentally responsible. As a businessman it’s a wonderful challenge to source locally produced sustainable products without increasing my overhead but reducing it. That’s very exciting,” he adds.
The return on the investment of the hangers has been about €2 per hanger, according to Collins, who says he has reduced his overheads by a significant 10pc in the past year.
Collins says it has been a great way to distinguish his firm from the competition. He has also marketed the company, which was set up in 2004, by giving school presentations around the Dalkey and Shankill areas about how sustainability practices can cut down on waste.
“I find it quite enlightening and the response we have received from students has been very good,” he says. Being innovative in your sustainability practices, whether that’s through establishing business processes or developing greener products and services, is a win-win situation it would seem.
This article first appeared in OwnerManager magazine.