Watch your water use Water use is an obvious place to start a sustainable initiative, given California’s extreme drought conditions. Inside your building, low-flow toilets and sink aerators are an easy fix. If you have landscaping responsibilities as an owner or tenant, paying attention to the environment around your building makes a difference, too. Adding drought-tolerant plants and a low-flow irrigation system will ensure you’re not prone to overwatering — and will save on water bills, as well. 7
Another less-obvious aspect of water management in the outside environment is when you’re doing landscape work or exterior construction. Larger projects may have regulations in place that require netting or other mitigation to control runoff, but don’t ignore smaller jobs. “Just taking that little added step to control the runoff into the local sewer system plays a part in overall water quality,” Russell says.
Promote your sustainability efforts One of the most important things you can do to support your sustainability programs is to talk about them. “If a company is truly making an effort to use environmentally sound practices, they should be shared through informative pieces with employees and customers,” Russell says. “Who doesn’t want to feel good about where they work or the company they’re doing business with?” In addition to regular internal and external communications about specific initiatives, an annual corporate social responsibility report is a popular way for businesses to highlight the good they do. Sustainable business is smart business As a leader in environmental initiatives, California has many of the strictest and most sweeping regulations
in the country. Still, creating a true culture of sustainability is a matter of taking ownership in meaningful change, not just reacting to new laws. The best approach, according to Russell, is to create a plan. “It can be as simple as a green initiative checklist or as detailed as the project may require,” he says. “Ideally, you want to look at all the different attributes of a space and ferret out all the opportunities to minimize consumption, reduce waste, or improve efficiency, and revisit them regularly. Even if you don’t take advantage of all of them, you know what they are and can address them when it makes sense.” Whether you keep it simple or go beyond government initiatives, working toward sustainable goals for your business can often pay off on the bottom line in the long run.
8
IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 10 | 2022
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker