Being Earth Friendly Through CSR

Over time, many businesses have progressed from hearing about the onset of sustainability to adopting environmentally sound practices as SOP. Outside of financial savings and operational efficiency, there are multiple reasons to pursue sustainable excellence.

Managing the business

Some companies strive to achieve recognition through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) platform. They want to showcase their efforts to the marketplace, adding credibility and brand appeal for their products or services. CSR shows how a company manages their business in order to produce an overall positive impact on the environment, and as a result, society in general. CSR practices cover sustainability, social impacts and ethics. The policy should be viewed as a living document, changing with needs, demands and resources. It also should be an evolving business practice that integrates the concepts of sustainable development as it applies to the core business. Executed correctly and carried forward sustainably, a CSR program can have a positive impact on social, economic and environmental factors.

CSR Satisfies Triple Bottom Line (TBL) criteria. The primary focus of CSR should be the environment. Businesses, regardless of size, have large carbon footprints. Any steps they can take to reduce those footprints are considered good for both the company and society. Companies can also demonstrate their social responsibility by treating employees fairly and ethically. Financially, such efforts and recognition lead to positive gains to the bottom line. Consumers are looking to companies with sound environmental policies, and a strong CSR program will set those companies ahead of the pack.

Traditional practices of environmental stewardship, which include resource management and increased energy efficiency, complement bottom-line-driven economic policy. As future economic growth will demand both a higher degree of environmental awareness and a stronger utilization of available funding for investments, the key performance indicators of an efficiently organized and profitable organization can be better satisfied through the holistic approach that encompasses sustainability. This ties in to the concept of fiscal environmentalism, which is related to sustainable business practices, socially responsible business practices, and other concepts more specific to traditional fields. Compared to terms such as environmental management systems or ecological economics, fiscal environmentalism emphasizes fiscal discipline. It is best exercised by businesses responding to consumer demand for increased environmental awareness while focusing on bottom-line success.

Certification

Some companies certify their facilities to ensure they are operating at peak efficiency and to gain recognition in the marketplace for their sustainability efforts. Buildings have extensive direct and indirect impacts on the environment. During their life cycle, facilities consume energy, water and raw materials. This generates waste and the emission of Green House Gases (GHG). Green building standards, certifications and rating systems have been developed to mitigate the impact of buildings on the natural environment through sustainable design and operations.

The push toward sustainable design increased with the launch in 1990 of Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM), the first green building rating system in the world. In 2000, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) followed suit developing and releasing criteria aimed at improving the environmental performance of buildings through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system for new construction. The Green Globes guidelines were made available for use in the United States in 2005. Additional rating systems have been developed and customized to individual national priorities and requirements. They go beyond the limits of current policy and building practices to address broader issues of sustainability or evolving concepts such as net zero energy, and/or living and restorative building concepts that improve the natural environment or attempt to emulate processes found in nature.

It might not be possible for every FM to implement CSR strategies or go for green building certification, but there are always more practices that can be initiated. Replenishing and nurturing natural resources, or minimizing the impacts of industry should be a driving force in any FM plan. There are a number of simple ways in which FMs can positively influence the natural environment if they just spend the time and effort. Not only do sustainability efforts help the environment, they result in financial savings through resource management and lead to improved employee satisfaction.

Waste not…

Waste diversion is one of the practices that any facility can implement. It takes putting a process together and educating employees to comply with best practices (unfortunately, easier said than done!).

However, the importance of keeping waste out of landfills cannot be over-emphasized. Land is as critical a resource as is air and water, and the best way to render it unusable is by dumping trash on and in it. The EPA reports that there are about 2,600 active landfills in the United States, with many more forgotten or ignored. Not only does this type of use occupy valuable acreage that can be utilized for more natural means, it is trash and it is not going anywhere. Not dumping trash on land is a nice option to exercise.

Water neutrality is a voluntary process where companies seek to balance water use accounts by both reducing water usage and investing in projects which increase supplies of clean freshwater. It entails defining, measuring and reporting their water footprint and taking reasonable action to reduce existing operational water usage. Once they have done as much as possible to reduce water, they still will have a residual water footprint. This can be reconciled by investing in, establishing or supporting projects focusing on the sustainable and equitable use of water.

Carbon neutrality is a term used to describe the action of organizations that implement measures to remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they put in to it. The overall goal of carbon neutrality is to achieve a balanced footprint. For example, a business may acquire carbon offsets by investing in renewable energy projects or by planting trees to equal the electricity a business uses.

A case in point

There comes a time, though perhaps not as often as liked, when a company that goes beyond the realm of sustainable actions for their facility and their company. They do the best they can with what they have, and it is their genuine concern for the environment that seems to be the major driver of their efforts. Such a company is ECOS, the maker of household and commercial cleaning products that are safer for the environment and produced in an earth-friendly manner. They are a three-time winner of the EPA’s Safer Choice Partner of the Year award for their innovative green chemistry and safer ingredients. Their mission is to protect the health and wellness of people, pets, and the planet by creating the most authentic, sustainable, and affordable cleaning products for all. Their business practices reflect this philosophy, both for their customers and their employees.

The foundation of their sustainability program is waste prevention and diversion. They are the world’s first company to be carbon neutral, water neutral and TRUE Platinum Zero Waste-certified at all four of their U.S. Facilities. They began their zero-waste journey in 2009, when they set a goal to reduce their waste by 80 percent by 2020. In 2018, they improved their waste diversion rate even further to 98 percent, and they now use one small trash container per facility per week.

After six years of reducing their water usage, the company became water neutral in 2016. Water neutrality is an essential part of their sustainability program and the company has 50-plus-year commitment to protecting water resources. They achieved water neutrality by significantly reducing water use and by supporting programs that restore water to critically depleted ecosystems. They are deeply committed to minimizing their impact on water resources in the U.S. and creating healthier ecosystems and a better quality of life for the people who live and work near these important habitats. They restore more than 10 million gallons of water to threatened habitats every year.

They became carbon neutral in 2013 by dramatically reducing their carbon dioxide emissions by utilizing 100 percent renewable energy sources and switching to energy efficient equipment and lighting. They have solar panels at all four of their U.S. facilities. They source and ship locally from the four geographically diverse facilities that are located strategically across the country. They offset their residual emissions by supporting renewable energy projects. By achieving carbon neutrality, they save more than 56 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every year. Since 2013, they have saved more than 61,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of planting 1.6 million trees or removing 13,000 passenger vehicles from the road.

As another measure, they have outfitted their offices to ensure a pleasant and sustainable work environment. They have installed bamboo flooring, a rapidly renewable resource. They have utilized low-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) paints, as well as having no- or low-VOC content in adhesives and all office furniture. They have installed solar tubes for daylighting for employee comfort. They also tout their own vegetable garden and an in-house chef to prepare healthy meals for their employees.

Efforts pay off

How many ways can a company become sustainable? FMs can count the ways. Even with the low-hanging fruit picked over, FMs can reach for higher branches to pick more solutions. They are there; it will take time and effort to continuously improve on a company’s sustainability efforts. Perfection in efficient operations may never be attainable, but is eminently approachable, if FMs keep reaching for it.

The bottom line is this: substantial sustainability efforts can be driven internally, with no other reason than to try and improve processes and protect the environment. It may take time and requires hard work, training and resolve, but if one company can do it, others can. CSR reports may be important to some and green building certification can be a marketing tool, but neither is really needed to incorporate environmentally friendly practices. All that is really needed is the will to change and do what is good for the planet. Everything else will follow, naturally.