Small Businesses in Wales Say They Don’t Have the Time or Resources to be More Green

Written by Safeer Mughal

Small businesses are quite different from large enterprises and multinational companies. They have their challenges and hurdles. They are started from humble beginnings, sometimes with limited resources.

Every year, Wales sees 9,485 new enterprises that fall in the category of small business establishments. Some of the most common small businesses include the storage service industry, hospitality industry, and vendors of various products.

A persistent challenge for Wales and requires some serious planning is the imminent threat of global warming and non-recyclable trash accumulation.

Not only Wales but the whole world is also going through a horrible phase of alarming levels of pollution that are detrimental to the environment and atmosphere. Businesses, especially the automotive, transportation, and agriculture industries, contribute to global warming by electric and heat emissions.

It is about time we start taking some responsibility and actively put in efforts to make this world a better place, not for us but for generations to come. Going green is not only in-trend. It is the need of time.

Green companies actively look into solutions to minimize waste and carbon footprint. They produce products that are made with recycled material and can be recycled in the future. Green companies tend to be environmentally responsible.

The Federation of Small Business in Wales is very proactive on this front. All the small businesses collectively have issued a statement that they acknowledge that going green is the right thing to do, but they have limited resources that limit their efforts.

Time

Going green is not as simple as it may sound. It requires a lot of planning and strategies to streamline the production process to reduce carbon, heat, and electrical emission.

To develop environmentally friendly products, vendors have to source organic and pure materials. The Federation Small Business in Wales has made the notion that they don’t have the time to go out of their way and source environmentally friendly materials.

It may take a couple of years to change how things work slowly, it may take time, but the small businesses will get there eventually.

Innovation

Another concern raised by the Federation of Small Businesses is that they have limited resources for innovating new production techniques. Going green means adopting such practices that minimize the waste and carbon footprint in production and when it is discarded.

When following environmentally safe practices, even the slightest changes make a big difference. Many businesses, including the self-storage industry, have transitioned to only using recyclable packaging and packing material.

They avoid plastic as much as they can and use only biodegradable plastic if it is highly necessary. The hospitality industry has also made some pretty innovative changes to reduce plastic waste and non-recyclable trash accumulation.

Just by switching to steel straws instead of plastic straws and cutlery, the hospitality industry has done tremendously well. To combat the threat of global warming, all we need is a bit of innovation and a problem-solving attitude.

Investment

We all know, organic and home-grown produce costs three times more than mass-produced products. Making the whole process comply with ‘Green’ practices will surely require much investment. The switch to environmentally safe practices faces two hurdles, acceptance by the general population and the fact that it costs more.

On the one hand, you have the option of buying more stuff that looks great and costs cheaper, and on the other hand, you have the option to buy stuff that is a bit expensive but is not harmful to the already deteriorating environment. People have a hard time choosing what’s better for the environment as opposed to themselves.

Small businesses especially are faced with this dilemma. If they switch to going green, they have to raise prices which in return affect their sales. Small businesses have a minimal financial cushion to fall back on.

Acceptance

Even though many people are aware and well-informed regarding the consequences of fast fashion, disposable utensils, one-time-use products, and unnecessary electric emission products, they have a hard time accepting this fact. The government, the people and the business sector should unite to create better living conditions for our generations to come.

The very first step to solving the problem is to acknowledge the severity of the situation. Once we are aware of the problem, we can combat it effectively.

People should be more accepting towards companies joining the initiative of going green and supporting them by availing the products and services they have to offer. Only then can we aim for a better life, not only for residents of Wales but the whole world.

About the author

SAFEER MUGHAL, Owner of Digindev, Marketing Director at Igeneox, completed His Software Engineering Bachelors Education & is currently maintaining digital marketing services for multiple businesses