Every year the trophy dubbed the "Green Rhino" is up for grabs at the city's business awards but it was not presented in February, which Dubbo Chamber of Commerce said was due to low numbers of entries.

Award sponsor Taronga Western Plains Zoo is urging firms to make sustainability part of their operation.

Zoo director Steve Hinks said the Green Rhino for excellence in sustainability remained important to the organisation, because of its focus on the environment, and he was hopeful of more entries in the future.

He said the zoo understood award submissions were difficult for businesses to allocate time to putting together and "even more so during a period with a strong focus on COVID recovery and businesses getting back on their feet".

But sustainable business practices and improvements were going to become more and more important in the future, "both from an environmental impact and a financial result for the individual organisation", he said.

"We have seen through a string of natural disasters - drought, bushfires, floods, and biodiversity crises, that the reality of climate change is affecting us more regularly in Australia," Mr Hinks said.

"This is only going to continue.

"Now is more important than ever to take action, making the changes to daily business practices, and becoming a 'green' leader in the community.

"Business decisions can influence producer responsibility more greatly than consumer decisions, therefore having a bigger positive environmental impact."

Mr Hinks provided a snapshot of problems facing humans and animals.

He reports in Australia, 150 million plastic bags end up as litter, with only 3 per cent of them currently being recycled.

Entanglement in litter such as discarded fishing line causes many drowning deaths of platypus, he says.

Australians use 2.7 billion single-use plastic straws every year, used once, but they take a minimum of 450 years to break down and release greenhouse gases, he says.

"All these examples are all directly correlated to climate change and the adverse effects we are now being faced with - we all need to do something about it," he said.

To reduce its own environmental footprint, the zoo has put in multiple solar panel systems to reduce energy consumption, uses water efficiency measures, incorporates ecological sustainability into major infrastructure, and diverts 84 per cent of waste from landfill, the director reports.

He said while they were big steps to take to ensure "a shared future for the wild", it was the "little things that can also really make a difference".

The zoo has produced a Litter Free Rivers toolkit to help small businesses in taking steps to educate and improve business practices.

An influx of Green Rhinos entries at the next awards would be a cause for relief.

"There is not only a good chance of receiving more entries in the Green Rhino category at the next awards, it's essential - for our future, for the future of wildlife, for the sustainable future of generations to come," Mr Hinks said.

"It is vital that businesses take meaningful steps to improve the sustainability of their organisations."

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