As a recent graduate of Wharton business school with some time on my hands before joining Bain & Co as a consultant in January, I’ve had the good fortune to work for Environmental Defense Fund’s Corporate Partnerships Group. I chose to do an externship with EDF because I want to learn more about corporate environmental management, which I see as increasingly relevant in the business community. Judging from all the headlines surrounding green business practices and the momentum behind a groundbreaking climate bill, it seems that businesses and consumers are finally catching on to the urgency of reducing our impact on the environment. I am also particularly drawn to EDF’s strategy of partnering with companies to enact environmental change while improving the bottom line.
One of my projects is to capture environmental best practices and case studies around key topics for companies, such as data center emissions, fleet efficiency, waste, and water use. Given the breadth and depth of information on corporate sustainability initiatives (from blog posts to green business news reporting to corporate sustainability reports), it is virtually impossible for one person to do an exhaustive survey of all the content around these topics. So, I need your help.
• Are you a business manager who has implemented environmental strategies to cut costs and reduce your company’s environmental footprint?
• Are you a thought leader in a particular area of corporate sustainability?
• Or are you just interested in trying to solve some of the biggest challenges facing companies today?
If you said yes to any of the above, please take a moment to answer the following questions...
1. What best practices related to environmental sustainability have you implemented or seen implemented with success in companies? (Examples - packaging redesign, lighting retrofits, power management software, recycling programs, etc.)
2. What challenges have you faced in enacting corporate environmental improvements? What information or help do you need to achieve results?
3. Finally, do you have any suggested resources for me to review while gathering best practice content? Have you come across a helpful website, report, book, or talked to a subject-matter expert who’s offered valuable advice?
Please share your thoughts with me in any of the following ways:
• Post a response to this blog
• Email lmacintyre@edf.org with the answers to the above questions
• Fill out a brief survey by clicking on the following link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MXRGWP7
Please help me spread best practices and make them accessible to anyone who wants to enact environmental change.
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