Whoops! Ten Common Mistakes to Avoid in Building your Sustainability Program

editors | 22 June, 2010 08:14

by William (Bill) Wiley P.E., wileywun@gmail.com

In Building a sustainability program, it is important to not trip over these common mistakes. A successful sustainability effort takes time and you will make mistakes- but a little forewarning may help ease your way. Some of these are simple and readily apparent, other may take more thought and commitment. In any case you are now aware.

Buying compostable or recyclable materials without the means to compost or recycle them. Many products today proudly proclaim their recyclability or compost ability, but be careful. Many compostable products require specific conditions( e.g. temperature, humidity, etc) Likewise many recyclable products make sense where there is a local facility that accepts them. Failure to look at these important issues before you commit can leave egg on your face.

Carbon footprint vs. Ecological footprint. Although it’s a prerequisite to understand your “carbon footprint” today, do not overlook the other aspects of your project or proposal. It does you little good to focus on CO2 reductions when you increase water use or increase land disturbance. An interesting case study is the controversy over Concentrated Solar in Arizona.

Use of manufacturer’s claims for your application. Many products today come with broad claims of saving X amount of water or reducing CO2 emissions by Y amount annually. These claims are usually based on ‘best case’ conditions and clearly do not match your use. As an example, a waterless urinal manufacturer ‘s claim of saving up to 40,000 gallons of water annually per fixture, did not hold up in computing actual usage in a high-rise building with multiple fixtures , a higher female/male ratio and where fixture replacement was from existing low flow fixtures. An important corollary to this example is to not use these claims in calculating YOUR ROI on this investment.

Use of Recycled amount or Recycled percentage as a metric. Recycling is good, but it should not be the ultimate goal. Your goal should be to increase material use efficiency and reduce that not used, whether it goes to a landfill or is recycled. A mature program should actually reduce its material recycled over time.

Failure to engage your employees. Employees are an organization’s ambassadors to the world. They interact with stakeholders of all kinds at schools, churches and even at grocery stores. In today’s social media world, they also may ‘talk’ to people around the world. In many cases, they carry more credibility than the official company spokespersons (think BP). Failure to educate and interact with them on a regular basis will undermine your effort.

Doing ‘Sustainability ‘without having good risk management and compliance programs in place. Nothing can undo all your good work sooner than multiple NOVs or a major faux pas. For example, a public ethical lapse or a major spill can destroy a reputation instantaneously . Aramark CEO Joseph Neubauer said it well when he said: ”It takes a minute to undo what it took a lifetime to build.”

Lack of a Sustainability governance structure. Many organizations give the sustainability program to an enthusiastic employee and send them away to do good often with the admonition to keep costs down. This is a recipe for failure. Lack of support from the C-suite, including authority to build an internal governance/implementation structure will doom your program to be just another initiative.

Green only. In the media, sustainability is often portrayed as an environmental program or initiative. Getting past this “green only’ concept with all your stakeholders (including employees and management) is a difficult, but critical step. Broadening your program to address your customer needs, employee health and safety, local community support, etc. is just as important to the sustainability of your organization as are the traditional environmental and financial metrics.

Save money only. Part of the recognized benefit of sustainability is looking at ways to be more eco-efficient, often by tackling those low hanging fruit. If you use resources wisely, you can reduce costs and reduce waste. Both can save your organization money. However, at some point in your program you will likely have to spend some capital to buy more efficient variable speed motors, hybrid vehicles or upgrade air conditioning, as examples. Failure to invest will limit your potential long-term benefits.

Failure to stay up- to date. Your customers, stakeholders, investors, and regulators are all revising their views of the world and what they deem important. For example, Wal-Mart’s supplier initiative was a big wake-up call to many companies, especially those that ended up losing business. Similarly, shareholder initiatives on carbon disclosure and transparency caught many major companies off guard. Finally, Twitter and Facebook and numerous blogs can radically and quickly affect your company image – as well as your next day at work.

These are a few of the common mistakes that organizations make in their sustainability journey. With that said, everyone makes mistakes and unless they are fatal you can survive and build a sustainable organization that we all can be proud of. For more tips see my earlier article on implementing a sustainability program, Lessons from the Sustainability Trenches.

References:

Neubauer, Joseph. Reputation Rx: CEO Quotes http://www.reputationrx.com/Default.aspx/CEOREPUTATION/CEOQUOTES

Wiley, William D. PE, 2010, Lessons from the Sustainability Trenches; 14 Tips to Achieve Sustainability in Journal of Environmental Management, June 2010.

About the Author

William (Bill) Wiley P.E. was Senior Manager for Sustainability for Arizona Public Service Co. from 2007 through 2010. He is also adjunct professor for University of Phoenix, teaching science and ethics classes. From 1991 through 1994, he was Deputy Director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. He is registered Professional Engineer in Arizona and has several publications on water, business process improvement and environmental management.