Green business policy
THE Women Entrepreneurs Business Council (WEBC) and other stakeholders met for their final consultations on development for a Green Business policy at the Holiday Inn, Suva yesterday.
The stakeholder’s session was a buildup on the project “Green Wave: Advancing Women’s green entrepreneurship in Fiji.”
The proposed project is designed to assist WEBC to adopt a green policy to help guide the operations of their members and to re-invigorate Fiji’s economy given the impacts of COVID-19 and climate -related events.
Adapting to sustainability and the tools used over the years to achieve sustainability was the major discussion as panellists Rohini Hamid director Sea and Soil, Sandeep Chauhan managing director Star Printery, Mue Bentley director Mana Coffee, and Tiko Ledua director Ledua’s Creation, talked about their journey towards a more economical environment over the years.
The panellist shared their experiences of keeping in mind customer needs, being environment friendly, and identifying appropriate sustainability frameworks during their journey so far.
“The hardest part about adopting to sustainability is that it is expensive and costly. It is all about getting everyone to follow the policies set for achieving sustainability and getting those policies aligned with actions,” said Ms Bentley.
“It is easier when we start businesses with the concept of achieving sustainability but it can be difficult if we have to include or introduce them to businesses after years of operation.
“Since I started my business, I am focused on achieving sustainability keeping in mind customer needs. We have plant-based packaging for all our takeaways and we just must go with this keeping in mind customer needs and our goals towards achieving a more economical environment,” she said.
Mr Chauhan of Star Printery said having a right mindset and a policy would enable us to achieve sustainability.
A good 12-month process is needed by the company to achieve and change towards a more sustainable practice.
“For me it started with discussions at office as to how we can achieve sustainability or what was more economical looking at the changes we shifting towards.
“A lot of discussions and thoughts into designs for new products that are more environment friendly and sustainable were done over the years.
“Most sustainable movement or changes are not customer driven but a next generation movement driven by Climate Change,” he added.
During the discussions Ms Hamid of Sea and Soil shed light on how her projects at Sea and Soil was all about achieving sustainability and environmentally friendly.
“Sea and Soil is a triple bottom line sustainable company. It is a social enterprise which embraces its objectives around people and the planet. We keep in mind of our customer needs and at the same time we work on achieving a sustainable environment,” she explained.
Present at the discussions were over 20 stakeholders who also discussed their challenges relating to sustainability and the need to relook at existing practices in their businesses.
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