Living Planet @ Work – sign up and spread the word

By Sarah Bertollo
Manager, Special Projects
Living Planet @ Work, championed by HP, is WWF’s free employee engagement program that is open to businesses of all sizes across Canada, and the brand new website has just gone live.  This is exciting for me for a few reasons – it’s not just that the Living Planet @ Work program is now available to all organizations, but it’s the idea that businesses will have access to tools and resources that will help them make workplace decisions with the sustainability of the planet in mind.
Some businesses are already doing amazing work in this area (some examples that come to mind are InterfaceFLOR, Loblaw Companies Limited, and the pilot Living Planet @ Work companies).  Knowing what these companies have accomplished, from the small (or at least seemingly small) actions to the large scale shifts in behaviour, is largely what inspires me day-to-day as I work with the team here at WWF on building the foundation for Living Planet @ Work.  From the formation of a green team to the implementation of reduced lighting schedules to the commitment to source sustainable products, these kinds of commitments really amount to something significant.
Since joining WWF almost a year and a half ago, I’ve seen how much planning, effort, resources, and passion goes into changing something from the status quo.  At work, much like in our personal lives, there’s never enough time or resources to do some of the things we really want to do.  The fact is though, according to a recent Ipsos Reid survey, 86% of Canadians want to work for environmentally responsible company.  So, even if adopting sustainability-minded principles at work is hard (which we know it can be), the reality is that employees and consumers are expecting it more and more.  Hopefully this program helps companies commence, or enhance, their sustainability goals.
I’m excited to see what the Living Planet @ Work companies accomplish as part of this program, and I can’t wait to share them.  Stay tuned for more Living Planet @ Work news!

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