Form a Green Team to Lead from Within
Rochester Business Journal by Abigail McHugh-Grifa
If you are an employed person who is concerned about climate change, one of the most impactful ways you can take action is to encourage your employer to take action. After all, businesses and other types of organizations typically have larger environmental footprints than individual households, so the energy you invest in catalyzing and advancing sustainability efforts at work can yield much greater results than your efforts at home.
Even if your organization already has a Director of Sustainability, or some other internal sustainability champion, environmental action in the workplace is ideally a team sport. Collaboration is key for several reasons, including (1) if only one person is driving everything, your efforts may fall apart if/when that person leaves, (2) environmental issues are complex, so having a diversity of perspectives and insights can facilitate informed decision making, and (3) implementing sustainable practices often requires people to change their behavior, so you’ll need their buy in and support. Forming a “Green Team” or “Sustainability Committee” can provide the structure, stability, credibility, and accountability that you will need to make this teamwork approach successful.
What your Green Team does should align with what your organization needs, but since those needs might not be immediately clear, a good first step is to conduct an assessment to understand your specific environmental impacts, vulnerabilities, and opportunities. There are many ways to do this, ranging from informal and inexpensive (e.g., a staff survey) to comprehensive and pricey (e.g., hiring consultants). If your Green Team is just starting out, the cheap route might actually be the best route, because you don’t know what you don’t know until you begin asking around and gathering information. That said, getting an energy audit and/or waste audit is another important early step, and fortunately New York State has programs that make these audits affordable for different types of organizations (e.g., FlexTech and GJGNY Energy Studies). If you want help navigating these programs, you can connect with a Commercial Energy Advisor via AMPEDproject.org. The Pollution Prevention Institute (housed at RIT) is another great resource, especially for manufacturing operations.
In general, Green Teams should focus on both the company’s operations and employee engagement and education. Once your team has conducted an initial needs assessment, it will likely make sense to tackle some low-hanging fruit to rack up a quick win or two. That said, beware of projects that consume lots of time and energy without yielding meaningful results. If I had a nickel for every organization that focuses on improving recycling compliance instead of installing more energy efficient equipment….
That is why Green Teams should develop (1) clear goals that are based on real needs and opportunities, and (2) a corresponding action plan. Again, there are many ways to do this, but I am personally a big (and very biased) fan of the Color Your Organization Green program, led by my colleague André Primus. During the course of this year-long program, André guides participating organizations through the process of identifying their climate impacts and vulnerabilities and developing an initial climate action plan that includes systems for tracking and reporting progress. This program is designed to give members of your Green Team the knowledge and skills they will need to lead your organization’s sustainability efforts over time, so you don’t have to hire an expensive consultant to update your plan every few years.
I asked some former and current participants in this program to share their thoughts about what makes for a successful Green Team, and here are a few highlights from what they said:
“Make sure your team is representative of your organization in terms of departments and demographics. But also, make sure someone from upper level management is on the team.” (Annette Jimenez Gleason, Rochester Area Community Foundation)
“Provide education on basic, easy-to-understand concepts. Sometimes we think we need to take on all things when a lot of people don't know where to start…. Be somewhat repetitive.” (Joyel Bennett, Goodwill of the Finger Lakes)
“Once your recommendations decrease cost/increase income, commit to using those savings to fund further ‘greening’ initiatives.” (Marcus Ebenhoe, Catholic Charities Family & Community Services)
“Perfection is the enemy of the good. Do something even if it doesn’t work perfectly. It can be an important stepping stone and educational experience to achieving your end goal.” (Marcus Ebenhoe)
Any person in an organization can initiate the process of starting a Green Team, though getting support from your organization’s leadership will significantly increase your chance of success. If you are in a leadership role, there are many reasons why you might want to encourage and even participate in the development of a Green Team, including (1) the fact that people want to work for organizations that align with their values, and lots of people care about the environment these days, (2) in many cases, opportunities to save energy = opportunities to save money, and (3) environmental regulations that impact your business are likely to increase over the coming years (since relying on voluntary measures and good intentions hasn’t worked), so having a Green Team to oversee regulatory compliance could be helpful.
To create a culture of sustainability within your organization, forming a Green Team is a great first step. If you value the environment and your organization isn’t willing to take that step, it might be time to look for a new job.