How to build a sustainability program

Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Click below to see how it works:. No Comments. The Playbook for Becoming a Sustainable Business If your company is working toward improving its sustainability performance, you need a strategy, plan and roadmap. Step 5: Create a Sustainability Plan for Your Business The fifth step in your green business journey is to create a sustainability plan. A holistic and well organized sustainability plan will include several key components: Part 1: Sustainability Drivers — This section summarizes the aspects of your business that use scarce natural resources, contribute to climate change, cause environmental harm or produce useless waste.

Understand Your Sustainability Drivers There is no one sustainable business blueprint that applies to every company. Here are the main areas to consider and questions to ask yourself when understanding what changes your company needs to make to improve its sustainability performance: Energy — How much energy do we use? Can we use less or adopt clean alternative energy sources?

Water — How much water do we use? How much do we waste? Can we conserve water with smart technology e. Do we use plastic bottles for water? Food — Where do we source our food from? What food do we provide employees? Is it healthy and produced from sustainable sources? Can we minimize meat and offer more plant-based options? Are we composting food waste? Waste — What waste do we produce and where does it come from?

Is it hazardous? How can we reduce waste and prevent pollution? Can we find ways to recycle or upcycle waste materials e. Buildings — How eco-friendly are our buildings? Are there opportunities to improve energy efficiency and upgrade lighting, insulation, heating and cooling? Are we maximizing natural light or natural airflow whenever possible? How does manufacturing our products impact the environment?

Is our packaging also safe for people and the planet? Supply Chain — Are we using vendors and suppliers who are environmentally and socially responsible? Are we sourcing products locally or from the closest source? Are there areas to improve supply chain efficiency in terms of lowering waste and carbon emissions? Transportation — What vehicles do we use for distribution and operations? Can we reduce employee business travel? If not, how can we offset our carbon emissions?

Community — Do we support our local communities and local farms? Do we get involved in environmental causes, events and associations? Are we evangelizing green business? Employees — Do we offer employee training in sustainability?

Do we have a green team? Are we creating a green culture? Do we communicate policies company-wide? Consider All Business Functions and Departments For many industries, the process of manufacturing products causes the most harm to the planet. Companies looking to become more sustainable need to look at all departments and all business functions: Manufacturing including production, sourcing, fulfillment, distribution and logistics. Facilities including buildings, cleaning and maintenance, bathrooms, food service, heating, air conditioning and landscaping.

Engineering including product design, materials and end-of-life management e. Finance and Accounting including applying carbon credits, minimizing paper billing and printing and remote working.

Customer Service including remote service and product repair that uses spare parts for replacements. Human Resources including video conferencing interviews, hiring of employees that are purpose-driven and committed to sustainability. Information Technology and Printing including your servers, data center and hosting providers.

Sales and Marketing including business travel, printing of marketing materials and sustainability evangelism. Executive Team including establishing a company purpose, green mission statement, green culture and the right values. Building the Sustainability Plan There are several key steps required before a company actually starts creating and documenting its sustainability plan and program.

Here are some of the tactics and initiatives to consider in your plan: Start upgrading your building by installing programmable thermostats and low-flow faucet aerators, and replacing incandescent light bulbs with LEDs. Consider bigger projects like HVAC retrofits or renewable energy installations like solar roofing. While these projects have expensive upfront costs, they yield significant net savings in the long-term.

Switch your utilities providers to ones that offer renewable energy options. Research clean energy tax credits and incentives available in your area. Here are some examples of waste initiatives to consider: Improve your manufacturing processes to produce less waste. Comply with strict environmental standards in terms of production materials and the use of raw materials. Uncover all recycling opportunities and turn your waste into something another stakeholder can use.

Improve inventory and store food and materials more efficiently to minimize spoilage and over stocking. Aim to be as paperless as possible. Use sustainable marketing swag and promotional items that are useful and reusable like totes and reusable water bottles. Teach customers to do repairs rather than dispose of products. Water Usage Best Practices The past decade has been one of the driest on record in several parts of the world. Your plan should include water conservation initiatives such as: Fix plumbing that leaks and eliminate dripping taps Install low-flow faucets and water efficient toilets Opt for a drought-tolerant landscape design with drip irrigation and rain sensors.

Reduce landscape water use. Engage employees to be more conscientious of their water consumption habits. Here are some of the tactics and initiatives to consider in your plan related to pollution: Modify your production processes to emit less waste or hazardous emissions.

Use non-toxic or less toxic materials and substances in your products and processes. Implement conservation techniques by using less energy, water and raw materials.

Reuse materials such as production scraps and byproducts to reduce your waste stream. Reduce packaging that is non-biodegradable. Use electric or hybrid fleet vehicles or other lower emissions vehicles.

Recycle industrial wastewater by treating any reusable water or other material from wastewater and transferring any potential pollutants to a solid phase sludge. Reduce the amount of water needed during production. Sustainable Building Best Practices Your buildings can certainly be more efficient and eco-friendly.

Here are some areas to consider: Consider solar roofing or solar panels. Upgrade insulation, HVAC and appliances to more energy efficient models. Organize workspaces that use natural light to cut down on energy usage. Use energy efficient light bulbs such as LEDs.

Install programmable thermostats to optimally control indoor temperatures. Bring in live plants to improve indoor air quality. Consider water conservation solutions like motion sensor faucets. Install automatic light shut off systems and motion detectors. Switch to data center providers that use clean energy. Sustainable Product Best Practices Sustainable products start with sustainable design.

Examples of the most sustainable materials include: Cardboard and paper Recycled plastic Bamboo, straw, cork, wool, wheatboard and strawboard Reclaimed or recycled wood and metal Cornstarch and hemp Carbon capture blocks instead of concrete.

Here are some areas to consider for your plan: Go with eco-friendly boxes and packaging for storage and shipping. Swap out single-use containers for materials that break down quickly and effectively, like corn starch, mycelium, wood pulp and seaweed. Packaging made from two different types of polymers, for example, can render it non-recyclable.

Use water activated paper tape instead of plastic tape. Sustainable Procurement Best Practices One of the best ways to make your business more environmentally-friendly is to practice green procurement. Well, one decisive factor is how you translate that goal into a language that is spoken throughout an organization, getting everyone on the same page through education, awareness, and collaboration.

Employee participation is at the core of sustainable transformation. Everyone knows on some level that sustainability is important, but the challenge lies in having your entire team, from top to bottom, take ownership of it and become personally invested.

Education programs are the way to foster a shared mindset and equip staff with the knowledge they need to establish clear strategies that work towards sustainability goals across your entire company. Here we look at a basic framework of sustainability education programs that organizations can build to engage employees at all levels and achieve a comprehensive green vision. This stands in contrast to greenwashing, the practice of claiming green credentials that do not exist and allows your company to truly engage with sustainable practice.

To achieve this, executives and managers need to take a positive leadership role as the face of the company, acting as role models for employees to follow. It should also provide employees with clear targets that they can work towards on a regular basis.

In addition to this, managers armed with this knowledge are better equipped to prioritize sustainability when making larger decisions. They can develop goals and benchmarks, as well as guide and encourage other employees by finding ways to communicate the concrete benefits of sustainability.

Real progress boosts motivation, and you need to lead from the front. The goal of sustainability training for employees is twofold: to get everyone on the same page and to establish a sense of personal commitment that encourages thinking about how they can integrate sustainability into their daily duties.

For new employees, sustainability education can be easily integrated into onboard training, offering the perfect opportunity to foster a green company culture from the bottom up.

In fact, for years now sustainable corporate practices have been a desirable attribute actively sought by key talent , and have also been cited as a factor that improves employee retention. Integrating sustainability into introductory training sends a powerful message and provides a solid base for initiatives to grow and succeed. Going beyond fundamental sustainability education for all employees, the next stage is to offer further training opportunities for those who are particularly motivated to make things happen.

One common and effective strategy is appointing volunteer sustainability champions in each department who can lead initiatives and help guide their fellow employees.