Here's how you can contribute to successful sustainability initiatives.

Embarking on an impactful sustainability initiative can begin with pioneering the practice of zero waste within an organization or our community. Beyond merely assessing our daily consumption habits, another practical approach is to try evaluating the waste we generate in our everyday lives. By conducting a “waste” or “trash”audit, it prompts us to think deeper into those pivotal questions such as "How can we stop the unsustainable lifecycle and strive for more sustainable lifestyle?" Essentially, our focus lies on the principles of refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, and recycle.

Food waste represents the second largest consumption of fresh water worldwide, after inefficient crop irrigation according to findings. It’s truly shocking to realize the sheer volume of water we waste daily. Just washing a car can use up about 144 liters of water! This activity alone contributes to approximately 1.15 billion liters of water wasted globally each day at car washes. Additionally, infrastructure leaks result in a staggering app. 94.6 billion liters lost worldwide every day. Reduce water consumption and enhance water reuse is crucial. Simply fixing leaks can significantly contribute. Whether making small changes at home or implementing large-scale improvements in businesses, every effort counts.

Life with Sustainability is a lifestyle choice, and waste reduction plays a major part in it. Waste reduction is relevant in every step of our day to day life, whether its water, food or energy we should be in a continuous look out to not only feel responsible for our actions, but try and inspire others in their journey towards sustainability. From business perspective, companies need to constantly look out for ways in which they are wasting resources, and use different Lean/Sustainability frameworks to reduce wastage. Whether its individuals or companies, waste reduction can only positively effect with for example, less electricity bill, or efficient processes to serve customers. Hence waste reduction is a need of the hour for everyone.

One effective method to reduce waste is follow the 4R methodology: refuse, reduce, reuse , and recycle. By refusing unnecessary items, reducing consumption, reusing products whenever possible, and recycling materials, we can significantly minimize our environmental impact. Implementing these practices not only conserves resources but also helps mitigate pollution and preserve the planet.

To contribute to successful sustainability initiatives, engage stakeholders across all levels to foster collaboration and ensure alignment with environmental goals. Implementing technology that enhances efficiency and reduces waste is crucial. Regularly assess and adjust strategies based on performance metrics and sustainability benchmarks. Prioritize transparency in reporting to maintain trust and accountability. Encouraging innovation and integrating sustainable practices into core business operations can drive long-term success and positive impact on both the environment and the organization.

Some simple little things that help conserve energy include: 1. Timer switch for your water heater, so you don't waste energy if you forget to turn the heater off 2. Dimmer switches for your lights, so you can adjust brightness easily and extend the life of your lightbulbs 3. LED bulbs - they use much less energy than regular ones

Conserve energy is a very important factor. Combined with how that energy is sourced or produced, will have a powerful environmental impact when trying to reduce your carbon footprint.

Costumo falar deste assunto. Na realidade falamos muito de novos veículos, energias verdes, que muitas vezes levam anos a dar resultados. Mas um uso conveniente, uma condu??o eco, a renova??o de veículos muito antigos s?o medidas muito mais fáceis, com resultados imediatos...

This is where we can have most impact. How? If you can, give up your car. If this is impossible, consider moving to an EV. Walk or ride your bike when possible. Make use of public transportation as much as possible. And if you live in a place where trains are a good alternative to flying, do so.

Sustainable transportation is definitely the need of the hour. Road transportation is one of the major contributor to urban air pollution. As citizens of the world, we need to take all the steps to reduce our contributions to air pollution. At the same time, one of the main stakeholders in this ecosystem who can and should help are the governments. It is very important for the governments to setup systems & regulations encouraging automobile companies to be creative in selecting alternate energy sources, and enable citizens to use sustainable options for travel. For example, regulations on petrol vehicles and incentives on EV/Ethanol/hyderogen vehicles will invariably boost R&D investments from private companies in search for alternatives

No ponto anterior já abordei aspetos importantes, a condu??o eco, a renova??o de veículos antigos. Mas na realidade um transporte sustentável é muito mais... é usar o melhor possível o transporte, mais transporte público, veiculos com maior ocupa??o, menos kms e por isso rotas optimizadas, uso de pontos de entrega de passagem, redu??o das devolu??es, etc

Invest in your backyard. ?? Supporting local businesses isn't just community spirit; it's a cornerstone of sustainability. Opting for local goods slashes carbon footprints and champions the local economy. Each local purchase is a dual investment—both in environmental stewardship and in bolstering community resilience. For innovators and startups, think local not as a limitation, but as a strategic asset. Local is the new global in sustainability. ???? Embrace it, amplify it.

Supporting local businesses and producers may or may not reduce the carbon footprint directly, but it definetly adds to the Social aspect of ESG or Sustainability. It directly helps with community development, setting up a circle of job market, and help support the local community. Frankly restricting non-local businesses through regulations is not an ideal way for democracy, and can cause multiple inefficiencies in the businesses. Hence each of the county/states need to understand the community requirement, set up systems in such a way that there is a balance in access to both local and global competitors. In some cases, local products can directly help reduce carbon footprint as well, but it should be evaluated on a case to case basis.

Este é igualmente um ponto importante. Posso gostar muito de certos produtos que vejo nas lojas mas quando vejo que s?o de origem longiqua, imagino como ficou caro aquele transporte... tudo o que se puder comprar localmente ajuda a economia local e reduz o impacto da cadeia logística

Everyone comes to sustainability professionals like me with 'this or that' questions to help them make more 'sustainable decisions'. It is necessary for every individual to understand the basics of sustainability from the systems dynamics perspectives because there is no 'one size fits all' solution when it comes to sustainability. Whether a decision is sustainable or not depends on a lot of factors, especially the context, for e.g., cotton grown in a water abundant area is not a bad choice but cotton grown in a water scarce area definitely is. In addition to this, it is more than important for consumer to question claims made by companies who want to jump on the bandwagon by using buzzwords but cannot back their claims.

Just like any other skill, there are no shortcuts to learning topic of Sustainability as well. We need to put in the time. But this topic is not something imaginative, but is one that we see, live and breath every moment in some capacity. To understand implementation of Sustainability thinking in business context definitely requires training (Self or Structured), but it is something much more simpler than we can imagine. The topics and frameworks definitely help structure our thought process. More importantly each of us can see and assess how the companies that we work for, the products that we use and the services that we leverage are either positively or negatively affecting the planet.

Para todas as medidas positivas que já referi é importante a nossa aten??o, empenho e exemplo. A partilha com a comunidade é essencial, o exemplo claro...

Calculate your individual GHG footprint so you can see where your actions will have most impact. There are calculators on-line to do so, many are country specific. This will give you a realistic perspective. Invite friends and family to do the same.

In simple words, teaching everyone about sustainability needs careful planning. We can do this by using stories and pictures that touch people's hearts, along with giving them helpful tips and fun activities. When we work together and share ideas, we can encourage people to make eco-friendly choices every day. It's important to support communities, understand each other's feelings, and be happy about the good things we achieve. If we all take care of the environment, we can make the world better for everyone, now and in the future.

Thanks to the global voices of multiple agencies, the Sustainability as a topic is widely recognised as one of the most important need of the hour. There are multiple NGO's that try and solve sustainability related problems in the world, and a great way for each one us is to try and volunteer to the best of our capacity in whichever way we can to help and build the network of sustainability enthusiasts. It need not always be a big bang activity, but even a small activity when combined from enough people can help the plant directly through the effort, or indirectly by inspiring your network bringing them to the world of sustainable living.

Collaborative engagement has the ability to address systemic ESG challenges that require coordinated and collective action. For instance, issues such as climate change, human rights violations, and supply chain sustainability often transcend the boundaries of individual companies or investors. By collaborating, stakeholders can develop comprehensive strategies to address these challenges, leveraging their combined influence to drive meaningful change. This collective approach fosters a shared responsibility and collaboration culture, enabling stakeholders to address pressing ESG challenges more effectively and drive sustainable impact at scale.

Food consumption is one of the big contributors. Reduce your consumption of meat, especially beef and lamb. Make consuming those a special event. Test other sources of proteins, you might be surprised how good they taste. Consider also your actions in saving water through consumption. In supporting human rights, by finding something you can influence, for example diversity and inclusion. I encourage everyone to be open for change!

Producer responsibility related to manufacturing goods with longer life cycles is relevant to improving sustainability. Durable products with low maintenance requirements make a difference.