Boost your credentials with an environmental accreditation
Applying for an environmental accreditation is a valuable way of communicating your green achievements to a wider audience. There are many different forms of accreditation available, ranging from one-off awards for cutting energy consumption to annually renewed standards of environmental management systems. The guidelines below can help you to consider what level of accreditation would be right for your business.
The first step is to consider the initial reasons for improving the environmental performance of your organisation. This may help you select the accreditation scheme which best suites your needs. Common drivers include:
- Compliance with regulations and legislation
- Saving money on energy, transport, water and waste bills
- Reducing your environmental impact
- Employee motivation and workplace improvement
- Part of a broader marketing or branding strategy
The second step is to establish how the environmental actions already taken fit into your long-term organisational strategy. Some companies will have made one-off improvements to environmental performance and have no further plans for action. However many accreditation schemes are geared towards monitoring and rewarding continuous progress, or certifying the quality of an organisational environmental management system.
Determining your environmental strategy will help you pick the accreditation scheme which offers the right time-frame for assessment and support.
The third step is to select the accreditation scheme which is most appropriate to your sector and geographic location. Specific environmental awards exist for certain sectors, such as ICT, tourism and the events industry.
These can offer support which is tailored towards your organisational model and more easily communicated to your target audience. Accreditation schemes are also available at the local, national, regional and international level, offering different degrees of publicity and standardisation.
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