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What’s the value of sustainability?

27 Jan

Often, we measure sustainability in quantifiable metrics, things like financial savings or carbon footprint. This is not a bad thing, and I encourage it for my clients. It makes things a lot easier when trying to justify investment. But I do wonder, what would happen if we measured sustainability in a completely different way? Would it mean that no one would take it seriously? Or could it mean that people would finally start taking it seriously?

The reason I pose the question is that I’ve returned from running a three-day workshop in the UK for my lovely museum clients who are learning to be sustainability leaders and champions at their museums. And though we focus on the figures, I routinely get awesome emails like:

Thank you for the life changing work you have done

and

I keep plugging away and I’m sure we will move forward

and

I cannot thank you enough for this opportunity

I find it so inspiring. It’s easy to get down in the dumps and think that the small work of one person cannot possibly make a difference. But then I remember that the whole point of sustainability is actually to make life better for people. So that they can achieve their goals and have a more prosperous future. I’d like to think that the work I’m doing is helping to achieve that, one small step at a time.

What do you think? What difference are you making? Leave a note for me in the comments!

COP XX: Oops I missed it again

6 Dec

This post was going to be titled, “Durban: Does anyone know or care?” But then I realized that I had in fact missed over half the event anyway. Plus, it’s not being covered in depth in any mainstream media. I only knew sort of what was happening because of my friends’ facebook posts.

This is truly lame.

It’s not that I don’t think international dialogue on climate change isn’t important. Of course I do. The problem I see is that these meetings don’t seem to be achieving anything anymore. And while this isn’t necessarily an argument to stop holding them altogether, I do see an argument for significant change in the purpose, size, scope and goals of these meetings. Sure, they are a lot of fun for people to go to. You get out of the office and get to meet other people who are interested in the same issues. These are good goals in and of themselves. But they are not the goals of the COP.

Diplomacy is not my strong suit (just ask my husband). But directness and honesty are. And honestly, I think the UNFCCC needs to rethink the results they hope to achieve through these meetings, because I don’t think the current plan is cutting it.

A Chief Sustainability Officer by any other name?

1 Dec

The latest addition to the growing cadre of sustainability-related positions is the Chief Sustainability Officer. The addition of “Chief” would seem to indicate that this is the highest level position within a company focused on sustainability that one could aspire to. Does a CSO do anything different than past positions such as Head of CR?

Just to demonstrate, here is a list of positions culled from the almighty oracle of the internet (e.g. Wikipedia)

  • Director, VP, EVP, or SVP of Sustainability
  • Environmental Policy Manager
  • Director of Environment, Energy, & Safety
  • Director of Social & Environmental Responsibility
  • Chief Officer of Environment
  • Social & Environmental Sustainability Manager
  • Chief of EHS
  • Certified Sustainability Administrator

Seriously, these are not reflecting the same thing. I have worked with many people in many companies, organizations, etc and the person in charge of sustainability is the one with the budget and decision-making ability. I don’t care what your position title is, this is the truth.

The sustainability decision makers I’ve dealt with have included the Global Head of Communications, the Chief Operating Officer and the Partner-in-Charge. Does that mean these are the new CSOs? No. But what it does mean is that companies aren’t really taking sustainability seriously unless they are allocating the same level of responsibility and budgetary authority as any other C-level executive, Director, or SVP.

Seduction by Stickers

22 Nov

What do you do when your budget is shrinking faster than you can plug the holes? You start looking for places to save money, right? You start looking for small to no-investment projects that can very quickly start saving money. And that’s when problems can start. Because, just because something is free or very low cost does not mean it is very low effort. In fact, low-cost solutions require as much if not more planning and implementation support as very high cost solutions.

Why am I mentioning this now? Because last week someone (who shall remain anonymous) told me something that I could not believe. It was a “jaw to the floor” moment.

Them: We spent $5000 on stickers

Me: What? You spent how much? On what?

Them: Well, we were told that they have a very quick payback period, you know, for switching off lights and equipment.

Me: So what happened?

Them: Well, a lot of people got angry that we started putting stickers on their light switches.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time I’ve heard some version of this story, however it is the most dramatic. And it very clearly demonstrates the need to plan, engage and implement. Things like stickers, posters, blogs, newsletters, etc are all tools in a well-strategized and well-planned campaign to change some sort of behaviour. But they are not strategies on their own. You cannot just throw them up on the wall (or light switch) and hope that things will get better. Cheap isn’t always better, and it’s not always the answer. It can be part of a strategy, but not the whole thing.

In order to implement successfully, you need the following three elements in place for people:

  1. Context. Tell them why you are asking them to change
  2. Incentive. What’s in it for me? People need to know and see the benefits this change will bring to them.
  3. Results. After you’ve run your campaign, you must tell your people what actually happened.

If you don’t do this, you will either get nowhere, or you will have a one-shot deal that doesn’t last.

Hearts and Minds (and bottom lines)

3 Nov

When it comes to promoting a culture of innovation and openness within an organization, you can’t do it by yourself. It is vital to win the hearts and minds of staff throughout the whole organization.

I’ll bet you’ve heard that before. You might be wondering…. yeah, but what does that mean in practice?

I’ll share with you some tips that have worked with one of the most difficult innovations to implement, sustainability. I’ve used a number of easy-to-implement ideas that can help get staff on board. Why not create a sustainability manager? Give somebody the responsibility to help champion the greening of your organization and spread the message to staff throughout the organization. This person (or even group of people) can help connect the strategic plans of your museum to the day-to-day working lives of each of your employees. This doesn’t necessarily have to be an official job, so regardless of the size of your organization, get people involved.

You can incentivize staff by generating light-hearted competition. Create competitions and incentives to see who is the most green. This could include setting up league tables by giving points for walking or taking public transportation to work, turning off PC’s and printers or coming up with sustainability ideas. At the very least this will get staff thinking and talking about how their working lives have an impact on the environment, and what they can do to reduce this impact.

Finally, simply tell your staff what it is you are trying to achieve. Keep them updated by sending round regular news emails, putting up posters or holding staff meetings.

The difference each member of staff can make on a daily basis will soon add up. A single PC turned off each night or a single light turned on an hour later each day can generate savings running in to hundreds dollars (or more) each year. So spreading a culture of sustainability will also have a pleasant impact on your bottom line.

Simple measures like this can be effective. Getting everybody on board and working together is half the battle. If you can build, spread, nurture and support a sustainable culture within your organization you will find that sustainability quickly becomes contagious.

Although this example is about sustainability, the same principles apply for any type of innovation. Why not give it a try?

The Power of Questions

1 Nov

Has inertia taken over your business? How many things are you doing simply “because that’s the way we’ve always done it?” I want to share with you an example from my work with my museum clients. I am an expert in museum sustainability and I find that the lessons learned from this body of work carry over to my work with other types of clients, including large and small businesses.

The ability to ask questions internally is key for innovation potential and sustainability. From the museum sector, my clients and I questioned gallery environmental standards, how exhibitions are put together, and whether visitors need to be physically present to enjoy art and objects. This level of  questioning and being curious has immense value for museums.

A past client, Jeff Cowton from The Wordsworth Trust really took on board the value of questions. Jeff says, “before the Sustainability Leadership programme my understanding was very general in nature. I had a basic understanding but I did not feel confident in arguing the case from a factual viewpoint. Now, I focus on achieving objectives rather than accepting the situation. Now I know that it doesn’t have to be ‘just the way it is’ and I’m determined to make changes.” 

Another  Sustainability Leadership participant, Karen Stratford from the Congleton Museum, shares this sentiment. Congleton’s main priority is to reduce electricity consumption as this is the main contributor to their carbon footprint. Karen started asking questions related to housekeeping. Karen says, “I started asking about the photocopier, the lights, the air conditioning. I kept asking until I got the facts, and it turns out it’s far better to switch off the photocopier, for example. So now everything gets turned off at night.” Karen has also asked about the air conditioning units, which are used to heat and cool. Karen is starting to ask, “Can we change these settings according to the season, according to the outside temperature?” Now, Congleton are experimenting with the settings to see what the optimum temperature should be. Karen says, “this is a real breakthrough for us to actually ask these questions.”

What should I ask?

Take some tips from a museum and be curious! These examples are about sustainability, but you can use these questions as a template for almost anything.

(1) Ask Why. Pretend you’re a curious three year-old and you’ll be a master of this question. Question your procedures, your habits, your behaviours. Why isn’t this printer set up for double-siding? Why is the heat on with the window open? And keep asking until you get the facts. Which leads to our next tip…

(2) Go to the source. Do not take the opinions of colleagues, friends or family members as fact. Myths persist, particularly on the internet. It is NOT better to leave your lights on, it is NOT better for the photocopier to leave it on all night, and virgin paper does NOT use less energy than recycled. Just a few of my least favorite persistent myths. If you have questions about equipment, ask the manufacturer.

(3) Re-visit old questions. Technology changes rapidly. The answers you received about LED lighting, low-VOC paint, energy-efficient computers, etc. may no longer be valid. In particular, pricing data is often out of date but we base our opinions on the most recent information we have (which might be 5-10 years old!). So if you’re thinking of ways to improve your museum’s sustainability, re-visit some of those old questions.

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