Dotdigital blog

World Environment Day 2020

The air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat all come from nature. That’s why we need to do all we can to help it.
For some time now, it feels as though there’s been a shift in the public’s perception of environmental issues. Recent events have raised the desperate plight of Nature to a global stage on which to be heard. Prolific environmentalists Sir David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg are changing minds one speech and documentary at a time. Wildfires ravaged Brazil, the US, and Australia. Floods, cyclones, hurricanes, and droughts are being reported at an alarmingly frequent rate. Even the global pandemic we’re currently experiencing has forced us to think more about our impact on the Earth as smog-filled skies cleared and wildlife returned to the Venetian canals.

Green living

For a long time, the general message around going green and looking after the environment has been focused on our individual actions. Don’t drive, cycle. Don’t fly, take a train. Eat less meat. Reduce, reuse, and recycle before sending to the landfill. But, as traction has grown for environmental issues on a global scale, attention has started to turn towards the organizations that run our economies. What is their impact on the environment and what are they doing to change or improve it? As countries around the world declare a climate emergency, how are these businesses going to help the countries in which they operate? It’s the public demand for answers to these questions that are driving systemic change. The only way for green living to become the norm is through its adoption by businesses and governments. As consumers, employees, and voters become increasingly conscious of their personal environmental impact, they’re forcing businesses to look inwards at their own footprint on the Earth. If they want to continue to be supported by the public, they need to start making a change.
Climate change protest

What are we doing?

At dotdigital, we’ve always prided ourselves for being champions for all things online. When email marketing first took off, it was laughed at. They said it would never surmount the traditional marketing of print and direct mail. For us, one of the best things about the emergence of digital marketing has been a dramatic decrease in demand for printed advertisements. But simply facilitating brands’ online marketing efforts isn’t enough. We know that there is a lot more we could be doing. That’s why we set up the dotgreen project. Through this project, we’ll be making the essential organizational changes that’ll help drive us toward a more sustainable future. And, we hope, it’ll be a significant help to our customers and partners who are working hard to go greener.

Making a positive impact

Thankfully, getting started wasn’t all that hard for us. With so many employees concerned about the environment and customers doing their part in mitigating climate change, we’ve been on a greener path for some time now. When it comes to vendors and service suppliers, we’ve chosen some that have excellent green credentials. But that’s not where it stops. As part of the dotgreen project, we’re looking at ways we can go green, from the bottom up. This means looking into renewable energy providers and biogas suppliers. What are we recycling? What should we be recycling that we’re not? How much waste are we producing and how can we reduce it? These are just some of the first steps we’re taking on our journey.
New shoot growing new beginnings for environment on World Environment Day

Becoming agents of change

At dotdigital, we’ve been lucky to have come up against no resistance to our plans for a greener future. But we know this is not always the case. It’s important that if we want something to change, we can change it. No matter how big or small it might be, it will have an impact. If you want to bring organizational change to your company, you have to become the agent for change. No matter where you are or where you sit in the company hierarchy, there’s a rapidly growing appetite for change; you won’t be alone. One of the most important things about working towards a greener future is working together.

Join the conversation

We recently hosted an exclusive ‘In common’ webinar looking at ways we can steer our way to a greener future. From becoming an advocate of change at work to little shifts in your day-to-day life, I and a panel of inspirational speakers discuss ways we can all live a more sustainable lifestyle. Listen today and become the agents of change for tomorrow. dotdigital has also produced an insightful guide into how to introduce ethical marketing into your business practices. To discover how your company could be doing more, download today.
Ethical ecommerce ebook download
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