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Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.
- Niccolo Machiavelli āThe Princeā
There is nothing more uncommon than common sense.
- Frank Lloyd Wright
PART I ā Look Before You Leap
I am one of those people that will sit in a meeting, listen to meandering or conceptual conversations for about 5 to 10 minutes and then pop - my hand shoots up and/or I interrupt with a question that usually starts with āIām sorry, I must not understand why <<insert current topic here>> canāt be translated into something meaningful and start to incorporate it immediately <<insert 3 action items that could start today>>." I have little patience for circular conversations, vague direction and double-speak. I pride myself on the ability to listen to conversations, and then develop solutions that are actionable and to start DOING! Iāll be honest, at times I move too quicklyā¦but I would rather err on the side of haste than do nothing. I am confident that I will act with compassion, the best intentions, actively seek feedback, and ask forgiveness later.
That being said, there is a time to pause, gather the facts understand what is happening, why it is happening and then chart the course. These next few chapters are about looking around, recognizing what is happening that is successful, looking for opportunities that are easy to change, and identifying challenges. All of these will be part of developing your roadmap. Buckle up, the ride begins now.
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There are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened.
- Mary Kay Ash (founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics)
On this path, it is only the first step that counts.
- St. Jean Baptist-Marie Vianney
Chapter 2 ā Defining Your Shade of Green
Understanding where you are is the first step to knowing where you need to go. While working in some degree of chaos is normal for most organizations, you need to have a basic understanding of how your organization works, and the footprint it leaves on the planet. There are myriad of resources that include books, websites and consultants that can provide a detailed evaluation of the ecological footprint, some of which I share later, but it will forever remain a moving target.
The focus of this chapter is geared to be more of a homework assignment, laden with opportunities to learn about sustainability by understanding your organizationās lighting, recycling program, water usage, and more. Itās a chapter that requires you to get up and look around (at least by the second time you read it.) I will guide you through an initial process to assess your organization, and to move from anecdotal examples to actual information. This approach is to look at the significant impacts first, and then drill down as you get into the inner working of your organization. It will help you to put your finger on the pulse of your charityās environmental health.
For example, looking across the United States in 2010, this chart shows the percentage of how much money was spent on building systems in office buildings. You can see that lighting was over 14%, and the mechanical systems (water and space heating, cooling, refrigeration and ventilation) used more than 50% of the buildingās energy.
You do not need to be technically inclined to do this assignment, but donāt shy away from going outside of your comfort zone! Start with the easy (*) and work toward the more difficult (**). You will definitely need the assistance of someone from the maintenance or property team to discover the technical (***) items (even those who are technically inclined) as the information is specific to the building and its operations. The more you can figure out, the better the picture you can draw.
Now wait ā before you skip ahead and decide that this is too technical, or too much detailed work, slow down and imagine yourself back in school. Treat this as an assignment and do this to better your organization and to learn ā to better yourself.
Career-Improving Tip:
Knowing how to navigate your organizationās hierarchy is important to develop positive momentum. It may be important that you have some discussion with your manager to garner support and work within the organizational effectively. It will also help to create contacts and access to key people within your organization and to avoid stepping on toes.
Learning New Skills and Pushing your Boundaries
Before the Colorado Avalanche (āAvsā) won their back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in the mid-1990s, it was decided that the Avs needed a new home. This was the Pepsi Center, set in the āgolden triangleā of downtown Denver. As a budding young civil engineer that had developed some pretty good skills evaluating structural building systems both in the ground and above, I was selected to run the inspection team overseeing the building of this NHL/NBA arena on behalf of the owner and the City of Denver, and yes, it was a daunting task.
I started off by working with the contractors and other consultants as the site was transformed from a historic (and contaminated) railyard to a parking lot and deep foundation system to hold up this 50,000-seat arena. This project required hundreds of piers to be drilled in to the ground and immense amount of reinforcing steel, structural concrete and masonry ā all which needed to be inspected. I developed a great system with the contractors to ensure that everything was done properly without delaying their schedule. Now this was all stuff that I knew well (or learned fast enough that nobody noticed.) But, when it came to the structural steel inspections - the trusses, beams, columns, bolts and welds - I moved into an area that was completely new to me. We brought in a senior welding inspector and I worked alongside him gleaning his knowledge until I knew it well.
What he couldnāt teach me was how to get comfortable with walking along a 4-inch beam 126 feet in the air from connection to connection! That just took time. At first I was terrified and felt pathetic as I scooted along the beam on my butt with my harness dragging behind.
Eventually, I could walk holding the safety wire, and by the end, I was climbing up and down trusses - no bolt was hidden from me as I traversed the steel. I had to keep pushing myself well outside of my comfort zone to keep this project moving along at its aggressive schedule to meet their ambitious deadlines. But, once I broke through my comfort zone, it was exhilarating!
As you start to think about your organization, you will have to learn a lot about how it works to help find solutions. You will tackle things that are new, difficult and outside your comfort zone, but your cause is just and the goal is critical. Find those important people to help you learn what you need, and itās not like you will have to walk a tightrope a hundred feet in the air!
As you start to look at your building, you may start to wonder how one part of the building consumes energy relative to another. This is a simple view to give you a sense of relative scale.
BASIC INFORMATION
Start by gathering some basic data about your organization. I have created an assessment template at
www.GivingCharitiesGreen.com/Assessments to help gather this information.
Number of employees (*): If possible, see if you can break it down to full-time and part-time. If you can also determine the typical number of volunteers, note that as well.
Number of sites/locations (*): If you can, get a list of each site name, address, square-footage, type of program(s) you deliver, contact information, whether the site is owned vs. leased. Determine if they have a green team, and capture their contact name and info.
OPERATIONAL INTIATIVES
Dive into your work environment, head office, and areas you and colleagues spend time and work. This potential list is so large, that it is literally endless. You are limited by your imagination.
Tweet other ideas (@givinggreen "ops checklist")
In the meantime, start with the following, and add more of your own that you discover while asking around:
General Recycling in your places of business: Are there blue bins for paper (*)?
Does the cleaning staff actually recycle the paper at the end of the day/week (**)? Ask your maintenance person - theyāll know. One trick is to see if they have garbage bins and recycling bins in the loading dock or maintenance areas.
Is your organization recycling batteries (*)? Did you know that batteries take up 2-3% of landfills by volume but contribute up to 85% of the hazardous materials in many landfills! This would be a great initiative to start if you don't already have this program in-place!
What happens to old computers and monitors when they are retired (**)? Ask someone in IT - theyāll know.
A Word on Vocabulary:
I use āSustainably Greenā as the title of the docum...
