Faced with the pandemic, many people were forced to turn their lives around 180 degrees. Suddenly, overnight, a large number of unknowns, unfulfilled plans, postponed meetings, and missed business opportunities appeared in our lives. But at the same time, a lot of good things appeared, which we may not even have been aware of – a greater focus was placed on small domestic OPGs, which also led to healthier food on our menu, and we spent more time with those we normally don’t devote enough time to. , we worked on ourselves and our health more than usual. Let’s be honest, nature also took a break from us! The air has become cleaner due to less travel by airplanes and cars, some cities have been reborn due to the lack of tourists who walk their streets every day, and we have given the planet a chance to breathe. So why are we so eager to get back to the old ways? Will we ever go back to the old ways?
Today we are faced with a new normal, but I have to say that I really like this normal. We have not lost human contact because we are still in touch with dear people, colleagues, and clients, restrictions have disappeared, but our focus has changed and, for many people, I believe, evolved. The fact that makes me extremely happy is that a lot of people have wondered if the pandemic, as well as the earthquakes and fires that have been current for the past few months, is nature’s cry and a way of making people aware of what we are actually doing to the planet we live on.
What I see, whether from clients, on social networks, or through some other forms of communication, is a situation where people are starting to think more and more about sustainability. I deliberately did not say about ecology, because ecology is only one segment of sustainability along with economy and society. People began to care about other people and showed solidarity, they also care about budgets and the financial consequences that this situation will have on them and their companies.
When we start applying sustainable business in companies, we actually realize how much it saves us. I will try to show you this through a few examples: If you, as a company, buy bottled water for your employees, you also buy plastic cups with it, which are expensive (not much individually, but add up in total), and also increase the amount of garbage we pay for. Why not just provide your employees with glasses? Or for example, the individual bins that all employees have at their desks contain mixed waste. Why not provide recycling bins where waste is sorted and thus save on rubbish bills? Just look at the amount of paper you print on everyday levels. Are they necessary? Digitization proved to be a solution that increased employee productivity by 30%. So why print? If you have a need for printing, and for internal purposes, why not print the document in such a way that you print two pages on one and on both sides? In this way, you will save many times on both paper and toner.
We do big things with small steps. And that is exactly why we all need to turn to more efficient business, (because sustainability can be applied in all segments and departments of the company), a sustainable way of managing the company, but also socially responsible business, which is needed in these moments more than ever before. That’s why, let’s all show together that we can be socially responsible, that we can help and make it easier for nature to breathe, but also that in all this we also think about the economic side of the story of our business. Let’s make this pandemic positive for us – let’s reset ourselves, understand what is really important to us, and move forward with all our strength.
