Developing a Sustainability Strategy: An Interview with Jill Savery
Sustainability is not an easy topic to understand, which is why there is so much miscommunication around it. I recently met up with Jill Savery, CEO of Bristlecone Strategies Incorporated. As a sustainability consultant, Ms. Savery had all the right answers to help businesses get started in developing a green strategy. Here is the full interview:
Lisa: Why should businesses develop a sustainability strategy?
Jill: We use way more resources on this planet, and we’re putting so much pressure on our planet – a smart business will take these challenges seriously. You can not only save money, but you can make sure your business is long-lasting over time.
Lisa: What is the first step in developing a sustainability strategy?
Jill: The term sustainability is so broad, so every organization should define it for themselves. Ask your employees and stakeholders to help define it and then look at your most important impacts. Determine what’s the most important impact, and then start developing an action plan.
Lisa: What are some resources or tools you know that an organization could look to for advice on developing a strategy?
Jill: There are so many different tools available. There’s training, education and degree programs. There are formal standards through ISO and reporting standards. The hard part is weeding through what’s appropriate for your organization. There are also consultants that can help.
Lisa: Should a business look at all areas of sustainability or have a focus on just one (environment, economic, social, etc.)?
Jill: To take a holistic approach, you need to look at the social piece, the economic piece and the environmental factor. You don’t have to do it all at one time, but look at what your industry focuses on. Begin to develop a strategy on where you can make the biggest impact and then you can begin to look at the other areas. All three pillars are intertwined and you can’t separate them.
Lisa: How do you go about convincing employees and the community that sustainability is important?
Jill: There are different motivations for embracing sustainability. Some organizations find that it’s the cost-savings that drive their sustainability efforts, so sometimes that’s a driver and you can speak to that driver. Over time, employees and stakeholders will begin to feel better about what you’re doing. You need to determine what’s going to speak to someone.
Lisa: In your opinion, what are some of the most sustainable brands or companies and why?
Jill: There are so many examples especially over the last decade. To name a few, Interface, the flooring company, was the first to look at this holistic approach of sustainability. Method, from the beginning wanted to look at the best cleaning products with little impact on the environment. They looked at packaging too. Levi’s is identifying how to save on water in making their jeans and also educating how to save on water when cleaning their product at home. Caesar’s Entertainment looks at retention rate with employees. Patagonia is now saying, “If you don’t need another product, don’t buy it.” Puma was the first company in the world to look at their environmental profit and loss statement.
Lisa: What are a few easy things a business can do to be more sustainable?
Jill: Take a look at your impacts on sustainability. If you are an organization that uses resources, take a look at your impacts to the environment, people, and health. Then make an action statement to see what you can do this year, this month to improve. And then identify how you can engage your employees to participate. Make improvements day-by-day.
It was a pleasure to sit down and hear Ms. Savery’s thoughts on the role of sustainability in businesses today. If you would like to hear more interviews with professionals, please follow my blog.