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The Sustainable Business Journey

If your company is investing in green initiatives and working toward becoming a more sustainable business and/or company, you need a strategy, plan, and a roadmap. A sustainable business journey starts with establishing a clear company purpose and mission, creating the right culture, and engaging employees. 

The Sustainability Checklist for Business

Green Business Bureau has created a checklist that serves as a playbook for becoming an environmentally and socially responsible business. It focuses on letting employees drive the cause and using a sustainability scorecard to track your progress. We include all the steps and explain how a targeted green business certification program to start can provide the sustainability framework you need to help establish the direction and priorities and shift your company to becoming more sustainable.

Start with Creating a Green Culture and Sustainability Program

Every company needs a sustainability strategy and plan.

The Green Business Bureau Sustainability Checklist defines 25 steps to becoming a certified sustainable business starting with defining a mission, team and goals. It serves as a guide on how to launch and manage a company-wide sustainability program. It lays out a roadmap on how to create the sustainability results and story you envision as a company and check off steps in the process along the way.

25 Tips For Managing an ESG Program

Green Business Bureau Sustainability Checklist

A guide on how to create the sustainability results you envision and check off all the steps in the process along the way.

Topics include Laying the Foundation, Launching the Program, Environmental Initiatives, Social Responsibility Initiatives, Embracing Accountability, Celebrating Success, Completing a Certification, and Creating a Marketing Plan.

Green Business Bureau Sustainability Checklist for Business

The GBB Sustainability Checklist is a 13-page guide that explains 25 tips for launching and managing a sustainability program.  Every tip is explained in detail and includes a how-to guide to implement each step. Here’s a summary of the major steps and the checklist of tips.

LAYING THE FOUNDATION

1. Write a green mission statement

2. Create a Green Team

3. Engage the right employees

4. Create a sustainability plan

LAUNCHING THE PROGRAM

5. Complete an EcoAssessment 

a. Use a tool that produces an EcoScore

6. Launch and communicate the goals and plan to all employees

a. Make a big deal with a company wide launch meeting

ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES

7. Implement a Green Procurement Policy

8. Recycle everywhere, properly

9. Eliminate plastic

10. Eliminate waste

11. Switch to more efficient lighting

12. Use green energy

13. Reduce fossil fuel use in vehicles

a. Shift some employees to remote work

b. Use electric and hybrid vehicles

c. Encourage and facilitate carpooling

d. Provide public transit passes

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY INITIATIVES

14. Focus on employee well-being

15. Give back to charities & causes

16. Support your local community

17. Embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion

EMBRACING ACCOUNTABILITY

18. Use a framework to track progress and milestones

19. Publish an EcoScorecard

20. Calculate your carbon and GHG emissions

CELEBRATING SUCCESS

21. Recognize people and program achievements

22. Make sustainability part of your quarterly company updates

COMPLETING A CERTIFICATION

23. Verify your results by a third party

CREATING A MARKETING PLAN

24. Demonstrate your commitment via marketing

a. Promote your commitments and accomplishments on your website

b. Elevate your brand and improve your reputation using social media

25. Use a green business seal to promote your green business

a. Earn the benefits you deserve: quality employees, new customers

Conclusion: A Sustainability Checklist Is A Great Place to Start or Improve Your Sustainability Program

Clearly there are challenges to becoming a more sustainable business and a major investment is needed to become more sustainable. But with the right people, solutions, strategy, and tactics, the cost of the investment can be minimized and the return maximized. 

Whether you’re just starting your journey or well on your way, a checklist can help you define a sustainable business strategy and playbook. Our GBB sustainability checklist share the the knowledge and tools needed to become a purpose-driven business. It is a roadmap to become a more sustainable and greener business and discusses how companies can drive change.

Purpose-driven businesses are particularly well positioned to tackle the world’s biggest problems including climate change and the poor and unfair treatment of workers. This checklist will help you influence your executive management team and engage employees and other key stakeholders.  You will also learn how to integrate your values into your work and company operations, drive system level change and transform your company to be a socially responsible and sustainable business.

Green Business Bureau

Author Green Business Bureau

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