Trade > Going Green > Why & How? > Communicating your Ideas

Communicating your Ideas

Action plans

Having a reference point for your ideas and future plans is a very useful way to coordinate what environmental improvements you've made and plan to make. As can be seen from the example overleaf, the action plan is a basic working document, that can be easily replicated to make notes on.

Environmental Policy

Communicating your plans and ideas to staff, customers and suppliers is a very important part of ensuring cost savings and consequential environmental improvements are achieved within your business. The Environmental policy can be used to outline and summarise your plans for the foreseeable future, backing up the measures you are implementing.

The Environmental Policy should clearly state the aims and principles of an organisation (its mission) with respect to its impact on the environment. All organisations have an effect to some degree and the policy should recognise this.

The benefits associated with writing an Environmental Policy include:

• assuring customers of commitment to demonstrable environmental management
• maintaining good public/community relations
• enhancing image and market share
• improving cost control
• reducing incidents that result in liability
• conserving raw materials and energy
• sharing environmental solutions

There are a few basic rules to follow to ensure the policy is clearly written and concise:

• keep the statement short - if it's longer than a sheet of A4, then it's probably too long
• the statement is meant for everyone to see, so make sure it's easy to read and understand
• the statement must be realistic, achievable and relevant to your organisation's activities and practices
• demonstrate commitment to making the policy work and get the statement signed, dated and endorsed by the MD, Chief Executive or other senior manager.

As a general rule, the policy should contain statements on the following criteria:

• a commitment to continuous improvement
• recognition of compliance with relevant environmental legislation as a minimum level of performance
• the education and training of employees in environmental issues and the environmental effects of their activities
• the monitoring of progress and review of environmental performance on a regular basis (usually annually).

Additional issues relevant to your organisation, and which you may wish to address in your Environmental Policy, could include:

• transport
• recycling of packaging materials
• minimising waste
• efficient use of water and energy
• use of biodegradable chemicals
• minimising use of solvents and lead-based paints
• use of timber from sustainable (managed) forests
• procedures to minimise noise disturbance to neighbours
• phasing out of CFCs and ozone-depleting substances.

Can I Follow a Checklist of Statements to Help Me Draft the Policy?
The checklist below may help you to draft a policy appropriate to your business. Choose examples of the statements that would apply to your business and make the statements as specific as possible for your operations:

• comply with the requirements of environmental legislation and approved codes of practice
• assess the environmental impact of all historic, current and likely future operations
• continuously seek to improve environmental performance
• reduce pollution, emissions and waste
• reduce the use of all raw materials, energy and supplies
• raise awareness, encourage participation and train employees in environmental matters
• expect similar environmental standards from all suppliers and contractors
• assist customers to use products and services in an environmentally-sensitive way
• liaise with the local community
• participate in discussions about environmental issues

To ensure the policy is up to date, an annual review period is suggested to reflect the improvements achieved and new directions.