15 low-cost ESG quick wins for small businesses

The best low-cost ESG improvements for a small business are a renewable electricity tariff, LED lighting, smarter travel choices, and writing down the policies you already follow. None of them need a big budget. Most can be done in an afternoon, and together they cover a large share of what customers, banks and funders ask about.

Before you start, measure where you are. An improvement only counts in a report if there is a baseline to compare it against.

Why measure first?

Two reasons. First, it tells you where your emissions actually come from, so you do not spend effort on things that barely move the needle. A design studio may find heating is half its footprint. A freelancer may find one long-haul flight outweighs everything else.

Second, buyers and grant assessors want to see change over time. “We switched to LED lighting” is nice. “Our electricity use fell from 11,000 kWh to 9,500 kWh after switching to LED lighting” is evidence.

Our guide to calculating your small business carbon footprint covers how, or you can get a full baseline from the questionnaire in under 30 minutes.

Environmental quick wins

1. Switch to a renewable electricity tariff. Choose a tariff backed by REGOs (Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin). Your market-based Scope 2 electricity emissions then count as zero. Your location-based figure stays the same, because it reflects the average grid, so report both. The easiest moment to switch is when your contract comes up for renewal, so compare prices then.

2. Replace remaining halogen and old fluorescent lighting with LEDs. The Energy Saving Trust says LED bulbs use 80% less electricity than halogens for the same light. They last much longer too, which cuts waste and replacement costs.

3. Put heating and equipment on timers. Heating an empty office overnight or at weekends is one of the most common sources of waste. A programmable thermostat and smart plugs on printers and screens cost very little.

4. Choose rail over domestic flights. In the UK government conversion factors, a domestic flight produces roughly seven times the emissions of national rail per passenger kilometre (about 0.229 kg against 0.031 kg in the 2026 set), once the wider effects of flying are included. London to Edinburgh by train is often just as productive door to door.

5. Fly economy on long-haul trips. Business class takes up more cabin space, so it carries a larger share of the flight’s emissions. In the 2026 factors, long-haul business class is close to three times economy per passenger kilometre.

6. Replace one trip with a video call. A single return economy flight from London to New York is about 1.3 tCO2e, which can be the largest item in a small office’s footprint. Cutting one a year can do more than every other change on this list.

7. Right-size your bins and improve recycling. Ask your waste contractor what you are paying for. Many small firms have bins that are collected more often than they need, or no separate recycling at all. Fewer, better-sorted collections cut both cost and emissions.

8. Set a simple carbon target. A percentage reduction against your baseline by a set year, or a commitment to net zero by 2050. Funders and buyers look for a target, and having one focuses your decisions.

People quick wins

9. Write down your health and safety policy. If you have five or more employees, HSE requires it to be in writing and shared with staff. If you have fewer, writing it down anyway is quick and answers a very common questionnaire item. Include a simple way to record accidents and near misses.

10. Check your pay against the Real Living Wage. The Living Wage Foundation sets the rate each year. If you already pay it, say so. If you are close, consider closing the gap or becoming accredited. Either way, knowing your position gives you an honest answer when asked.

11. Keep a training log. Note what training each person received and roughly how many hours. Webinars, conferences and on-the-job coaching all count. Small firms usually do far more than they record.

12. Formalise one community activity. A volunteering day each year, a regular donation, or a pro bono project for a local charity. Record the hours or the amount. It strengthens the social section of your report and scores well in tenders that ask about social value.

Governance quick wins

13. Write a code of conduct. One or two pages on honesty, conflicts of interest, anti-bribery and treating people fairly. Our code of conduct guide has a structure you can follow.

14. Write an environmental policy. Say what your main impacts are, what you are doing about them and who is responsible. See our environmental policy template.

15. Name someone responsible for ESG. In a small business, usually a director or the owner. Add a line to your next team meeting agenda once a quarter to check progress against the action plan. It costs nothing and gives the whole thing an owner.

Which quick wins should you do first?

That depends on your footprint and who is asking.

• If a customer or buyer has sent a questionnaire: start with 13, 14, 9 and 8. Policies and a target answer most questions.
• If you are applying for a grant: measure your baseline, then focus on 1 to 3. Funders want energy figures and realistic savings.
• If you are fundraising: prioritise 9 to 15. Investors look closely at people and governance.
• If you are an office business: 1, 2 and 3 usually make the biggest dent.
• If you travel a lot: 4, 5 and 6 will dwarf everything else.

Beyond quick wins

Once the easy changes are done, the bigger ones are usually heating and vehicles. Heat pumps, solar panels, insulation and electric vans cost more, but many councils and Growth Hubs offer grants that cover part of the cost, and some banks offer green or sustainability-linked loans. Our guide to green business grants lists current examples. Most of those schemes ask for your current energy use and emissions, so a baseline report pays off again.

Get your baseline and action plan

ESG Now measures your carbon footprint using the official UK government factors and gives you a private action plan with your priorities in order, built from your own answers rather than a generic list. The report also records which policies you already have, so you can see straight away whether quick wins 13 and 14 still need doing.

Most small businesses finish in under 30 minutes. Your first report is free, with no card needed. Start your free ESG report, or use the ESG checklist for SMEs to see what else to have in place. There is more on how this works for smaller firms on the small businesses page.