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Date
We are often asked the question “What can we do to become more sustainable?” Project managers are not only interested in their processes/projects and making them more sustainable, but also what can they do to make their everyday lives more sustainable. The answer to that question is very complex because of all of the sustainability opportunities that exist. We certainly don’t know them all, although we do know a lot ways to become more sustainable, the connection between sustainable business and project management and a more general connection between ourselves and sustainability.
Here is something we came across recently. “Boston University (BU) Dining Services is pleased to report the sustainable progress that we have made on 2012 across campus. As we continue our mission to serve wholesome, delicious, and affordable food to the BU community and its guests, we strive to do so with a parallel goal: the extension of dining hall as a classroom. As we change how things are done in our kitchen and dining rooms, we strive to communicate both the challenges and benefits to our main customers: students. By making students aware of our initiatives, goals and challenges, we hope to create knowledgeable and empowered consumers and operators, who will demand high standards from their food sources, both while on campus and as they make their own path after graduation.”
One of our assertions is that consumers are becoming smarter about sustainability and that is a driver for organizations to become more sustainable. Efforts like this at BU only reinforce our assertion by providing the education to make “smarter” consumers.
BU’s Dining Services started their efforts with buying local. Not only does it save transportation costs and carbon footprint, the choices are also wholesome for the students, “preserve farmland in New England and support environmentally friendly agricultural practices.” Produce, dairy, baked goods and groceries like Ken’s Salad Dressing are locally sourced. Offerings to the students include vegan and “cage-free and American Certified Humane Eggs.” "BU’s Union Food Court is considered The Greenest Food Court in the Country.”
As we all know, to be truly effective in our sustainability efforts, it has to be a total program. In 2013, BU Dining Services were asked to serve as a case study for Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Recycling Works program. BU’s contributions will help other Massachusetts institutions and businesses prepare for the upcoming organics waste stream ban. We’ll talk more about that ban in a later post. In 2012 the waste diversion rate at the student union was 69% and 32 tons of waste was diverted at the 2012 commencement ceremony. There was a 50% increase in beverage purchases and the list goes on. Metrics are important, as we’ve said many times before; you can’t manage what you can’t measure. [While this phrase is often attributed to Deming, in truth, no one knows where it came from, although it is also often attributed to Peter Drucker. – a little trivia for your]
Universities, companies and individuals are all getting the sustainability message. When you think about it, these are changes, and therefore require change agents (project managers) to implement. That is the just one example of the sustainability connections to project management. For more information please see full report.
Posted
by
Dave Shirley
on: October 25, 2013 09:19 AM |
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