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  4. Improve your sustainability

How to make sustainable improvements

7 minute read • Last updated: 25 February 2025

There are many practical steps you can take to reduce your environmental impact, save money and contribute to Scotland’s climate goals.

After spending time auditing your business across energy, travel and fixtures, it’s time to start making improvements and make plans for longer-term developments. These solutions can be implemented quickly with minimal investment and offer immediate or short-term results. This could be actions like switching energy supplier, joining a business network to share best practice, and creating a staff awareness programme.

In this article:

  • Working with others
  • Marketing and communications
  • Encourage customers to use active travel
  • Promote responsible tourism
  • Switch energy tariff or supplier

Working with others

To make the most impactful sustainability improvements you will need to work with others - this could be the staff at your business, other businesses in your area, or with a sustainability expert. Its important that everyone in your business is involved in your sustainability journey.

Create a staff awareness programme

Staff training and participation is key to achieving your sustainability goals. Always make sure staff know what to do, and what positive impact their actions have. No matter the size of your business, upskilling yourself and your team to change how you do things is one of the most essential steps for saving energy.

  • Check what people know

    Establish your current level of energy saving knowledge through informal chats, team meetings, or a simple survey. The Carbon Trust offers advice on how to create an awareness campaign | PDF 0.7MB.

  • Create a training plan

    Consider which job roles or departments use the most energy and tackle those areas first. Find free sustainability training, resources, and workshops from Home Energy Scotland.

  • Appoint a “green champion” or “green team”

    This person or team will be asked to increase their knowledge on everything from recycling to saving energy and other sustainability activities. Armed with this knowledge they’ll be able to make policy suggestions. You can find some green champion training from Business Energy Scotland.

  • Review and measure success

    This can help to remind everyone of best energy saving practices, but it also lets you celebrate successes and keep motivation high.

Create a low carbon travel fund

The idea is that you would tax or regulate your travel choices and then set aside the money from that into a fund that can be used to discount more sustainable travel choices.

For this to work, you basically have to play the role of a kind of “finance minister” within your own business. So, you “tax” more polluting forms of your business travel and put that money into a jar or fund. This is called “carbon pricing”, essentially putting a price on the carbon you emit.

  • Experts recommend a minimum of £80 per tonne of carbon, because a lesser amount might not have the impact you need. However, as a voluntary exercise, it’s at your discretion.
  • Calculate your carbon emissions for the previous year(s). Look at the modes of transport you regularly use that might be higher emitters, such as planes, or petrol or diesel cars.
  • “Tax” everything at first, then subsidise the journeys with a lower carbon footprint. Start retrospectively as once you’ve built up money into your fund, you could begin to plan future trips.
  • Use a carbon calculator to compare modes of transport and help you find the lowest emission option for your specific transport need.

Join a business network

Networking allows you to connect with like-minded businesses and organisations focused on sustainability. These connections can foster collaboration, allow you all to share best practices, and open doors to new partnerships.

  • Join industry networks

    Participate in groups like Scottish Community Tourism (SCOTO) or other groups aimed at promoting sustainability within the tourism sector.

  • Attend sustainable tourism events

    Conferences and workshops are excellent opportunities to learn, share insights, and collaborate on sustainability projects. Check out our events calendar to see what’s on.

Hire a sustainability expert

If you are struggling for time, resources or knowledge then you might want to hire a sustainability expert or consultant. Most green consultancies will give you a free quote, and there are some affordable options out there.

Examples of consultancies:

  • Carey Tourism – specialising in sustainable tourism, the Scottish-based Carey Tourism offers advice to businesses in the sector on how to reduce their environmental impact and enhance community engagement.
  • Small99 – this small business consultancy offers insights into responsible offsetting practices.
  • Green Small Business – this organisation offers services to help businesses improve sustainability across a range of areas, including waste reduction and energy efficiency.
  • The Climate Springboard by the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute – this programme offers tailored online workshops available to Scottish small and medium enterprises, covering topics related to net-zero strategies and supply chain requirements.

Marketing and communications

Share your sustainability journey

Promoting your sustainability efforts in your marketing materials helps attract the growing segment of sustainable travellers and ensures you are transparent with your current status and future plans.

  • Communicate your sustainability efforts in all marketing materials, including on your website and social media channels.
  • Use storytelling to demonstrate how your business supports the environment and local community.
  • Highlight any certifications and awards.
  • Use your marketing platforms to show how customers can travel more responsibly.
  • Keep in touch with your local DMO and sector group for opportunities to collaborate on sustainability-themed campaigns
  • You could also co-create sustainability-focused content with local tourism bodies and other businesses.

Encourage customers to use active travel

Promote the use of public transport, cycling, and walking for customers. Provide customers with clear information on your website and on-site on how to get to your business and around the local area by public transport. This can include signposting to the nearest rail stations, offering free transfers to and from stations, discounted bike hire, partnering with tour providers to provide walking tours, and providing facilities such as bike racks, lockers, showers, and good signage. You could also include ideas and incentives to give the car a day off.

Promote responsible tourism

When highlighting local attractions or activities, businesses should focus on promoting sustainable, low-impact options. Visitors are increasingly seeking eco-friendly and responsible travel experiences.

You should recommend:

  • Activities that minimise environmental harm.
  • Exploring Scotland’s outdoors on foot or by bike instead of driving.
  • Eco-conscious accommodations and activities that prioritise sustainability.
  • Local, sustainable dining options, tours focused on conservation, or accommodations that use renewable energy.

Switch energy tariff or supplier

Transitioning to renewable energy is critical for Scotland’s efforts to reduce emissions, as the energy sector is one of the largest contributors to carbon emissions.

Find out when your current contract ends and what green energy options your current supplier offers. Shop around and get quotes from other suppliers too.

Some larger suppliers offer “green” or 100% renewable tariffs specifically tailored for the Scottish market. Good Energy, Ecotricity, and Octopus Energy are examples of suppliers with options that supply electricity generated from wind, solar, and hydro power.

Be wary that not all forms of renewable energy are equally green, for example, solar and wind energy will be better than biomass.

Find guidance on switching suppliers with Energy Saving Trust.

Medium-term sustainability changes

From improving your waste systems to working with local suppliers, these improvements might need a bit of planning, but they are very achievable. It's just a case of building this into your climate action plan so you know what will make the biggest improvements and what's achievable for your business.

Medium-term sustainability improvements

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Your guide to net zero and sustainability

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How to create your climate action plan

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