Businesses are microcosms of the world: and if you’re the boss, you’re the one making the rules.
So what’s stopping you from making it the best world it can be?
Click any of the images to see them at a larger size.
STOP THE ROT
Local restaurants can donate their leftover food to the homeless — or like this bagel shop, turn it into beer!
Better still, see if there’s a set-up like the Real Junk Food Project which will collect waste food and turn it into meals for those who need it.
Image by Riyadh Rateme
HANG UP A WELCOME SIGN
If you own a business or work somewhere public, display a sign to make it clear that everyone is welcome.
In Portland, Oregon, USA, the Independent Publishing Resource Center made signs that read: We welcome ALL races,ALL religions, ALL countries of origin, ALL sexual orientations, ALL genders. We stand with you. You are safe here.
If you’re a maker, you can produce something similar — and make them available to others. Offer them via social media, using your local hashtag, Facebook page or message board.
Image by Sally-Anne Hickman
PAY WELL
Fair pay means giving employees a wage that covers a basic standard of living with some extra to account for unexpected costs or to go towards building a more secure future.
The Living Wage Foundation say: “In low paid sectors a vicious cycle of high levels of staff turnover and absenteeism can drive problems of operational inefficiency, low standards and weak productivity that hit the bottom line.”
If you employ staff, consider joining companies like Brewdog and Oliver Bonas which pay the real living wage. You’ll bring a piece of mind to your workforce. You’ll nurture happier, more engaged workers who’ll stick around. And you’ll reflect fair values back into your business
Image by Beth Dawson
CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL
In Madrid, one restaurant charges its customers during the day, and uses the profits to feed the homeless in the evening.
Image by Jeroen Janssen
EMPLOY THE LESS EMPLOYABLE
Could you give a job to someone who would find it hard to secure work elsewhere?
Consider recruiting from groups such as ex-convicts – giving them less reason to return to a life of crime – or those with autism, learning difficulties or disabilities, allowing them a chance for paid work that few others may offer.
Image by Wallis Eates
GO CROSS-COUNTRY
Taking fewer flights can be a reward in itself, if you take time to enjoy the journey as well as the destination.
Work in some extra time to go by train, boat, bus, bicycle, or a combination of all the above — and let your employees do the same.
Image by Myfanwy Tristram
SKIM YOUR PROFITS
Comic makers can donate some of their proceeds to organisations that need the support (and include information about them in the publication, to help spread the word).
In fact, of course, anyone who sells anything can advertise that they’ll donate a percentage of the takings to a worthy cause.
Image by Pete Renshaw
PUT OUT A WELCOME MAT
Let refugees know that they are welcome.
Befriend them, give them a friendly smile, put a poster up in your window (or that of your workplace), donate clothes and toys.
You may even consider fostering or sharing your home with those who need a roof over their heads.
Image by Karrie Fransman
GO REUSABLE
Convenience be hanged, every disposable razor, pen, coffee cup or carrier bag we buy is wasting resources, magnifying our carbon footprint, and going straight to landfill — not to mention the horrible chemicals that were probably involved in its making.
We’re all used to the canvas tote bag now — it’s time to research permanent, reusable alternatives for the other wasteful goods that your business may be putting out there.
Image by Daniel Locke
GO SLOW
Fast fashion — the phenomenon of cheap highstreet shops churning out clothes that are only designed to last a season, cost almost nothing, and then end up in landfill — is bad for the environment.
“Clothes are the second largest source of pollution after oil,” according to the US organisation Opposing Views.
It’s very likely also bad for the people who make the clothes. Ask yourself how much the factory workers must be being paid, to be able to offer garments at such low prices. Then research the more ethical options and take your custom there.
Sell items that are high quality and will last longer.
Image by Rica March
SWITCH TO GREEN
If we’re going to prevent climate disaster, we need to get fully behind renewable energy.
Switch to a green energy provider and ensure that the water in your cuppa is boiled by the wind, sun and sea rather than fossil fuels. Swapping providers is really easy these days, and you’ll be making a proper difference every time you boil the kettle.
Image by Aki Alaraatikka
FOLLOW THE MONEY
You work hard for your money, so the last thing you want is some dodgy corporation using it to fund something you’re opposed to.
Banks can use your money to invest for their own profits, so find out if your bank is putting it into, say, the arms trade, fossil fuels or businesses that use slave labour.
Then close that account and tell other people what you’ve done. And remember to tell your bank: “It’s not me, it’s you”.
In the US, the Sacred Stone Camp, campaigning against the Dakota Access Pipeline, called on people not just to close down their accounts if their bank was funding the pipeline, but to take a picture of themselves doing so and spread it far and wide via social media. They recommended putting the withdrawn funds into a credit union, a non-profit co-operative run for its members.
Image by Guin Thompson
MEET THE NEIGHBOURS
Run a zocalo. Named after the Mexican city square, a zocalo is a simple scheme to encourage neighbourhood community.
The official Zocalo website says: “On Zocalo Day we invite you to step out from your home, plonk a chair on the street and get to know your neighbours. Of course, if you want to share tea and biscuits with them, all the better. Zocalos are mercifully free of fund-raising, red tape, council intervention and bunting. And with any luck, at the end of the night you’ll find you’ve acquired a whole load of new friends who just happen to live down the road”.
Some of those new friends might be people who are very much in need of a neighbourhood community, to combat loneliness or because they find it difficult to leave the house.
Image by Amy Lam
SPEND WISELY
Read up on the places where you spend your money: do they pay their workers a living wage? Do they support sweatshops or child labour? Do they fund the weapons industry or finance a political party that you disagree with?
Many apps and websites can help you. Shopping with local independent businesses can also help you avoid many of the big, bad brands.
Image by Emmi Bat
All artwork on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
PUT OUT A WELCOME MAT
Let refugees know that they are welcome.
Befriend them, give them a friendly smile, put a poster up in your window (or that of your workplace), donate clothes and toys.
You may even consider fostering or sharing your home with those who need a roof over their heads.
Image by Karrie Fransman
HANG UP A WELCOME SIGN
If you own a business or work somewhere public, display a sign to make it clear that everyone is welcome.
In Portland, Oregon, USA, the Independent Publishing Resource Center made signs that read: We welcome ALL races,ALL religions, ALL countries of origin, ALL sexual orientations, ALL genders. We stand with you. You are safe here.
If you’re a maker, you can produce something similar — and make them available to others. Offer them via social media, using your local hashtag, Facebook page or message board.
Image by Sally-Anne Hickman
CHANGE YOUR BUSINESS MODEL
In Madrid, one restaurant charges its customers during the day, and uses the profits to feed the homeless in the evening.
Image by Jeroen Janssen
FOLLOW THE MONEY
You work hard for your money, so the last thing you want is some dodgy corporation using it to fund something you’re opposed to.
Banks can use your money to invest for their own profits, so find out if your bank is putting it into, say, the arms trade, fossil fuels or businesses that use slave labour.
Then close that account and tell other people what you’ve done. And remember to tell your bank: “It’s not me, it’s you”.
In the US, the Sacred Stone Camp, campaigning against the Dakota Access Pipeline, called on people not just to close down their accounts if their bank was funding the pipeline, but to take a picture of themselves doing so and spread it far and wide via social media. They recommended putting the withdrawn funds into a credit union, a non-profit co-operative run for its members.
Image by Guin Thompson
Draw The Line 