SUSTAINABILITY 101
Share Your Story
Share Your Sustainability Story
Reporting Your Impact Leads to Accountability, Transparency, Reduction Targets and Motivation.
Unless you face immediate pressure to make your environmental impact public right away, we suggest you create an internal report that captures Year 1 assessments, actions, and strategy. That way you can refine your data tracking methodologies, work towards certifications, develop reduction targets, build cause partner relationships and start to implement the next steps that are outcomes of the research, conversations and data-gathering that your organization has been investing in. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it takes a bit of time to get everyone and all systems onboard. Having a Year 1 report, even if it isn’t totally perfect, is an important starting point for decision-making. Now, during budget season there is a clear understanding of what resources are needed to really expand your sustainability efforts in Year 2.
What’s the best format? There are many excellent examples of impact reports. Some are released as pdfs and others are webpages. Patagonia, overachievers that they are, have several different types of reports they’ve released over the years including an Annual Benefit Corporation Report and an Environmental & Social Footprint Report. Both provide excellent inspiration for your own report. Other report format examples out there include X, Y, Z. (Valerie please fill in)
Insert report cover images.
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Generally, the reports have the following information included:
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1. Letter from the CEO
2. Mission/Purpose overview
3. Certifications
3. Environmental impact information and reduction goals
4. Internal business practices and employee demographics
5. Cause Partners and examples of activations with them
6. UN Sustainable Development Goals and how your organization supports them
By the way, if you decide to become B Corp Certified or are a benefit corporation, releasing an impact report is required.
Our team at Planet+Purpose Solutions is dedicated to helping organizations launch their sustainability initiatives and coaching leaders into becoming champions of change. We all need to work together to tackle our collective environmental impact and our team hopes this series of articles will help with those first critical steps of your organization’s journey.