The Explosion of Green

There's no longer any doubt that environmental friendly policies are mainstream in today's corporate world. As expected, and ironic, that the printed words, are burning up paper (the first thing the average person think about when you say environment friendly), writing about how we can be part of the 'revolution'.

So here's the first article that I liked on the topic, found in SASCOM 3rd Quarter 2008 issue entitled 'Five Strategies for Corporate Sustainability: accelerate green initiatives through awareness, leadership, technology, stakeholder involvement and innovation.

1. Increase your company's eco-awareness

Start by assessing your company's environmental impact in terms of tons of carbon, kilowatt hours or gallons of water. Then set realistic goals to reduce or offset those levels. Then use a green accounting methodology that you can trust. It should be auditable and the data points collected can be used for what-if decision making. Establishment of a specific governance body or a sustainability council to guide green investments is another way.

Cisco cited as an example, currently driving environmental initiatives in three areas: customer solutions, responsible operations and product stewardship, they are measured and monitored through an executive dashboard for sustainability.

2. Lead with green in mind

Your short-term and long-term planning should include an evaluation of environmental risks and opportunities. Leaders should report on progress regularly and actively manage to reach goals by integrating environmental outcome into business planning.

Adopt a corporate sustainability report and do it with internationally recognized standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative.

3. Involve stakeholders

Engage with your stakeholders to hold you accountable to your commitments for green initiatives. Customer advisory boards, nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and supplier panels can all provide direct feedback to prepare you for market forces and demand transparency in your green initiatives.

4. Invest in technology

Use your investment in a technology infrastructure that manages indicators and add green goals to the list of things you're already measuring.

You should also work to understand data correlations so you can identify which metrics are the most important to improving sustainability, capitalize on talents in your human capital, and improve transparency internally and externally. One such data is waste, waste in inventory also translated into sustainability wastages, in addition to the common measurements in energy and water.

5. Focus on innovation

The most important strategy is to innovate, to change paradigms, create new solutions and collaborate with customers in ways you never have before. Green leadership attracts talented people and capital to your organization, it will also draws new customers and retain existing customers.

Green is here to stay because of the constrained energy and labor markets. These 5 strategies combined can form a comprehensive management plan for sustainability. We don't have to do all in one go, but these strategies you choose to emphasize through greater investment of time and resources will offer unique value to your customers and shareholders - and for generations to come.

Reference: SASCOM Third Quarter 2008, p. 29-32. By Alyssa Farrell.