Implementing an eco-efficiency strategy for corporate sustainability

Sustainability Memo

Recommended Action

As the new Senior Vice President for Sustainability I believe the company should institute an Eco-Efficiency strategy. This innovative approach to the greening of our company, in a nutshell, is basically our firm doing more with less and becoming profitable at the same time.

Let me first say that a company should never seem to be "going green" just to look good or to give the impression of jumping on the bandwagon of the current wave of environmentalism and conservation. The idea of a company working towards sustainability is a noble idea, and while I realize there is a sense of caution within the executive management of our company, I trust that given careful thought and analysis, we can proceed in a sensible approach that will be beneficial financially and environmentally.

Eco-Efficiency in frank ordinary language simply means developing a sustainability program that clearly saves money and resources and if done correctly will show a balance between environmental and financial variables. Certainly, by using strategies that lower our costs and reduce our impact on the ecology surrounding our facilities, we engender respect from the communities we work in and we show our shareholders we're engaged in smart practices that point to a future that is profitable and sustainable. Moreover, Eco-Efficiency -- a good start towards sustainability -- involves resource productivity. In other words, our company should be conscientious about our resources and in doing so we can realize savings, increase our yields, and use our by-products in a much more efficient way. Waste consists of the less-than-efficient use of resources. By eliminating as much waste as we can, we increase our service value

We're not talking about investing significant sums of capitol here. We're suggesting shifting to biologically inspired models for production resulting in the more efficient use of natural resources like rainwater, for example. For starters, we should be harvesting the millions of droplets of rainwater that hit our rooftops. That water will not be potable but the savings over a year's time in terms of keeping our lawns and shrubberies and trees well watered will be significant. We can greatly reduce our electrical usage by installing low-wattage light bulbs in every socket we now have for lighting -- and we must do that at the earliest convenience.

Implementation

By optimizing the use of our resources we also reduce the environmental impact of what we do. I am pleased to be given this opportunity to present an Eco-Efficiency concept to the company, and I am happy to take it a step further in the near future by detailing a specific business plan for you. Upon authorization, I will provide that business plan and a timetable for implementation.