Top 5 ways we can support and empower sustainability efforts in the workplace and promote Earth Day awareness.

By Megan Watkins, Bates Wells

Hi, I’m Megan Watkins, Senior Operations Manager at law firm Bates Wells. My role includes project managing the firm’s Climate Programme which has responsibility for our environmental initiatives. Sustainability is really important to me. We all have a role to play in helping tackle the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis. Here are my top 5 ways to support and empower sustainability efforts in the workplace and promote Earth Day awareness.

Create a Climate Group to manage your sustainability efforts. It doesn’t have to be a big group or too formal – whatever works for your business. Have it comprised of people who have an interest in this space rather than forcing attendance. The more passionate people are about the cause, the more engaged they’ll be and likely to deliver! Consider having a senior figure in your business as the chair or part of the Group. Arrange regular meetings at a frequency that suits the attendees and think about how that Group will report progress to senior management. 

Have a dedicated space in your internal comms channels for climate news. This could be a regular slot in a newsletter, a Teams channel, a space on your intranet, a space for posters on a notice board – whatever your business has. To help keep content fresh, consider members of the Climate Group taking turns to write something. You can often find great content to share by signing up to different climate newsletters. As well as helping educate your people about the climate and biodiversity crises and Earth Day, it’s also a great way to share any new policies or schemes with your people.

Invite ideas for new initiatives from your people. Have a suggestions box (physical and/or virtual), a dedicated email address, a person to talk to, or all of these! Encourage people to make suggestions – big and bold or small and practical. Consider a hackathon at a firm away day or a team meeting. All the initiatives we’ve introduced started off as an idea from someone either inside or outside the business. People can also get ideas from reading climate reports or annual reports from other businesses – or through their networks.

Host an activity to get people inspired. Arrange a team or business-wide volunteering session of tree planting, a litter pick, or something else out in nature. Alternatively, screen a film like “The Business of Nature" inspired by the BBC series "Wild Isles". Created by WWF, the RSPB, the National Trust and Silverback Films, the film shows how businesses ultimately depend on nature, must take nature loss seriously and can be part of the solution.

WWF have other short films you could show such as “Our Planet: Our Business”. Why not host a screening at lunchtime for Earth Day, providing food - or bring your own if there’s no budget.

Recognise and reward sustainability efforts. Give colleagues a shout out in your comms channels and reward those who make a positive impact. At Bates Wells we run a Climate Programme Recognition Reward Scheme where anyone in the firm can nominate themselves or a colleague for a reward following an action which has a positive impact on the environment. We’ve rewarded colleagues who came up with a new recycling scheme and attended local litter picks for example. When approved, the recipient can choose a voucher or donate to a charity of their choice. 

We also run a Green Energy offer which gives a one-off payment to employees who switch to certified green energy at home. If you don’t have budget for these types of rewards, consider a different motivator like a small sustainable gift, finishing work early or having a morning off.