Do you know a business that should probably reduce their environmental impact? Now is the time to let them know. Not only are they likely contributing to climate change, among other things, but they are probably missing out on opportunities to connect with and keep more customers like you.

At Circle, we believe in ground-up sustainability, whereby our community nominates businesses they know or work with to reduce their environmental impact, and we help those businesses do what they need to do. Here is everything you need to know about nominating a business.

Which businesses should reduce their impact

The short answer is everybody. It is nearly impossible to run a business right now without having a negative environmental impact. However, it is possible. If you know of a company that is not actively seeking to understand and reduce their environmental footprint, you should nominate them.

To make this easier, we’ve broken it down into four categories, each of which is laid out below.

How to get the company you work for to reduce their environmental impact

First of all, inquire into whether there are any committees, environmental consultants, or teams in place already. If so, speak to them to learn more about what is going on within the company.

If not, you have two choices. You can opt to start a committee or internal team yourself. Take on the responsibility and excitement of leading your company’s environmental transition. This is a good option if you have a strong understanding of environmental science and how your business contributes to climate change. Alternatively, you can nominate your employer on our website, allowing us to reach out to them on your behalf.

How to get a supplier to reduce their environmental impact

Do you have a supplier that should pay more attention to their environmental footprint? You’re not the only one. Certifications like ISO have long been used to encourage suppliers and other B2B companies to manage and reduce their environmental impacts. We encourage you to reach out to them and request that they either pursue certification or perform an assessment of their operations.

If you don’t already have environmental policy in place regarding procurement, you could begin there. Procurement policy is a great mechanism to use to motivate your supply chain to up their environmental game.

If you already have policy in place, or you want them to take it a step further, simply nominate them on our website and we’ll do the rest!

How to get a client to reduce their environmental impact

It can be difficult to ask a client to do anything out of the scope of your contract, but it is generally a good idea to make recommendations that will help them grow and sustain their business. If you are noticing their negative environmental impacts, other people probably are too. You can reach out to them directly with the comment, and/or you can nominate them on our website and have us do the honours.

How to get a local business to reduce their environmental impact

Some of the businesses we buy from most frequently are our local cafes, retailers, restaurants, and service providers. It’s important to help them understand that they could make your experience better by making a choice to integrate sustainable practices. If you are noticing it, other customers are too.

Not to mention, they may be able to find some real business benefits of doing so!

Start by talking to a manager or employee there and making a recommendation. The best thing you can do is let them know it matters to you, and recommend some alternatives for them.

How nomination works

It's easy to help a business reduce their environmental impact. We have a tool that allows you to recommend a company for us to reach out to. Here's how it works:

Go to Nominate a Company, fill out the form, and click submit!

We'll do the rest. It's that easy.

What happens after you nominate a company

You might be thinking: “What happens after I click ‘Submit Nomination’?”

The first thing we do is check to see whether you are the first. If so, we do some research on the business. We won’t reach out until we have a good understanding of their business, potential impacts, and potential solutions. If they have already been nominated, we follow up with the contact from the initial nomination.

If we have a connection in the company, we’ll go directly to them and let them know that they have been nominated. Once we get a dialog going, we begin to discover opportunities to understand their impact and we make recommendations to reduce it.  

If they become a client, we devote ourselves to helping them work towards net-zero emissions and zero waste as fast as possible, while also mitigating any other impacts and ensuring they have a strong business case for doing so.