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Environmental Awareness

Written by: Paul Bridle

Article Overview: Last year I researched a number of organizations that had an exceptional business. Among the many things that I learned was that each one is focused on environmental issues. The level of environmental focus varied from one organization to another, but the consistent finding was that the commitment started at the top, it came from the leader.

Environmental Awareness

In some cases it was an extremely proactive approach, which required a degree of effort and time. For example, the restaurant chain that was negotiating with it’s suppliers to provide produce in recyclable packaging and had built the latest restaurant with a water purification unit so that the water used to clean the vegetables was purified and then used to flush the toilets. It is true that these steps have a cost, in the short-term at least.

Others simply have a commitment to using recyclable material and separating their waste so that it can be recycled. In one case, there was a committee of volunteer staff members who looked for ways to improve the commitment the company had to recycling and environmental sustainability.

I was impressed in a recent visit to Australia when I was on a train leaving the city. There were a lot of school children on their way home, also on the train. One group of teenagers were eating a takeaway. When they finished, one of the group collected the waste from everyone and when the train stopped at the next station, he ran off the train and threw the waste into a bin and then ran back to the train before the doors closed.

I commented to my friend that this was not typical behaviour that I see of teenagers in other parts of the world. He said that the Australian Government had done a lot of work in educating the public about the need to recycle and keep Australia clean. They had achieved the right behaviour through raising awareness and education.

As leaders our role is to educate people and raise their awareness. Our job is to provide them with the means to behave responsibly. It does not have to be costly and it can reap benefits.

Let us take the business point of view. Businesses want customers, to attract and retain staff, to have engaged staff and to make a profit!

Customers - We know that the consumer is keen to deal with organizations that are more environmentally aware.

Attract and retain staff - A recent survey showed that 80% of graduates want a job that has a positive impact on the environment, and 92% would choose to work for an environmentally friendly company.

Engaged Staff – Increasing environmental awareness and sustainability is an ideal opportunity to engage people, and allow them to influence the business in a practical and safe manner.

Profit - I am always amazed at how little things make such a big difference. Simply changing light bulbs, turning off items when not being used, etc. can add money directly to the bottom line.

People need to be educated and/or engaged in ways of saving the environment and money, as opposed to enforcing rules and regulations. The long-term impact will be phenomenal if we learn this approach.

Paul Bridle

Leadership Methodologist

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Article Tags: australia, australian government, br, business point, doors, environmental sustainability, group of teenagers, job, nbsp, point of view, proactive approach, purification unit, recyclable material, recyclable packaging, recycling, toilets, train, vegetables, volunteer staff members, water purification



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