Environmental Sustainability: A Practical Approach to Greening Your Organization

Environmental Management Systems (EMS) involve a set of processes and practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency. A well-designed EMS can help an organization address its regulatory demands in a systematic manner thereby reducing the risk of noncompliance. An EMS can also help address non-regulated issues such as pollution prevention, odor management, water usage and energy conservation.

In this two-day course participants will learn about EMS and how it can benefit their organization. Through the use of a Case Study and information they bring about their own company participants will leave with a draft EMS for their organization. It will include organizational Environmental Aspect and Impacts and Objectives and Targets for their organizations significant environmental impacts.

• Define what an Environmental Management System (EMS) is and the benefits of establishing one in your organization
• Understand ‘greenwashing’ and ways that there organization can avoid ‘greenwashing’
• Know the six KPI areas as defined by the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)
• Know the steps necessary to develop an EMS
• Be able to determine the Environmental Impacts and Aspects within an organization
• Understand and apply an Environmental Significance standard to organizational Environmental Impacts
• Set Objectives and Targets for significant organizational environmental impacts

We will spend the first part of the day getting to know other participants and discussing what will take place during the workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to identify their personal learning objectives.

This session will show students what an EMS involves, considers three types of EMS’s, and allows them to explore why companies develop their own EMS’s.

Here, students will be led through the step-by-step process for developing an organizational EMS.

Students are shown in this session how to determine the environmental aspects and impacts of your organization.

This session will allow students to use an Environmental Significance Standard to continue to explore aspects of significance from the previous session.

This session follows up on the previous ones and leads students to determine reasonable Objectives and Targets for the aspects identified earlier.

At the end of the course, students will have an opportunity to ask questions and fill out an action plan.