Almost every company makes mistakes when they try to establish a green business program. Often the responsibility for improving the environmental performance of the company is added to the existing workload of an employee simply because they have spare capacity. Here we look at how hiring a dedicated environmental officer to oversee the establishment of an environmental program can reduce the likelihood of the company falling into four common pitfalls.

1. Not realising the time required to establish and implement a green business program.

Going green takes time and like many things the time and effort put in will determine the results. Having an employee dedicated to the establishment of the green business program ensures they have the time to investigate the issues, communicate with staff and train on the implementation of green business practices. A dedicated environmental officer will be able to provide an in depth assessment of environmental impacts by undertaking analysis and seeking input from others in the company. As a result the company will have a strategic environmental vision and greater capacity to get things done.

2. Not realising the company doesn’t have the right skill set within the business.

Depending on the size and nature of the business, it can be a complex task to analyse the environmental impacts and determine which green practices to implement. When appointing someone to oversee the environmental program, the company needs to examine the person’s skills and ensure they have the required skill set to do the job. Adding environmental responsibilities to an existing employee’s workload because they have capacity is unlikely to result in a successful green business program.

3. Not communicating with staff

Communicating with staff and ensuring they feel involved in the process of going green takes time but is vital if green business practices are to be implemented successfulyl. Often managers come up with bright ideas but do not give staff sufficient detail to make them buy into the changes. Without someone dedicated to communication and training, it can be difficult to guarantee that staff will receive relevant and regular information. Providing regular feedback to staff on progress of the green business program and ensuring there are open lines of communication also takes time.

4. Not realising the importance of records and documentation

Having your business go green will generate additional paperwork. Is there an environmental policy, a plan of action tied to the strategic vision and an assessment of the environmental impacts? Someone within the company needs to be accountable for creating and maintaining records required to support the environmental program.

As you can see there are a number of difficulties a company may experience on its mission to go green that could be avoided by appointing a dedicated person to oversee the green business program.

Once you have made the decision to turn your business green, you need a long term strategy to incorporate environmental issues into strategic planning for the business.

The following six step strategy outlines activities a business will undertake in becoming sustainable.

1. Confirm management is committed to the green vision

Nothing happens in a business without the support of management. This is not so difficult in small organisations but larger companies will need to enlist the support of all those with managerial responsibilities. The management team should decide their definition of a green business as well as their reasons for going green. Is the motive to engage in ethical behaviour, be certified as environmentally friendly for marketing or to ensure environmental regulations are adhered to. A person or team (depending on the size of the business) should be designated to manage the environmental strategy and ensure decisions are implemented.

2. Create an environmental policy

Similar to the strategic vision, the environmental policy indicates at a high level what the business is committed to. Staff at all levels should have the opportunity to have input on the policy so it becomes a living document they will support in future. Consider how staff will be trained on the policy and what it means in their day to day work.

3. Determine the environmental impacts of the business

Take into account the key areas of the business. While water use, energy use and waste management are the most well known environmental issues, there are many other ways a business can impact the environment such as staff undertaking extensive travel or the use of toxic chemicals for cleaning. Consider all the inputs and outputs of the business in the creation of the product or service. If a product is being manufactured, outline the full product life cycle from the supplies used in the manufacture to how the product will be disposed of at the end of its life. Also determine what other resources are used by the business on a daily basis.

4. Set environmental goals

Take into account the impacts of the business and decide the short and long term environmental goals. By this stage there should be a good understanding of the key areas for the business which enables goals to be prioritised.  Make sure each goal is specific and measurable. One priority should be to ensure the business is in compliance with environmental regulations.

5. Establish green practices in the key areas

Once goals have been set and prioritised, decisions can be made on what operational changes are required in the key areas.  Determine who will be responsible for ensuring each goal is completed and how progress towards the goal will be monitored and reported.

6. Make a green communications plan

Decide how the business will report its sustainability improvements to a wider audience. The plan should address the frequency and form of communication with staff, suppliers, clients and shareholders.

Environmental planning must be considered a cycle with regular reviews of the policy, impacts, goals and practice of the business. Make sure processess are implemented to weigh up alternative options as lessons are learned through experience or new information becomes available. Investigate if environmentally responsible partnerships or stewardship programs would benefit the business and how these could be could be implemented as part of the environmental plan.

Is there such a thing as a green business; While terms such as environmentally friendly, sustainable business and social responsibility are commonly used, there are as many different definitions for these as there are shades of green in the colour spectrum. Further confusion arises from the wide range of green certifications that exist each with their own slightly differing criteria.

The term green business can cover the full range from businesses with no negative impact on the environment or society (a tall order) through to those in the process of reducing their negative impacts. So how important is the definition of green?

For each business the definition is vital. However in the absence of global agreement, the first step for any business considering going green is to define what green means for them. While there are a number of organisations who can advise in this area, only those within the business can determine its strategic direction and how green practices will fit. Before a business can create their definition of green, they need to be clear on how green they want to be and what resources they can invest in the process.

How green a business decides to be will largely depend on why they want to implement green business practices. Is the move simply to support the greater good or is there an objective to reduce operating costs, improve market perception, meet environmental regulations or obtain a particular certification. Each of these different objectives will look slightly different in implementation.

The other consideration is that nothing worthwhile is achieved without some form of resource investment whether it is time or money. Many people underestimate the time that it can take to gain the knowledge to go green or examine current business practices. There may also be a financial cost in implementing new strategies or hiring the required knowledge if it doesn’t exist (and cannot be obtained) internally.

Determining the reasons for going green and the resources that can be committed to the process is the first step in defining what green will look like for an individual business.

Hi and welcome to the first post of Let’s Do It Green

Juggling my time between environmental consulting and a Master’s thesis in building energy efficiency, I often get asked how a small to medium sized business can afford to become more “green” to improve both its image and bottom line. Since the answers to this are many and varied depending on type of business and its goals, this blog is a place to discuss the range of green practices relevant to small to medium enterprises

To discuss the issues that are important to you, I need your feedback. Has your business got some great green practices you’d like to share? Or are you totally confused by the whole idea of going green? Post your comments so we can all learn from each other. I’ll be posting three times a week so be sure to stay up to date by subscribing either by email or via an RSS reader.

With that I officially launch this new blog. I look forward to our working together to come up with the best green practices for small to medium businesses.