Greening your organization: how to implementing a sustainability program.

• Author: Strong, Tuesday
• Position: ADVICE: ENVIRONMENT

WITH ENERGY COSTS continuing to strain budgets, more organizations have decided to "go green" to reduce costs. Some organizations are deciding to "go green" in an effort to preserve resources and protect the environment. Others yet seek to increase market share by being considered "environmentally friendly." Regardless of your organization's motivation for "going green" we offer a few suggestions based upon lessons learned at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

Identifying the purpose of your greening effort is essential to achieving any measure of progress. The organization's senior leadership must support the purpose of the effort and agree upon a definition of sustainability. Numerous definitions of sustainability exist with a common definition being adapted from The Brundtland Report, by the World Commission on the Environment and Development. It explains that sustainability is an attempt to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Sustainability is also referred to as achieving the triple bottom line with a focus on people, profits, and the planet or the environment, economic and social justice elements. It is also important to recognize that "going green" can be a controversial topic. The organization needs to ensure that the staff responsible for the sustainability program can effectively manage this aspect and represent the organization appropriately

Assemble the team. You will need to assemble a team of experts to implement the organization's sustainability initiatives. This most likely will result in a diverse group of individuals working together toward a common purpose. While that can be inspiring it does require ensuring that everyone understands the purpose, goals, timelines, and resource constraints involved in the initiatives. The organization's sustainability goals must relate directly to your organization's goals.

Raise awareness. The members of your organization and often...