10 Actionable Steps to Make Your Startup More Sustainable in 2025

Startups have a huge impact on the environment. These impacts can be either large or small. Startup sustainability is growing and it’s becoming a must to comply with environmental standards. 

69% of businesses are showing interest for their companies to invest in sustainability. This means that customers are more interested than ever in doing so and are concerned about the environment more than before. 

In this article, we’ll dive deeper into learning more on which steps you can take to make your startup more sustainable in 2025. 

1. Create a green product 

If your company’s mission is sustainable from the beginning, you have many opportunities to create eco-friendly product designs. When you do so, it’s important to prioritize sustainable materials.

Regardless if you are a manufacturer, or running a construction site, you need to pay close attention to whether they have these products or not: 

1. Sourced sustainability: It’s always important to source products from manufacturers that are implementing environment-friendly products. 
2. Fair trade: You can always look if manufacturers possess fair-trade certifications. Fair-trade policies make sure that workers are getting the wages they need for working in better conditions and practicing sustainability much more. 
3. Reusable: Use reusable packaging to prevent them from being thrown in the bin, unused. 
4. Recyclable: Whenever it’s possible, use products that are recyclable. This helps in minimizing environmental impact. 
5. Locally sourced: You can order materials that come from small businesses in your community. It not only supports your local economy, but strongly reduces emissions. 

Creating an environmentally-friendly product is a big win for everyone so it’s now time to reconsider all of the materials you are using. 

2. Offer remote work options 

As the online world continues to evolve, there is less need for people to be in physical offices. Remote work is taking over and is becoming more common across the world and let’s face it, 91% of employees worldwide claim that they want to work remotely. 

Remote work is helping people take a break and allowing them to have a better work-life balance, reducing their time to go to the office and expenses. This is great for our environment since it means less vehicles on the road and less Carbon Dioxide (CO2) being emitted. 

While this change might not seem large, it helps reduce your carbon footprint and traffic overtime. With less people in the office, companies can also reduce office costs such as money spent on heating, lighting, and other office-related costs. 

3. Green shipping and delivery 

Small business sustainability is an ongoing process even after your products have shipped. Going green reduces carbon footprint and the only way to achieve this is by following these practices: 

1. Encourage customers to make multiple orders and offer them discounts for it. Bulk purchases have a smaller impact on the environment. 
2. Avoid putting boxed items into another box before shipping.
3. Avoid using big boxes when they aren’t needed. For instance, when the package is small, you can use a smaller box. 

Moreover, materials you want to stay away from are plastic wrap, cushioning, styrofoam, and standard mailing pouches with plastic bubble lining. 

4. Use green office supplies 

The online world has evolved so fast and effectively, it has made it possible to reduce paper usage. Most offices aren’t using paper anymore since they can already input any kind of important information somewhere in an online document. 

If you have an office and rely on paper, it’s best to switch to post-recycled content. Recycled paper can reduce landfills and save more trees. Choosing recycled paper has a ripple effect and when there are less landfills, this significantly reduces water and energy consumption. Each tree that is saved from recycled paper will absorb a considerable amount of carbon dioxide each year. 

Other than papers, companies are now switching to green office supplies. Common green office supplies you can use include: 

1. Recycled paper
2. Eco-friendly pencils and pens 
3. Reusable notebooks 
4. Energy-efficient electronics 
5. Recycled ink 
6. Non-toxic cleaning supplies 
7. Reusable coffee cups 
8. Reusable water bottles 

By using green office supplies, you aren’t only reducing carbon footprint, but also having a positive commitment to sustainability which has a great influence on your brand image. 

5. Improve energy efficiency 

Energy efficiency is something many businesses prioritize. Through these initiatives, companies can significantly reduce operational costs and reliance on fossil fuels and electricity. Electricity savings also have a positive impact on reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Studies show that the United States has saved more than 145 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from improving energy efficiency. 

Improving energy efficiency has a positive impact on reducing energy costs and reducing your reliance on fossil fuels. If you want to follow the best practices, here’s what you can do: 

1. Use LED lighting: Lighting plays an important role in a building’s energy consumption. Using LEDs has a positive impact on energy saving and reducing your electricity bill. 
2. Upgrade your insulation: If your office is in an old building, your best bet is to upgrade your insulation. When insulation is better, it can retain cold air and trap heat when required. Nevertheless, this is a win for you since you don’t need to use much of your cooling and heating system. 
3. Purchase equipment that is energy efficient: Everything you purchase will include a sign of how energy-efficient it’s. For example, if you purchase a refrigerator, you might see its grade rating on how energy efficient it’s. 
4. Organize freight transport: Another way to optimize energy usage is to change the way you ship goods. You can use truck transportations for shorter distances and choose rails for longer-ones. 

Energy efficiency is important so always reconsider the way you are using your energy and what kind of changes you can make. 

6. Conserve water where you can 

Conserving water is an excellent way to save money on utilities and help you achieve your sustainability goals. Reducing water consumption overall helps save electricity that is used for heating water. 

Additionally, you can implement no-touch sensors and this helps since it prevents others from leaving taps running. In case you have a sprinkler system, you can program it to only stay on during specific hours. 

7. Use secondhand finds 

You don’t need to always have first-hand material in your office. While it does take lots of effort and energy to make raw material for chairs, tables, desks, and other office-related material, businesses can easily go green by using recycled furniture. 

This makes sure that functional furniture won’t be thrown into landfills and therefore, has a positive impact on the environment. 

8. Use green web hosting services 

While some people might not know, websites use energy too. Web hosting servers are continuously using data and this uses a good amount of energy. Good enough, businesses have the choice to choose where their data is going to be stored. 

For example, Google has managed to decarbonize its data centers and claims that it produces zero net carbon emissions. On the other hand, Amazon is promising the same until 2040 by using solar and wind farms. 

9. Establish partnerships with green businesses 

Web hosting is only one way that you can reduce carbon emissions, but establishing partnerships with green businesses is another great way to go. Carbon-neutral vendors can be found in many major industries. 

Overall, green businesses have a huge contribution to improving sustainability and this is how they manage to do so: 

1. Offering eco-friendly products and services
2. Encourages recycling and upcycling 
3. Offers renewable energy solutions 
4. Provides you with consulting services on improving sustainability 
5. Promotes green office initiatives 

Choosing to work with green businesses not only helps support the planet but improves your business reputation as socially responsible. 

10. Educate your team 

Educating your team on improving sustainability is an important step in building an environmentally responsible organization. It doesn’t only happen that businesses reduce their environmental impact but also fosters a culture of awareness and increases responsibility amongst employees. 

1. Provide training: Host regular sessions on how important sustainability is, and highlight actionable practices. 
2. Integrate sustainability into your onboarding process: Include sustainability practices as part of your onboarding process to make sure everyone is following eco-friendly habits from the first day. 
3. Foster employee involvement: It’s important to share ideas for improving sustainability. 
4. Reward and recognize efforts: Acknowledge teams or individuals who contribute to sustainability goals. Recognition can be in the form of awards or incentives. 

By fostering a sustainable-focused workplace, you can strongly contribute to a more green environment. 

Adopting sustainable practices is an advantage for startups in 2025

By following these steps in reducing waste, utilizing renewable energy, and taking advantage of green technologies, businesses can significantly lower operational costs and improve their brand reputation by positively contributing to the environment. 

Sustainability is a journey that builds long-term success for your business and fosters innovation. Embracing these practices not only benefits your reputation, but it’s significantly reducing costs for your business as well and increasing energy efficiency.