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Sustainable workplaces

Sustainable workplaces Paul van der Werf Overview Making sense of sustainability? What are our environmental impacts? How can we make our work activities more sustainable? Let’s leave today with a few practical ideas we can incorporate right away. sustainability

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Sustainable workplaces

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  1. Sustainable workplaces Paul van der Werf

  2. Overview • Making sense of sustainability? • What are our environmental impacts? • How can we make our work activities more sustainable? • Let’s leave today with a few practical ideas we can incorporate right away.

  3. sustainability • We hear lots of jargon like: • Carbon foot print • Green • Environmentally friendly • Sustainable

  4. sustainability • “...meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” • Brundtland Commission, 1987

  5. How do we turn qualitative concepts into quantitative outcomes?

  6. What is Environmental impact ? • Our impact comes down to one simple concept and that is consumption • “The act or process of consuming.”

  7. What is Environmental impact ? • As a result of obtaining what we consume • As a result of the wastes generated through consumption

  8. In more practical terms • Building • Manufacturing • Heating/Cooling • Transportation • Chemicals • Living • Others?

  9. Distilling sources of Environmental impact • Energy usage • Water usage • Material usage • Waste generation

  10. Energy • At home we consume about 2,500 kwh per year • One 100 watt light bulb on for 24 hours uses about 2.5 kwh • One Compact Fluorescent Bulb uses about 0.5 kwh • Energy is required to make electricity. Carbon dioxide and pollution result.

  11. Energy

  12. Energy

  13. Energy

  14. Water • Residents consume about 250 litres person every day • Think about what that means throughout the year Volume of 250 Filling up tank 4 times per day

  15. Water • In 1996 Canada’s population was 29 million • About 1,500,000 litres/year per resident • Of that a little less than 10% or about 135,000 litres/year was for personal use • 370 litres/day

  16. Waste • Residents throw away about 250 kilograms of waste per person per year Weight of 250 • In London has decreased since 1990 • In Canada continues to increase • Business waste increasing even faster

  17. Waste

  18. Quantity VS Quality • Need to think about consumption in terms of: • QUANTITY • QUALITY • What impact does the quality of our consumption have on the environment • Pesticides versus no pesticides • Green power versus conventional power • Quality is the impact of our consumption beyond the amount of resources used – manifest as pollution and other impacts

  19. Environmental impact outcomes • Poor resource use-financial implications • Poor resource use-less able to support the population • Pollution-health impacts

  20. Why Sustainability at work? • There are risks involved with continuing with the status quo: • Exposure to risk of increased environmental legislation (eg. carbon taxes) • Exposure to risk of increased cost of natural resources (e.g. rising cost of water and electricity) • Damage to brand, or consumer backlash

  21. Reducing Environmental impact at work • What is our impact on the environment at work? • What can we do to reduce our impact at work?

  22. Environmental impact at work • Impact can be split into two main areas • From buildings and process • From workers • Impact into air, water and earth

  23. Environmental impact

  24. Environmental impact

  25. Environmental impact

  26. What we can do? • Understand that our environmental impact is very closely tied to our consumption • Develop a Sustainability Plan to reduce environmental impact and help guide activities • It includes benchmarking, planning, implementation and review

  27. Sustainability plan • Develop a Sustainability Plan to help guide activities • Requires top down and bottom up participation • Management – recognize importance • Staff- fully participate in opportunities • Embrace change

  28. Consumption is tied to money • Everything we consume costs money • Everything we don’t consume costs money • We have largely been taught to ignore this • There is a greater appreciation of this right now

  29. “Smart Consumption” We need to engage in what I like to call smart consumption. This is a thought process where we think about the environmental impacts of our purchases in three distinct stages 1 . What is the environmental impact of making this product; 2. What is the environmental impact of using this product; and 3. What is the environmental impact after this product has lost its usefulness.

  30. Energy • Energy efficient construction • Business energy audits. • Minimize energy use during business hours and after hours • Encourage alternative forms of transportation • Where practical encourage other forms of work – such as telecommuting • Mayor’s Sustainable Energy Council. web page with some good information for residents (and business)

  31. Energy http://www.msec.london.ca/

  32. Energy http://www.msec.london.ca/

  33. Water • Review processes to make sure water is being use efficiently • Reduce water usage and water contamination • Replace water guzzling toilets with an efficient 6 litre or dual flush toilet – rebates available • Toxics out of the drain

  34. Waste • Take advantage of programs to deal with waste • Maximize their use Quantity Quality

  35. Quality of consumption • Previous ideas focus on quantity • Quality focuses on composition of consumption. How polluting are processes? • e.g. Greening of Cancer Prevention (Source: Toronto Public Health) • Clean production • Toxics use reduction • Green chemistry • Safe substitution

  36. conclusions • Sustainability relates to managing the quantity and quality of consumption • Managing consumption can have beneficial economic, social and of course environment outcomes • All businesses from small to large can participate • Many small steps result in large collective beneficial impacts.

  37. Sources of information used • The Clear Network http://www.clear.london.ca • http://msec.london.ca/ • Stats Canada • Environment Canada

  38. Thank-you Paul van der Werf My green workplace 519-645-7733 paul@mygreenworkplace.ca www.mygreenworkplace.ca www.2cg.ca

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