6 Environmental & Sustainability New Year's Resolutions
Posted on Fri, Dec 30, 2011 @ 09:13 AM
At this time of year, we all start thinking about the things we can do to make next year better than the previous one. While getting in shape or reducing debt are admirable goals, how about setting some environmental or sustainability goals for your plant or company?
Here's my suggestion for 6 environmental and sustainability resolutions to make 2012 a better year for your plant or company:
- Get on the sustainability bandwagon. It's not a fad, and it will mean a real difference in the way you conduct operations, make your product, sell your product, and the expectations of your customers and other interested parties. Learn all you can, read up on the subject, talk to experts, search the web, participate in a sustainability committee - whatever!
- Go back to square one with environmental regulations. Don't assume that it's the complicated issues that will get you in trouble - make sure you are in full compliance with the mundane issues like NPDES stormwater regulations, SWPPP implementation, SPCC plans, etc. Look at the past year - nearly all the penalties for environmental violations were for relatively simple things, like stormwater violations. See where you stand, and ensure you're not next year's headline for something that could have been easily corrected.
- Commit to a plan to improve environmentally and to become more sustainable. You might be in compliance, but can you reduce energy use? Water use? Can you recycle more? You might have a permit that allows you to discharge process water, but couldn't you instead recycle it and reduce your environmental impact? Develop a plan to be better in 2012.
- Get people involved. If your environmental or sustainability program is built around one person, it's probably doomed to fail. When everyone gets involved to some degree, and you get real buy-in, then your efforts will probably succeed beyond your expectations.
- Start using the web as a source of great information and interactions. Visit informative websites (hopefully like this one) and subscribe to their blogs via RSS feeds (sign up to this one using the RSS feed signup below!). Join Linkedin, including some groups that interest you, and get involved by asking questions and posting comments (I moderate a great group on Linkedin, Concrete and the Environment). You'll find there is a whole lot of great information and expertise available - at no cost - if you seek out the right sources on the web.
- Be proactive. We all have a tendency to be pretty negative these days due to the economy, and this also means towards environmental or sustainability issues. If we've learned anything in 2011 and earlier, it's that environmental and sustainability issues aren't going to go away. If you're not using these concepts to your advantage, they really are working to your disadvantage. Let's change that this coming year.
Lastly, let's all commit to doing whatever we can to make 2012 a better one for industry, which really is the backbone of this country. Environmental and sustainability issues have their part - let's make them work for us to see a better year ahead.
I wish you all a safe and prosperous Happy New Year!
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