SAEM SD Presentation 2008
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Transcript of SAEM SD Presentation 2008
P I L L A R S O F P I L L A R S O F S U S T A I N A B I L I T YS U S T A I N A B I L I T Y T H E B A S I C ST H E B A S I C S
Graham L. Twaddell, MSGraham L. Twaddell, MSEnvironmental & Sustainability ManagerEnvironmental & Sustainability Manager
WORKSHOP OUTLINE
Define sustainable development
Identify the benefits of sustainability
Discuss how sustainability can be achieved
WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT?
Sustainable development, or sustainability, is the simple idea that, as human beings, we place a high value on our own quality of life and that of future generations.
The most commonly used definition of sustainability is, “Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Our Common Future, Brundtland Commission, 1987
Nothing new…
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt stated in his 1907 State of the Union address,
“To waste our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed.”
PILLARS OF SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability can be visualized as pillars that together support, produce and enhance a sustainable world.
These pillars are economic growth, social development and environmental protection.
ECONOMIC SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL
Triple bottom line.
Sustainability Pillars
S O C I A L
Employee Benefits, Health Care,
Community Involvement, Education…
Sustainability Pillars
E C O N O M I C
Production Costs, Profits vs Loss,
Compliance Costs,Sales…
Sustainability Pillars
E N V I R O N M E N T A L
Waste, Energy Efficiency,
Environmental Degradation…
The Pursuit of Sustainability…
EconomicEnvironmental
Social
SUSTAINABILITY
The next generation matters as much as the next quarter…
In order for organizations to maintain a competitive edge and ensure longevity they need to adopt a management system that addresses not only economic issues, but issues that address environmental and social matters also.
Reasons to be Sustainable:
1. Limitless Longevity: survival of your organization. Sustainability is a rapidly growing concept. As other organizations implement and practice sustainability, those that do not will simply fall behind and lose the ability to aggressively compete.
Reasons to be Sustainable:
2. Smart Savings: Being clean and green will save your organization money
e.g. less energy, less water, lesswaste, less clean up, less liability and exposure.
Planet Earth’s natural resources are
finite…and thus costly!
Reasons to be Sustainable:
3. Natural NeighborhoodFor your kids and your community,
enhancing you and your loved ones’ lives, as well as setting a moral and ethical example.
Reasons to be Sustainable:
4. Recognition RewardsEnhance market share, client and public
relations, and your organization’s reputation.
Reasons to be Sustainable:
5. Excel and ExceedGoing beyond compliance, by setting – and
exceeding - industry standards, your organization has a tangible impact on its rivals.
Make your own reasons…
To be sustainable, our actions must reflect what is important to us; qualities such as:
Clean airClean waterHealthSecurity Prosperity
Industry and Sustainability
As the world has become more industrialized, there have been increasing environmental pressures such as harmful emissions and waste, which have had global, regional or local impacts.
Industry and Sustainability
Global, regional or local impacts include: Local level: urban air pollution, contamination of soils
and rivers and land degradation Regionally: acid rain and water contamination Globally: climate change, ozone layer depletion, loss
of biodiversity, increased movement of hazardous waste and increased land-based marine pollution
Industry and Sustainability
There is a mutually reinforcing relationship between social and industrial development.
Industrialization has the potential to promote, directly and indirectly, a variety of social objectives such as:
employment creation poverty eradication gender equality labor standards greater access to education and health care.
Industry and Sustainability
The predominant task facing industry today is to maximize the positive influence of industrial activities on economic and social development, while minimizing the negative impact of production and consumption on the environment.
Industry and Sustainability
In this regard, the overriding challenge is to promote the positive impacts while limiting or eliminating the negative impacts of industrial activities on social development.
So… how do we do this?
What gets measured, gets managed......
Indicators are a tool that can be used to measure an organizations’ progress towards sustainability.
Put simply…indicators are “Something you can do!”
What gets measured, gets managed......
By identifying appropriate indicators within each of the sustainability pillars, one can start to manage unsustainable activities, implement sustainable practices and set sustainable goals for the future.
Becoming greener involves doing just one thing.
The more we do, the more sustainable we The more we do, the more sustainable we becomebecome..
Social Sustainability Indicators
SOCIALMax
ValuePoints
Attained
Employee Salary 10
Employee Benefits 10
Healthful and Safe Working Environment 10
Health and Wellness Program 10
Volunteering in Community 10
Education Opportunities 10
Ride Share Program 10
Employee Salary Direct Deposit 10
TOTAL 80
Environmental Sustainability Indicators
ENVIRONMENTALMax
ValuePoints
Attained
Hazardous Material Inventory Service (HMIS) & Tier II 10
Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan 10
Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures Plan 10
Air Permits 10
Water Permits 10
Pollution Prevention (P2) Plan 10
Hazardous Waste Management 10
Landscaping 10
TOTAL 80
Economic Sustainability Indicators
ECONOMICMax
ValuePoints
Attained
Percentage Profit 10
Energy Consumption 10
Water Consumption 10
Generation of Waste (municipal and hazardous) 10
Waste Recycling and Reuse 10
Inventory Control (Just In Time Ordering) 10
Electronic Banking and Mailing 10
Alliance of Sustainable Businesses 10
TOTAL 80
WORKSHOP CONCLUSION
Define sustainable development
Identify the benefits of sustainability
Discuss how sustainability can be achieved