When most people hear the word “sustainability” in a work context, they probably picture someone in an office, writing reports on how to make businesses greener, and... that’s it.
That is one aspect of the job. But there’s more to it than that.
The Importance of Relationships
It’s not enough to simply write reports and say this or that needs to occur. Changes must happen inside organisations in their entirety; therefore, you need buy-in across all departments. Building relationships is critical for this; in almost every case, other people across the organisation have to alter something about the way they work to make it more sustainable. Bringing these people along is key, and it’s so important to know what they do and what their needs are so you (and they) can plan accordingly.
No one likes it when some prick with no idea what they do every day rolls in to tell them they’re doing their job wrong. That’s not going to be any different just because you’re working doing it for a good cause. People need to feel heard and understood, and you’ll get much farther in your work if you just listen to them. This is why I love talking to people about what they do; once you understand their concerns and have built a relationship, it becomes a lot easier to make change happen.
You need to talk to workers to find out what their roadblocks are. Have a bit of a think before you approach them, and also ask them for their ideas. Many people care about the purpose of their job, even if they don’t talk about it much. In addition, there are going to be so many factors impacting someone’s work that you’ll have no idea about unless you hear it directly from them.
If you want the organisation to change their entire fleet of trucks to run on electricity, you’d get frustrated when the fleet manager says it isn’t possible. If you talked to them a little, you might feel they’re being difficult for the sake of it.
If you chat to them more, though, you may find out they want to make the change, but the company has 10 year leases which would be a tremendous cost to break and won’t be up for renewal for another six. So now you need to wait till 2032 before you can have the organisation swap to electric vehicles (EVs), and the fleet manager really doesn’t need yet another person breathing down their neck about this. They’re aware it will save money in the long run, but until that lease is up, their hands are tied.
On the flip side, this means you can now prepare for it gradually. You can find out what the fleet manager and their drivers need in a vehicle, as well as what hoops you need to jump through to get the preferred choice. You can assist them in organising trials, where the drivers get to take a few different cars for a spin and make sure everyone agrees on the best fit. You have time to build a business case, and if it’s approved, hopefully have some lead time to get chargers installed in the garage before the new fleet arrives.
I don’t want to discount the fact that sometimes people do just want to make your work difficult. This is more common the higher up the chain you go; while there are exceptions, generally, the more someone has benefited from the status quo, the more likely they are to protect it. For the average person, though, they want to make a positive impact, and they probably think they’re in a minority when they’re not.
What about workers like me, trained in sustainability but not explicitly working in a role with the s-word in it?
Outside the Sustainability Department
In operations, logistics, event planning and the like, we make decisions every day about how our team, office, or whole organisation runs. It’s critical that people like me are across the impacts of our decisions, and are made aware of more sustainable options so we can make better choices. We might need assistance understanding what’s available, or calculating the impacts of each one. It’s worth it, though, as procurement and software use are underappreciated areas that can have a huge impact on an organisation’s sustainability, in terms of both the environmental stuff and beyond.
Anyone has the potential to be a sustainability worker, within their own remit, regardless of formal training in the topic. In fact, we need people in different areas to be thinking about sustainability, as it makes implementation smoother. If you're able and keen to help, you can do so in various ways:
It cuts down on time if I’ve already looked into an issue and the sustainability officer doesn’t have to explain themselves, or if I already have concrete ideas on how I can make improvements in my role.
I can be a go-between between the sustainability officer and my department. I can ensure everyone feels heard, step in to explain jargon that is assumed knowledge in one field but foreign to someone outside it, explain the limitations of our systems to the sustainability team, and more.
It makes it a lot easier for a manager if the sustainability officer has already spoken to their subordinates and heard from them what the main concerns are going to be. They can then proactively address these barriers in their recommendations.
It’s easier for me to make more sustainable choices in my work if I get the sustainability officer to recommend them, as I can then take their report to my manager to bolster my case.
And that’s just the white collar workers. There are people on the ground installing solar panels, heat pumps and EV chargers; manufacturing them; selling them; shipping them, and more. I’m not going into detail here as I have no experience in this work, but in my mind, these are all sustainability professionals, too.
Again, these are not what people typically think of when they hear “sustainability”, but these are people who are making it happen. Without this work, it wouldn’t be possible.
What about mining? We need raw materials to be able to manufacture the replacements for polluting infrastructure.
I think mining could be sustainable, but not while we labour under capitalism.
Here’s what I think it could look like:
Stop all the human rights abuses. The mining industry has been built on the back of them, which is why it needs to be rebuilt and cannot be reformed.1 Like too much in our society, its current attitudes are all about profit and nothing else.
Collaborate with First Peoples worldwide when wanting to work on their lands. Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) is non-negotiable; the “free” part of this means they have a right to say no to any proposal that would affect their land, and that would then end the proposal. None of this doing it anyway garbage.
Implement robust reducing, recycling and reusing. We live on a planet with finite resources, and we in the West, especially we white people, do not act like it.
Embrace the principle of reciprocity. Don’t take more than we actually need. Mining companies often manipulate information on their product so they can sell more. All of this needs to stop.
It Could Be You
Doesn't all of this mean everyone can undertake sustainability work?
Well, yeah. While there are people whose whole job is sustainability, ultimately, everyone can contribute. And we need everyone to. You don’t need to be across everything going on in all sectors, and I don’t encourage you to try as there is so much happening all the time. But you can absolutely be thinking about how to make your work have less of an environmental or social footprint, and get in touch with any sustainability officer in your workplace to see how you can help. Even if they don’t have anything at the current time, it’s good for them to know you’re there and willing to assist, and to begin to build that relationship.
It’s also important to remember sustainability is more than the green stuff. As long as you’re working to make the world a better and fairer place, it counts.
Caveats
Not everyone can be doing it all the time. It’s going to be harder or impossible for people who are not given the resources they need to do their job effectively, let alone think about how to make it more sustainable.
Many organisations don’t have anyone working on sustainability, which makes it a lot harder for any one person to make a case.
Some people have too much going on and are struggling simply to live. They don’t have the spoons to try and figure any of this out.
People in insecure work are unlikely to have the ability to push for change in their workplace, as they may be let go or face other forms of reprisal.
Some organisations also just suck, and there is no way management is going to be convinced to make any changes; even suggesting it may open you up to ridicule2. This is always important to remember; no one is going to listen to you if you’re not paying attention to the barriers they’re talking about and taking them seriously.
If you fall into any of these categories, or any similar ones I missed, don’t feel bad about not doing enough. Always remember that, while individual action is important, the primary reason we are in this mess is greed, and fossil fuel and other companies trying to make individuals feel guilty for a problem that is their fault.
If you have the means, I recommend thinking about what could change in your work; there are so many articles, resources and organisations all over the place about how to improve each sector.
At the end of the day, the one best suited to figuring out the change your role can make is you.
Feel like I might come back to this topic in future, or at least, read up on others’ suggestions.
This is not hyperbole, I am thinking of a specific friend and their workplace as I write this sentence.
Your understanding of people really shines in this piece