April 11, 2012

St. Louis Green Business

Challenge

Sustainable Business

Advantage Program

Sustaining Sponsor

Contributing Sponsors

• Introductions

• Explaining the Sustainable Business Advantage Program

• Developing a Culture of Sustainability

• Energy Reduction Strategies

• Waste Reduction Strategies

• Closing Announcements

Agenda

4/11/2013 4

Sustainability Means Business

The Triple Bottom Line

4/11/2013 5

• Two in-depth seminars on integrating sustainability into operations

• Complete Menu of Sustainable Policies and Accomplishments by August 15

• Support from EarthWays Center Staff – ongoing by phone and email

• Join in special events with Green Business Challenge Network

– Energy Efficiency Seminar – May 30

– Green Products and Services EXPO - Sept 25

• Access to best practice resources

– Catalogued at www.stlouisgreenchallenge.com

• Recognition in Green Business Challenge Award Ceremony

Sustainable Business Advantage Program

• Site Management Policies

– Form a company-wide Green Team across all

company functions

– Complete a sustainability policy for your company

and share it with your employees, vendors, and

supply chain

– Establish a company-approved no-idling plan at

your dock and driveway

– Establish a company-approved no-smoking policy

for indoors and on campus or outside of building

Sustainability Policies

Form a Green Team • Benefits include:

– Broad-based stakeholder involvement

– Take advantage of employee interests and skills

– Divide up tasks

– Sustain processes and knowledge over time, and through

personnel changes

• Choose a champion to lead

• Secure management support

• Work with your facility or property manager

– Consider teaming up with neighboring businesses

Develop a Sustainability Policy

• Focus on your existing strengths

• Define priorities that work for your company now

– Look for potentials to grow your policy over time

• Secure company owner or CEO endorsement

• Incorporate sustainability guidelines into routine employee

training

• Craft a policy that motivates improvement

• Adapt models shared by Green Challenge companies

• Share your policy with your vendors and supply chain!

Establish a No-Idling Policy for your site

Exhaust from idling vehicles can accumulate and pose a health risk to employees, drivers, and the community at large. Consider issuing a no-idling policy for company vehicles and for any vehicle on company property.

Establish a Smoke-Free Workplace

– Distribute sustainability education materials or classes for

your employees at the workplace and at home

– Provide a sustainability education workshop or program

for staff

– Install pervious pavers, rain gardens or native landscaping

to reduce stormwater runoff and/or increase biodiversity

– Conduct a commuting audit and reduce the percentage of

employees commuting to work in single-occupancy

vehicles by 10% during Small Business Advantage

program timeframe.

– Complete a greenhouse gas inventory or carbon footprint

documentation for your company

Sustainable Accomplishments: Site

Encourage Employee Green Learning

– Distribute sustainability education materials or classes for your

employees at the workplace and at home

– Develop a “Green Tips” page on your company website

– Provide a sustainability education workshop or program for staff –

there are lots of good presentation options are available in our region

– many at no charge!

– EarthWays Center

– St. Louis Audubon Society - St. Louis Master Gardeners – St.

Louis Master Naturalists

– Trailnet - Ridefinders

– US Green Building Council Speakers’ Bureau

Encourage Employee Green Learning

– Engage in community-greening volunteer activities

• St. Louis Cardinals “4 A Greener Game

• St. Louis Earth Day – Recycling on the Go

• Operation Clean Stream – Missouri River Relief

• Forest ReLeaf of Missouri tree-planting and distribution

Make Your Company’s Site Water-Efficient

• Implement RainScaping measures:

– Pervious paving

– Rain garden or other constructed feature

– Native plant landscaping

• Benefits include:

– Reduced stormwater runoff & sewer bills

– Reduced landscape maintenance costs

– Increased biodiversity

New! from Missouri Botanical Garden

RainScaping Guide

Find a complete set of RainScaping planning resources at

www.mobot.org/rainscaping

Developed by Deer Creek Watershed Alliance - a project of Missouri Botanical Garden

Rain Gardens

Rain Barrels for Low-Tech, Low-Cost Water Conservation

. . . makes & sells

Rain Barrels from

reclaimed soda

syrup and car

wash soap

containers!

www.riverdesperes.org

River Des

Peres

Watershed

Coalition . . .

Green Infrastructure

Plant-Based Solutions

to the Problems of Paving

Hi-Tech Rainwater Conservation Parking Lots

Pervious

Concrete

Porous Asphalt

“Grass-Crete”

More

RainScaping

Options:

Pervious Paving

Native & Adapted Plants

www.grownative.org

Shaw Nature Reserve Native Plant Sale – First Weekend in May!

www.shawnature.org

Backyard Greening resources for habitat vitality

www.stlouisaudubon.org/BCH

Plant Natives – Remove Invasive Plants

Reduce Your Company’s Carbon Footprint

– Conduct a commuting audit and reduce the percentage of employees commuting to

work in single-occupancy vehicles by 10% during Advantage timeframe

Reduce Your Company’s Carbon Footprint

– Complete a greenhouse gas inventory or carbon

footprint documentation for your company

• www.epa.gov/climateleaders/smallbiz/footprint.html

• www.coolclimate.berkeley.edu/business-calculator

• www.empowermentinstitute.net

– The Low-Carbon Diet: Lose 1500 pounds in 30 days

• Global Reporting Initiative

• Energy Reduction Policies

– Establish a 10% company-approved energy

reduction plan

– Complete a lighting audit to identify energy

conservation potentials

– Develop a policy to purchase only ENERGY

STAR-rated computers, office equipment and

kitchen equipment

Sustainability Policies

• Demonstrate a 10% or greater reduction in

energy consumption from last year’s same

4-month time period

• Replace 10% of low-efficiency lighting with

high efficiency lighting such as compact

fluorescent or T-8 or LED lamps

• Make use of utility or other efficiency

incentives to improve business’ overall

energy efficiency

• Install on-site renewable energy or

purchase renewable energy credits

Sustainable Accomplishments - Energy

Energy $aving $trategies

From Chris Laughman of

• Waste Management Policies

– Establish a 10% company-approved waste reduction plan

– Complete a green purchasing policy addressing at least one of the

following: office paper, janitorial paper and cleaning supplies, or

catering services

Sustainability Policies

Green Purchasing – Model Guidelines Missouri Botanical Garden will give priority to purchases that meet at least

one of the criteria below. Purchases are encouraged to meet as many criteria

as possible:

• Purchases contain at least 10% post-consumer or 20% post-industrial material

• Purchases contain at least 50% rapidly renewable material (planted and harvested

in less than 10 years – see FSC website below for more information)

• Purchases contain at least 50% materials harvested and processed or extracted

and processed within 500 miles of the Garden

• The purchases consist of at least 50% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified

paper products

• Batteries are rechargeable

• Office copy paper should always contain 100% post-consumer material.

• Janitorial paper products should always contain 100% post-consumer material

• Also consider chlorine free paper and batteries that have low levels or mercury

and heavy metals. Web-sites that may help identify products that meet these criteria include:

• The EPA Database - The Forest Stewardship Council – www.fsc.org

• Green Seal – www.greenseal.org – www.responsiblepurchasing.org

• Demonstrate a 10% or greater reduction in office paper landfill

waste (i.e. reduced use or consumption, increased recycling)

during the Small Business Advantage program timeframe

• Install recycling and/or composting collection sites throughout the

workplace

• Eliminate Styrofoam in your company’s kitchen supplies and work

with your office supply vendor to reduce styrofoam packaging.

• Eliminate plastic bottles for use in corporate meeting and events

and replace with refillable serving options ( pitchers & glasses)

• Convert to use of a minimum 30% recycled paper content for

office paper or janitorial paper products

Sustainable Accomplishments - Waste

The Original Solar Energy System - efficiently operated & maintained by PLANTS!

Sustainability Core Concept #1 – Nature As Knowledge Base

Sustainability Core Concept #2 – We Live in an Interconnected System of Systems

Sustainability Core Concept #3 – It All Goes Around & It All Comes Around

Zero Waste Sustainability Core Concept #4 – WASTE = FOOD

Sustainability Means Business

The Triple Bottom Line

4/11/2013 43

• Organize your Green Team

• Identify your company’s most efficient & effective options

• Contact EarthWays Center for support and advice

• greenresources@mobot.org - 314-577-0246

• Attend May 30th Energy Efficiency Seminar with speakers:

– Ameren Act On Energy Incentive Program

– Laclede Gas Company Energy Incentives

– Graybar Lighting Savings Information

– St. Louis County SAVES Energy Efficiency Loan Program

• Refresher seminar TBD for late June-early July

Next Steps

Thank you for participating in the St. Louis Green Business Challenge Sustainable Business Advantage!