5 Climate Action Activities for Your Employees
From volunteer cleanups to speaking engagements, encouraging your employees to participate in your company’s sustainability initiatives accelerates results and unlocks unexpected benefits.
Small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) can use sustainability initiatives as an unexpected way to involve employees and make them excited to be a part of their company. Employees may discover a passion for sustainability and become vocal leaders driving the change throughout your SMB. “Encouraging your employees to get involved through volunteer programs and climate education opportunities fosters a company culture of environmental stewardship and social responsibility,” explained Hannah Moskowitz, Sustainability Director at RyeStrategy. Engaging staff can strengthen relationships and instill a sense of pride in working for a company that is focused on more than profits.
Every year, April is recognized as Earth Month, an expanded recognition of Earth Day which occurs April 22nd with over 1 billion participants across 193 countries thanks to organized activities coordinated by earthday.org. Throughout the month, RyeStrategy employees and clients participated in a mix of environmental activities, each weaving into broader sustainability initiatives and commitments. “I loved seeing the many ways our clients involved their employees in companywide activities to recognize Earth Month this year,” said Hannah. “We work with a lot of small companies who have just recently decided to prioritize sustainability, for many this was their first-time recognizing Earth Day with a formal company program. I notice that these business leaders are often surprised to see how enthusiastic employees are about getting involved and their genuine excitement to make a meaningful impact together.”
From organized local cleanups to sustainability panels, our clients have demonstrated a commitment towards making a positive impact on the environment. If your company missed Earth Month this year, any of the following sustainability activities shared can occur any time. Climate action is not confined to a single day or month.
Employee Volunteer and Climate Action Examples
Climate action can come in a variety of forms. It is important to be inclusive towards the needs of your company’s employees. Whether that is including virtual opportunities or paid incentives. Here are examples from RyeStrategy employees and clients to use as inspiration:
Local Cleanup: Local opportunities are easy to look and register for. The Visions Management team joined a downtown area cleanup in Novato. RyeStrategy Marketing Analyst, Anabel Aguilar, participated in a Trash Bash event cleaning up Grays Lake in Des Moines, Iowa.
Remove Invasive Plants: An activity that may not be top of mind for many is helping remove species that are harmful to wildlife. RyeStrategy Founder and CEO, Cooper Wechkin, helped get rid of invasive blackberries at Seattle's Discovery Park through the Green Seattle Partnership.
Recycling: There are numerous ways your employees can partake in recycling. Whether that is within the office reducing paper waste or joining a freecycle event like RyeStrategy Sustainability Director Hannah Moskowitz. Hannah was able to rescue clothes, toys, and furniture from a landfill in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
Host a Panel: Inviting well known sustainability professionals to speak at a panel can encourage employees to engage in decarbonization initiatives. One Workplace held a virtual panel with industry experts Jaye Buchbinder, Tracy Fanara, PhD, and Dr. Victoria Fulfer which drew in 45 attendees, including Executive Leadership. Not every employee is able to partake in outdoor activities which is why this idea is a great way to have more employees get involved.
Share Your Climate Action Story: As part of San Francisco Climate Week, President Amy Garber at Visions Management spoke about her company's climate journey at the NAWBO 2024 Sustainability Summit at Salesforce Tower. Finding events your company’s leadership and sustainability committee can speak at will motivate other companies to start their journeys too! Empowering others to follow in your footsteps can spread your business’s message further.
The Significance of Staff Participation in Sustainability Efforts
Staff participation in sustainability efforts is a necessary part of a company’s decarbonization journey. When employees are able to share their volunteer ideas or opportunities, they feel motivated to come together to make a difference. Their involvement can accelerate your company's climate action progress. This is also a way for employees to understand the purpose and actively see the good they are doing by participating in climate action activities.
RyeStrategy offers comprehensive support to companies seeking to engage their employees in sustainability efforts year-round, extending beyond Earth Month. As organizations embark on their sustainability journey, we provide tailored solutions to help them navigate the complexities of quantifying Scope 3 emissions and transparently disclosing climate-related information. Our specialized sustainability expertise ensures accurate fulfillment of enterprise climate disclosure requests at affordable prices, addressing the challenges suppliers face in data collection and reporting. Schedule a session with us today to discover how we can support your climate action efforts within your company.
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Check out our blogs company climate action below:
About RyeStrategy
Based in Seattle, RyeStrategy is a CDP-accredited, mission-oriented company specialized in carbon accounting, mitigation coaching, and climate disclosure solutions for organizations at any point in their sustainability journey. Learn how RyeStrategy helped Salesforce, Ideascale, and Wazoku achieve their sustainability goals.
From exhaustive carbon footprinting and mitigation coaching, to setting science-based targets and reporting climate data to CDP, SBTi or custom reporting platforms, RyeStrategy acts as a hands-on extension of the team, custom-tailoring services to fulfill climate disclosure requirements easily and accurately.
Meet with a sustainability specialist to learn more about RyeStrategy solutions.
