A Sustainable Solution 

Recently, the local branch of our company embarked on a two-year program with the Yellowstone Business Partnership to review our internal operations and evaluate ways we could both reduce expenses and increase our commitment to sustainability. The program, called UnCommon Sense, focuses on the fact that by analyzing the costs associated with the various aspects of a business, there is usually room to improve the bottom line simply by paying attention, if not by taking specific initiatives to save money.

The two-year program is divided into eight modules, and companies are expected to meet certain criteria within each of the modules in order to pass. Our office was part of a class comprised of fifteen regional businesses of varying sizes, from a small hotelier to one of the largest hospitals in the region. It is the fifth class to embark on the journey.

We kicked off the three-day workshop – the first of four required in-person meetings – with final presentations from the third class to graduate from the program. Each of the companies discussed the specific ways in which they met the course criteria, and every one of them included cost-savings data that varied greatly by the size of the organization, but ranged from roughly $700 in one year to more than $700,000 in savings over the course of the two-year program! To quote one of the program graduates, Paul Brock, Facilities Manager at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming: “When you say ‘green’ everyone thinks, ‘Oh, I have to go buy the most expensive product,’ and that’s not the reality . . . There are some real cost savings to be had just by looking at your disposal products.” 

The first modules we’re working on are Leadership and Waste Stream Management. Later modules will focus on Responsible Purchasing, Social and Community Investment, Energy, Water and Transportation Efficiencies (each of which is a separate module) and Business Response to Climate Change. Recognizing that successful implementation of any initiative requires careful planning as well as extensive buy-in, we began by surveying our colleagues to determine their knowledge of sustainable practices and their commitment to specific outcomes. We had nearly 85% participation in the survey and generated some interesting benchmark data.

It appeared from the responses that many of the survey participants believed sustainability issues are exclusively focused on the environment, and not about social or economic impacts, which is fairly typical of most people who are asked about sustainability. But each of the three main aspects of sustainability – environment, economy and community - is interrelated. True, without clean air, good water and nutritious food, not much else matters. But without the exchange of goods and services, our society would also falter. And without a community of individuals working together to share in the gifts of this world, I suppose there’s not much meaning to our use of oxygen.  

Our survey results also suggested that many felt they needed additional information about ways in which they could become more sustainable. But survey respondents said that, given greater knowledge, they were committed to introducing more sustainable practices into their personal and professional lives. Finally, the survey established respondents’ top three priorities for our office: energy efficiency, waste stream management and responsible purchasing.

The survey, however, was just scratching the surface. We realized right away it was going to take commitment to help move the process along, so we’re working to develop an incentive program and to create teams within the office to take on specific tasks.  

Our first real mission was the Dumpster dive. Armed with gloves (and beer on ice), five of us, with great encouragement from our colleagues, started dissecting a 55-gallon trash bag that represented two days of garbage from an office of 26 people. We have a well-established recycling program that already diverts some 20-30 lbs of paper and other items from the landfill each week. Even with our program, a few recyclables still found their way into the trash. As the offending parties admitted, they just were in a hurry and didn’t think about it. Or in the case of yogurt containers and lids, envelopes with plastic windows and light-grade cardboard, among other not always obvious goods, folks truly didn’t know these items could be recycled.

To help with the final sorting of items we had questions about, Jason Schneider from Triple R Recycling guided us in the right direction. He also provided some insight into the challenges he faces, from trucking his glass over the hill to Livingston to be crushed into roadbed material, to finding a home for Styrofoam (in our region, we don’t have the facilities to recycle the stuff, so its home for now is the landfill, unless it’s peanuts or other small caliber packaging material).

In all, our Dumpster dive was a success. Not only did we divert an additional 40% of our waste from the landfill, but also we discovered that our cleaners were changing out all of the office trash bags twice each week. The bags we use are already compostable (check out www.Trellisearth.com or go to the Community Food Coop), but we felt it was a tremendous waste to throw out nearly 70 bags each week, each of which cost about $0.20. While we’re still recruiting members for our 3R task force to help develop and implement a specific plan for reducing our impact on the city’s landfill, we figure that simply cutting the number of bags we use by half, we could save over $350 per year. 

Once we’ve solidified our approach to managing our garbage, our next steps include establishing baseline energy and water use data, and reviewing our purchasing decisions. Many of us in our office volunteer throughout the community already, so it will be enlightening to quantify that level of participation as well. 

I encourage other businesses (not to mention individuals) who might be interested in reducing their internal costs and evaluating their company from the perspective of sustainability to contact Heather Higinbotham, who is the Sustainability Programs Manager at Yellowstone Business Partnership (www.yellowstonebusiness.org). There you will find a good deal of information about the organization and the numerous successes they have fostered over the past five years. 

Bill Stoddart is a Financial Consultant with D.A. Davidson & Co who focuses on sustainable investing.  He can be reached at bstoddart@dadco.com