How to Start a Green Initiative in Your Organization

According to a September 2008 article in Sustained Efforts magazine, author Ann Pace notes that, “GE, HSBC Bank, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Marks & Spencer, Nike, Patagonia, Starbucks, Timberland, Unilever, and Wal-Mart are companies ranked by employees as leaders in sustainability. They exemplify the concept that sustainability must be a core strategy toward which all employees and business processes work.” 

• Wal-Mart creates "sustainable value networks"-processes outlining how to achieve sustainability in areas such as greenhouse gas, alternative fuels, and waste to help integrate sustainable practices into all parts of the business.
• Hewlett-Packard announced it had surpassed its goals for recycling e-waste: Globally, it recycled nearly 250 million pounds of hardware and print cartridges in 2007—a 50% increase over the previous year. And it announced a new goal: to reuse 2 billion pounds of products by the end of 2010.
• Regarding its core values, Unilever states, "The long-term growth and success of our business goes hand in hand with ensuring a sustainable future for the planet and its people."
• Computer component manufacturer Intel provides a forum to be a part of the sustainability discussion on its corporate responsibility blog.

But if your organization is just beginning to look at best practices from other companies and ways to incorporate sustainable practices, where’s the best place to start?

When I asked this question on our Insight on Coaching show, Burton Hamner said – “with the money.”

According to Burton most companies vastly underestimate how much money it's costing them to not be green.  An interesting statistic he mentioned that really blew my mind, is for every $1 you can account for in waste, there's $3 to $4 of unaccounted for costs that are hiding in the overhead.

His recommendation?  Start with the accounting folks in the Finance department.

Often times when working with Finance to do an inventory of costs, people begin to realize that the garbage bill is not what it says on the bill - it's five times what it says on the bill.

Not only does this help get the attention of the management team, it becomes a foundation for building an overall business case and strategy because these costs can be related to the income statement and balance sheet of the company.

In Burton’s own words “If you can show executives how being green translates into sustainable financial performance line by line through the company’s financial statements, you have a very powerful tool.  If you don't begin with that process, you have a very difficult time generating the performance measures and quantitative information the organization needs to improve its sustainability efforts.”

Tom Floyd
CEO
IEC: Insight Educational Consulting
Specializing in Change Management, Workforce Performance, and Employee Development

Going Green: Coaching for Social Responsibility

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