How Our EHSOne® Program Provides a Path to Sustainability

Sustainability is complex. And while many in the environmental, health, and safety (EHS) industry are talking about it, in my experience, all too few actually understand it. And this prevents them from taking concrete steps to implement best practices within their organizations. This is unfortunate though, as it risks:

• Noncompliance
• Legal problems
• Damage to the top and bottom line
• Brand damage

Fortunately, partners and programs are available that will enable you to not only grasp the concept of “sustainability”—but to implement it in a meaningful way, as well. Even better, such solutions can enable you to do so while enabling return on investment (ROI)—and without taxing internal resources.

In fact, EHSOne^®, our unique program, can enable you to focus on corporate sustainability goals in ways that enable you to grow your business. It does this by placing a strong EHS team on-site—one that will oversee:

• EHS operations
• Recycling and sustainability-related programs
• Innovate waste management
• Chemical inventory
• Equipment decontamination
• Recycling and sustainability-related programs

These EHSOne^® team members can enable overall sustainability and green programs while improving operations in the lab, factory, production site—and even beyond. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself—let’s look at the ongoing shifts that are driving sustainability in life sciences, healthcare, higher education, and other fields.

What Is Sustainability?

While the exact definition of “sustainability” varies, at Triumvirate Environmental we define sustainability in action-oriented terms. We consider it a general approach that relies on a set of solutions that enable an organization to function with next to zero carbon/waste/inefficiency footprints.

These solutions can involve:

• Material reuse or recycling
• Operational improvements
• Intelligent and innovative systems
• Internal and external collaboration with subject matter experts and a key partner

With the right partner and programs, an organization can rapidly start hitting sustainability targets.

Rise of Sustainability Demand

The various specific definitions of sustainability vary from organization to organization. But in its broadest sense of waste and pollution reduction, state and federal governments, employees, and the public at large are all demanding sustainable practices from organizations and EHS professionals. The recent COP28 conference underscores that the demand for sustainability is only going to grow, globally, as my recent blog explains.

There are other contributing factors causing groundswells (as this blog has noted). Because today, even existing (and potential) partners and customers are becoming selective about whom they engage or buy from. The concept is affecting the workforce, and changing culture for long-term human resources success, as well. In fact, sustainability efforts can help gain and keep quality employees.

According to a 2019 Fast Company survey of 1,000 employees in large U.S.-based corporations, 70% indicated they prefer to work for a company "with a strong environmental agenda." Millennials were especially partial to this attitude: nearly 40% claimed they had chosen a job at a company that performed better on sustainability, as opposed to other potential employers.

This is particularly significant, as millennials now make up a major slice of the workforce pie. The same Fast Company survey also revealed 70% of respondents claimed a company’s adoption of a strong sustainability plan would affect their decision to stay at that organization for the long term. 

Sustainability Is Great Business

Sustainability is becoming a standard goal for businesses and organizations of all types, which is encouraging for planetary health. And this push for sustainability can also boost profitability, as Harvard Business School Online's Business Insights Blog discusses.

Today, we’re seeing the rise of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR), says the author. This model involves companies seeking to implement social and environmental benefits—while still pursuing organizational goals. This involves the concept of “three P's”: the people, planet, and profit. As the author states, "in addition to striving to succeed financially, socially responsible companies commit to measuring success through their impact on people—employees, customers, and society at large—and the environment."

If you plan to go public (or are public) this is a very important part of a company's internal and external growth strategies. For example, another Harvard Business School Online blog explains how a business sustainability program:

• Drives internal innovation
• Improves environmental and supply risk
• Reduces production and R&D costs
• Attracts and retains employees (and in my opinion, especially those younger employees who really care about working for the most ethical companies)

It’s clear that organizations do well when they are environmentally just and good. As such, as I’ve said before, sustainability is just the right concept to put into practice to achieve these goals.

Our Approach: Ground Up and Top Town

At Triumvirate Environmental, we believe change comes from within. This means that the culture, from the C-suite down (and from the front-line employees on up) must focus on sustainability. Together, everyone will drive its principles steadily through the organization.

This is obviously easier described than executed, which is why we crafted EHSOne^®. This revolutionary program makes it easier to effect the needed changes in approach, methodologies, mindset, solutions, and more. Ultimately, it will better align financial and sustainability goals, organization-wide.

Our EHSOne^® program:

• Puts the best available people on the floor with you to help guide the organization—to the degree you want—to become more ecologically sensitive and sustainable.
• Employs only team members with academic degrees and related credentials that allow them to specialize in all phases of sustainability implementation. This goes from basic EHS waste collection processes up to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policy data collection and presentation.
• Focuses on creating ambassadors in the company—both in our teams, as well as within the client workforce. These ambassadors learn by collaboration to create new best practices (and to polish dull ones) to drive an organization in demonstrable ways to higher levels of sustainability.
• Provides an additional boost to clients through our partnership with My Green Lab. As a non-profit, My Green Lab offers a certification process (administered through accredited, professionally trained service team members) that confirms that a lab is sustainable.

Talk to Us About Sustainability

Ready to explore organizational sustainability with EHSOne^®? We can custom tailor a full waste management or EHS package for you—with one point of contact and accountability. Talk to us today.