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Getting Started
What is "good enough" to get started
You don't need everything to be perfect to start. You need the essentials organised.
The essentials for your first report
- For the environment: how much electricity you consumed in the last 12 months (it's on your bills), how much water you consumed (same), and how much waste you generated (waste operator records).
- For social: how many employees you have and how many workplace accidents you recorded.
- For governance: whether you have a code of ethics or anti-corruption policy.
If you don't have some of this data, don't make it up. The Voluntary Standard allows you to indicate that certain information is not applicable or has been omitted. Honesty is more credible than fabricated data.
If the data isn't perfect, that's fine. The first sustainability report creates a baseline. From there, you improve year after year.
Quick checklist to get started
Electricity bills from the last month, or the month with highest consumption
Water bills from the last month, or the month with highest consumption
Waste operator records (if available)
Total number of employees
Workplace accident records, if any
Code of ethics (if one exists)
If you have at least your energy and water bills and know how many employees you have, you can start your sustainability report on Bsustain.
Getting Started
01What is business sustainability (in practice)02What is ESG (without jargon)03What are sustainability reports and what are they for04What is the Voluntary Standard (VS) and ESRS, and why they exist05Am I required to have a sustainability report?06What is "good enough" to get started07How Bsustain simplifies all of this08Who regulates sustainability09What are the advantages of being a sustainable company10What is an SME (European definition)