member
831
GBB points earned
Completed Initiatives
Initiative Description
Points
To reduce scope 3 emissions, 75-99% of your workdays are either remote or employees use public transportation, walking, or biking to get to work
55
Upgrade from older fluorescent T12, T8 and T5 lamps to LED alternatives
36
Purchase 25-49% of products and services from green-certified or Green Business Bureau vendors
36
Rent or purchase a building that is close to public transportation stops and bike paths
36
Compost your home food waste
36
Have a composting program for your business food waste
30
To reduce scope 3 emissions, 50-74% of your workdays are either remote or employees use public transportation, walking, or biking to get to work 50-74% of workdays
30
Implement a sustainability process and standard for all meetings, conferences, and events
25
Optimize your on-premise servers and business systems by ensuring the hardware is up-to-date and energy efficient
24
Install or choose a building with electric charging stations on site
20
Eliminate all single-use paper, styrofoam or plastic cups, plates, and utensils in the kitchen area. Use reusable mugs, dishes, and silverware instead
18
Provide a product or service, as part of your company’s core strategy, that delivers a social or environmental benefit and/or focuses on an underserved part of the community.
18
Provide a benefits package that meets the needs of employees, and is well-defined, accessible and transparent to all workers
18
Have a four-day work week
18
Purchase and serve at least 75% local, organic, and fair trade food and drink
16
Prioritize working with business partners, service providers, etc. that are women-led, minority-owned and local small businesses
16
Define, institute, and clearly communicate a policy to prioritize employee diversity, equity, and inclusion.
16
Purchase all office paper products made from 50-100% recycled materials
12
Arrange the workspace to take advantage of areas with natural sunlight; design future spaces with natural lighting opportunities in mind
12
Purchase offsets for the travel emissions and in-person work days that can’t be reduced
12
Philanthropically donate a percentage of your revenue or profits and/or company time to an environmental cause
12
Replace Open/Closed signs with LED or high-efficiency alternatives.
12
Return used clothes hangers to manufacturers or vendors for a rebate.
12
Use energy efficient display lighting, utilizing the best possible lighting options for window displays, display cases, and cabinets.
12
Allow customers an opt-out option for receipts or email digital receipt copies to their inbox.
12
Have a clearly defined policy that specifies how you will screen partners and vendors to ensure that their business operations are socially responsible and eco-friendly
12
Provide an annual public report or update on your company’s environmental and social responsibility efforts, initiatives, and improvements
12
Install bike racks outside of the office or choose a building with ample bike racks on-site to support the amount of employees
12
Provide equitable opportunities to ensure women have equal access to employment, leadership roles, and pay.
12
Provide fair and appropriate breaks for workers based on hours worked and enforce a strict policy that they must take them
12
Offer a product which the proceeds go to an environmental or social cause
12
Host a community event/fundraiser for a local cause at a store location
12
Properly dispose of all hazardous waste materials including batteries, paint and chemicals, lightbulbs, aerosol cans, and electronics
9
Install a filtered water tap or water bottle refill station that provide high-quality drinking water and encourage employees to use them in place of bottled water
8
Purchase trash bins and liners made from 100% bio-based or 50-100% recycled materials
8
Complete a consumption and waste audit to help identify and quantify the items your business acquires, uses, and discards
8
Use environmentally-friendly, non-toxic, bio-based cleaning products
8
Replace regular light bulbs with LED bulbs that last longer and save energy
8
Install timers on non-essential electrical appliances and reduce “vampire loads” by unplugging them when not in use to reduce business scope 2 emissions
8
Establish a paperless billing program for your customers and encourage use by creating incentives
8
Have accessible green space somewhere onsite or in close proximity to grounds including a garden, walking trail, or courtyard
8
Regularly evaluate employee satisfaction through interviews, surveys, or calculation of employee net promoter score
8
Choose paperless billing with vendors, business partners, and suppliers when possible
6
Eliminate unnecessary paper usage as much as possible including forms, contracts, meeting agendas and materials, proofs, and drafts
6
Administer company-wide employee training on sustainability efforts both at work and at home
6
Eliminate the use of plastic bags (paper bags, preferably made with minimum 40% post consumer waste, or BPI certified compostable bags are acceptable).
6
Sell gift cards made from recycled plastic and establish a gift card recycling service in store.
6
Offer digital coupons instead of printing coupons for distribution.
6
Conduct exit interviews to gain insights on company culture and operations and make improvements based on feedback
6
Give opportunity for all employees to provide feedback of any kind and feel secure and empowered to do so
6
Become an active member, either by serving on the board, donating or volunteering time for an organization that continually works to improve the environment nationally or in your area
4
Recycle or sell your used toner cartridges
4
Develop a paper reduction policy that clearly defines when and how items should be printed to significantly reduce paper usage and consumption
4
Designate carpool, hybrid, and EV parking spaces that are in preferred areas of your parking lot (e.g. closer to the building entrance or covered)
4
Reduce junk mail by removing your business’ name from national direct marketing databases
4
Use reusable cleaning products such as towels and sponges, eliminating paper towels
4
Print and copy double-sided when possible, to significantly reduce paper use and waste
4
Choose bio-based, reused, recycled, recyclable, or FSC certified boxes and bags for business shipping needs
4
Reuse, sell, or donate used or unneeded furniture, equipment, and office supplies
4
Use virtual meeting platforms to replace travel when possible
4
Use packaging for food and other in-store packaging needs, such as for fragile items, made out of sustainable or recycled containers.
4
Communicate your social responsibility initiatives with customers and other stakeholders in a way that clearly defines your company values, policies, objectives and actual performance
4
Provide regular formal review, linked to a comprehensive development plan, with clear and constructive feedback to all employees using a well-defined, fair, and consistent process.
4
Require all business leaders to be trained in, maintain current knowledge of, and commit to complying with the company’s environmental, social and employee wellbeing policies and practices
4
Promote or offer webinars and trainings to employees about circular economy principles, supply chain, and sustainability within the retail sector
4
Designate an employee as community engagement leader or create a community engagement team
4
Minimize air conditioning usage through natural ventilation by opening windows
3
Commit to inviting, receiving and acting upon customer and community feedback in a welcoming and constructive way at all times.
2
Complete GBB’s Getting Started steps, including filling out your company’s Member Profile and the GBB Assessment
1
Develop a sustainability mission statement for your business and define your company’s core commitments
1
Relax the office dress code to allow for attire that doesn’t require dry cleaning
1
Use an environmentally friendly display board instead of foam core board to post memos, schedules and other notices in a centralized area.
1
Keep a spill kit handy to catch/collect spills from hazardous materials. Make sure there is adequate absorbent material to contain the largest possible spill.
1