News

Community sector falling behind in environmental performance: survey
Tue, Dec 1 2009

Not‐for‐profit groups have scored poorly on integrating sustainability into their organisations and offering green skills or sustainability training to staff in comparison with government and private sectors, according to a recent Green Steps Australian Workplaces Survey.

Not‐for‐profits identified less investment in environmental initiatives (32% less than government and 10% less than private organisations surveyed), lagged significantly in offering green skills training to staff or including it in induction of new staff, and none included green skills in their performance management and evaluation process.

“Resourcing in the community sector, which constantly struggles for enough funds to deliver its services, is clearly a factor in our survey findings of lower environmental performance, yet I would also say there is a lack of understanding of how sustainability fits into the core business of different community service organisations,” says Green Steps’ Manager Mark Boulet.

Green Steps is a not‐for‐profit sustainability training and consultancy provider which recently won the 2009 Banksia Environmental Awards’ education prize. It is part of the Monash Sustainability Institute and wants to see everyday workers in a variety of jobs develop the green skills to improve environmental sustainability in workplaces across Australia.

An example of how funding for sustainability projects in the community sector can be found is E.W. Tipping Foundation’s success in winning a grant from the Victorian Government’s Sustainability Fund to initiate a sustainability project for its group homes.

The project aimed to engage both staff and its residents living with disability in environmentally‐aware behaviour such as reducing energy and water use.

The 12‐month project focused on three pilot houses, but its influence resulted in lower consumption of some utilities in 11 of the organisation’s 28 group homes through exposure to the project.

It also encouraged residents to share their knowledge about environmental sustainability and how they could make a difference, and gained internal organisational support to extend the project and commit to broader organisational change.

“There are strong links between environmental sustainability and the core work of the community sector, not least the savings that are possible through more efficient resource use and a reduction in wasteful practices, but also social outcomes as E.W. Tipping Foundation found,” says Boulet.

Two E.W. Tipping Foundation managers have since completed Green Steps @ Work intensive training, which teaches non‐specialists practical skills in energy, waste and water auditing, implementing carbon reduction or waste minimisation action plans and initiating staff behaviour change programs.

“What we do at home accounts for only 20‐30% of Australia’s energy and water consumption and waste production, which means we can do far more to combat our environmental challenges by addressing sustainability within the workplace, and this requires greater knowledge and skills from employees everywhere,” says Boulet.