Implementing
Corporate Sustainability Policy
For my final project I would like
to work with my employer, Triumvirate Environmental, Inc., to develop a
corporate sustainability policy. Triumvirate is a leading provider in
environmental waste management services to healthcare, higher education, life
sciences and industrial markets. We provide a wide variety of services, from
consulting, to waste disposal. We provide our clients with more compliant waste
management practices and help them develop greener and more sustainable
solutions. Unfortunately, Triumvirate does not have a corporate sustainability
policy in place. For my final project, I would like to work with some key
people at Triumvirate to develop a corporate sustainability policy.
Corporate sustainability is increasingly
becoming important part of every business; it should be integrated into daily
operations and it requires involvement of all departments. Currently
Triumvirate practices sustainability by buying recycled paper, soy based
printer ink, and uses florescent light bulbs throughout the office, but, to truly
be sustainable, and to be recognized as an environmental steward, we need to
develop a policy that we can present to the public and our clients, that shows
our commitment to conservation in all
areas of operations. Corporate sustainability is going to be a change in
culture that improves overall efficiency.
While I am still in the
developing stages of the project outline, I plan on focusing on the following
key elements:
- Resources/Expertise: Finding the right resources to help me develop a strategy
- Conduct Internal Survey on sustainability and greening initiatives
- Develop Triumvirate “Green Team”
- Developing a Vision Statement
- Create sustainable culture and encourage co-workers to reduce impact on local environment
- Develop recycling program
- Develop Cost/benefit analysis
- Develop a budget
- Timeline – target – milestone - Continuous improvement
- Monitoring and reporting
-- Marina Nikolic
Hi Marina, I like the project idea of having a corporate sustainability policy, my question is, does your company have a structure in place already that will support the policy? I am thinking of a cross-departmental sustainability team with stakeholders which can serve as the framework to enforce and uphold the policy. I see the green team is part of the process you are going through, however does the order need to change in terms of the action steps you have outlined?
ReplyDeleteHi Cristienne,
ReplyDeleteThere definitely is support from the executive team. It feels like they all want to implement changes, but no one wants to take ownership or has time to put this together and maintain it. Implementing this policy isn’t a one-time task, someone need to be responsible for updating it, for setting up meetings to come up with new ideas and strategies on how we can improve, and also to impose these changes on our employees, because it will lead to an overall cultural and behavioral change within our company.
Triumvirate is still fairly small corporation, and it’s going to be easier to develop that culture now, rather than ten years from now when we hopefully double in size.
Our CEO is a huge advocate of sustainability. He was featured in an article where he stated that he wants to offset our emissions (we utilize many trucks for transportation of haz waste) by the time he retires. He has contributed significant amount of donations to plant trees in Costa Rica to help offset our emissions. But it’s not something that’s talked about nor is it something that we focus on in our daily operations. I want to implement a vision statement that will include our environmental goals and commitments, and we will continually work to achieve those goals. My direct support is the exec VP, to whom I directly report to. We also want to create marketing reports, once we implement this policy, that we can share with clients and the community we operate in, to show that we care about the environment and are responsible for our own actions.
You certainly have the enthusiasm and commitment to take on this complex project. You also have a lot of insight when considering the future growth of your organization. Timing is extremely important when setting goals for your initiative. An internal survey will help initiate your project and get your coworkers thinking about their own sustainability commitments. In fact, I think I will generate an initial survey for my own project. Creating a timeline is also essential in implementing such a large project. You will want to be able to show your employer and coworkers your achievements and progress. This will help you maintain momentum and enthusiasm for your project. Even small gains are significant, especially at the beginning!
ReplyDelete