According to the EPA, there are over 30 executive orders in the US meant to protect the environment. Chances are, you’ve never even heard about most of them.
Some aspects of protecting the environment are common sense and well-publicized. Yet, environmental management is a complex topic that’s well beyond the grasp of the average entrepreneur.
So, what do you do if you want your small business to follow environmental best practices from the beginning?
Finding out as much as you can about environmental resources management is a good place to start.
What Is Environmental Management?
The term ‘environmental management’ might seem self-explanatory. Yet, it goes so much deeper than that. It involves managing and mitigating human impacts on the environment.
Almost everything we do in our daily lives impacts the environment in some way. When we enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning, we impact water resources, plants, and pollution.
Using an electric coffee maker means using up unsustainable coal and natural gas. The milk carton we use and coffee packaging impact pollution and landfills.
It’s easy to see how the impact of this one drink, multiplied by the millions of Americans waking up to a cuppa Joe, can have a major impact on the environment.
Likewise, our businesses use up valuable resources that impact the environment all day long. Why should you care about this?
It’s simple really, dwindling resources mean scarcity, and scarcity impacts your bottom line. Like a million cups of coffee, a million good decisions can make a difference in the world today.
How do you get started? That’s where an environmental management company comes into the picture.
What Do Environmental Management Companies Do?
According to HCI Environment, managing your environmental responsibilities involves more than these basics.
You need a comprehensive plan to conserve our planet at every turn – at home and work. An environmental management company can help you do just that.
Some of the services offered by these professionals include:
Assessing Your Business
An environmental management company’s qualified to review your business goals in line with your legal and compliance obligations.
They’ll conduct a detailed analysis of your business activities and any impacts these could have on the environment. This includes operational aspects as well potential risks involved in running your business.
Helping Set Up an Environmental Management System (EMS)
After a thorough investigation, they’ll help you set up environmental goals involving areas where you can improve. Then they’ll help you establish appropriate targets for your organization.
The next step is setting up programs to help you meet these objectives.
Finally, they’ll help you get all your employees on board with these initiatives. They’ll also ensure they receive the necessary training to help them comply.
Ongoing Monitoring
It’s not enough to set up an EMS and then forget about it. You need ongoing refinements and compliance checks to ensure you stay on the right side of the law.
An environmental management conducts regular reviews to help you meet your obligations.
Damage Control
Accidents are a fact of life, but they can have far-reaching consequences when they involve hazardous chemicals. A chemical spill can have legal ramifications and serious environmental implications.
An environmental management company helps you reduce the likelihood of these mishaps. They also have professional teams to help you reduce environmental impacts due to a spill.
Some of their services include:
- Control and containment of hazardous substances
- Assistance in confined spaces
- Recovery and transfer of spilled materials
- Emergency transportation and disposal of dangerous chemicals
- Mitigating plant emergencies of any magnitude
- Clean up operations after a storm or fire
Chemical spills and leaks can cause panic and confusion. With an experienced environmental partner by your side, you can limit widespread damage as much as possible.
Dealing With Waste
All businesses generate waste, and all waste affects the environment unless you deal with it correctly. An environmental management company helps you implement cost-effective waste transportation and disposal systems.
They provide all the equipment you need to transport waste to a licensed disposal facility. These include box vans, vacuum trucks, roll-off bins, and stainless-steel tankers.
Whether you’re dealing with wastewater, oil, paints, acids, lead or asbestos, they’ll dispose of these materials legally and safely.
Some of the disposal methods include treatment, recycling, or disposal in line with the best environmental practices. In this way, they limit your risk exposure.
Do You Need an Environmental Management Plan?
The short answer is ‘yes, you do’. Even if your business doesn’t deal with hazardous materials, you can do your bit to protect the environment and meet your legal obligations too.
You might not need the full services of an environmental management company, but you should comply with the basic ISO 14001 requirements. These include a cyclical program relating to EMS as follows:
- Committing to an environmental policy
- Establishing an environmental plan
- Implementation of the plan
- Evaluation of performance
- Review of these results
- Revisiting and refining the initial plan
Employing or appointing an environmental project manager to oversee this takes time and money. That’s why many businesses hire a professional service to oversee these aspects.
What Are the Benefits of an EMS?
An EMS helps ensure compliance with legal and conscientious obligations. It also has a few other benefits for every business as follows:
- Conserving expensive and scarce resources
- Increased efficiency
- Reduced costs
- Better employee morale
Branding your company as an environmentally compliant concern and proving that it is can open doors for you in business. You’ll enhance your business’s public image and even attract more potential customers.
Working Toward a Better Future
Increased environmental awareness at work instills awareness in your employees. So, your environmental management policies have far-reaching effects far beyond the workplace.
Would you like some more tips on how to manage an ethical and productive business in modern times? Browse our website for more interesting snippets to help your startup thrive.
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