Op-ed by Andrew Sheehan, founder of SustainabilityExamples.com.
The other day, I had one of those rare, honest conversations with a CEO of a moderately-sized business in Ireland employing 22 people.
We were supposed to talk about collaboration on my platform, SustainabilityExamples.com. But the conversation quickly turned into a therapy session on the quiet panic many businesses feel when it comes to talking about their sustainability work and impact. Here’s what he had to say.
Let’s be blunt: SMEs are scared.
Scared of being called out. Scared of not having all the answers. Scared that if they talk about their environmental or social initiatives, someone with a Twitter account and a grudge will come swinging in with pitchforks and the word ‘greenwashing’.
And so, many do… nothing. They’re victims of greenhushing. They stay quiet. They bury the progress. And the sad thing is, that silence slows the entire movement down and progress in corporate sustainability to a halt.
Because here’s the truth: most real sustainability work isn’t sexy. It’s not a glossy, B-Corp certified marketing campaign blessed by the gods of ESG compliance. It’s a packaging switch here. A supply chain rethink there. A committed employee with a whiteboard and a few stubborn questions.
And when SMEs don’t share those examples — the honest, imperfect, actual progress — then others don’t know where to start. They feel behind. Or worse, they copy the corporates and do nothing except update their ‘About Us’ page with ‘We Care About the Planet™’.
So here’s a simple message to every founder, marketer, and comms lead in a values-led business: you don’t need to have it all figured out to speak up.
You just need to be honest. Show the effort. Share the lessons. Inspire someone else to try. That’s how progress happens — not with perfection, but with momentum.
About SustainabilityExamples.com
SustainabilityExamples.com is a new platform built to help SMEs share, discover, and track real examples of sustainability initiatives and solutions in action — without the fluff. From packaging and energy to green tech and community engagement, we showcase what’s actually working for Irish businesses on the ground through examples and storytelling. Warts and all!
We believe good ideas are contagious — and that the best way to build momentum is to make the right thing easier to find, adopt, understand, and replicate. When that happens, more SMEs will start taking action. Learn more at www.sustainabilityexamples.com.
