There are probably many definitions of the term “sustainability”. Asks 10 different person and you’ll probably get 10 different answers.
One known definition of sustainability or sustainable development is by the World Commission on Environment and Development, from a 1987 UN conference, which defined sustainable developments as those that “meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”. This definition provides an ideal premise, but however, it lacks in clarity on what specific human and environmental parameters to be used for modeling and measuring sustainable developments.
Organizations of all sizes and nature, operate within an environmental, social and economic context. As a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable organization as well as a good corporate citizen, there are many actionable opportunities which can be adopted to achieve sustainability in the environment, society and economy which they operate within. Sustainable development should be a part of the overall operation of every organization, in order for them to act responsibly towards natural and economic resources and taking into account the needs of future generations.
Some examples of opportunities of environmentally sustainable practices:
- Reduction of paper usage through double-sided printing and copying, or controlling print altogether;
- Re-cycling program for discard materials, paper waste, etc. and purchasing of recycled office supplies;
- Re-using of buildings or facilities, which otherwise may be left vacant or inefficiently occupied;
- Reduction in transportation costs through aggregating procurement or integrated supply chain; Transportation can also be reduced through employee car-pool programs, use of mass public transit by employees, motivating use of alternative-fueled vehicles or replacing travel with video/teleconferencing and trip consolidation;
- Factories or manufacturing plants could research and consider use of less toxic and biodegradable raw materials and use of recycled materials instead;
- Buildings or facilities such as data centers, could (where applicable) consider using free cooling (airside or waterside economizers) to maximize energy efficiency in heating, ventilating and cooling; Consider use of VFD (Variable Frequency Drives), transformer-less power distribution, use of rotary (flywheel) UPS instead of static UPS, etc.;
- Implementing water retention or storage facility to minimize water loss; Installing water-saving devices such as reduced flow toilets and aerators on sink fixtures, etc.;
- Consider use of alternative energy source, e.g. solar or wind generation, where possible;
- Employ green building concepts such as use of natural lighting as much as possible in the design of buildings and to raise temperature setpoint within the building;
- Where food are prepared, encourage adoption of energy and water efficiency means in cooking and water operations, e.g. providing washable, reusable utensils, recycling programs for cans, bottles, and other discards, donating out excess food, etc.;
- Use of non-toxic cleaning materials for maintenance and cleaning;
- Lastly, always interact with the constituents, stakeholders and public, to inform them of your sustainability efforts and encouraging them to participate.
So, what are you waiting for?
Tags: Environmental, Sustainability, Sustainable Development