This guide can be used to write any singular resource reduction policy as part of your corporate sustainability strategy.

Policy examples include a waste policy, water policy or energy policy. (Supply chain policies can get tricky so I recommend looking at the UN Global Compact or B Corp website for explicit instructions for a robust supply chain.)

Some companies refer to their sustainability strategy with a single environmental policy or just have an environmental policy as a strategy stand-in or to support an overall sustainability policy, like Adobe. These statements usually affirm a company’s environmental commitments or provide an overview of a more robust environmental management system.

This blog will cover how to write individual resource reduction policies to help support initiatives to help meet your sustainability goals. Usually, a company has goals or plans to reduce its resource use, as part of an overall sustainability strategy. It wants to reduce energy or water and needs a procedure to carry it out. If initiatives are written in enough detail, they can usually cover the majority of the necessary information. 

Initiatives are usually short-term goals or benchmarks. A policy helps set a tone and guides the company as it continues to reduce resources.  

“Initiatives are usually short-term goals or benchmarks. A policy helps set a tone and guides the company as it continues to reduce resources. ”

A good policy will explain a company’s commitment to a certain resource, detail use, reduction plans, the employee responsible and the steps taken to ensure completion. 

Start With the Resource

What are you working on reducing? Waste, Water, Energy? A specific waste made in processing? Select one to start writing about. 

One client created an overall “conservation” policy to help the company reduce all three of the above under an umbrella policy. I thought this was genius! It fit their brand and culture to have employees think in a conservation mindset, instead of just one resource at a time. 

Compile Reduction Strategies

Start brainstorming the steps you’ll be taking to reduce these items. Do research, call manufacturers or appliance specialists, ask employees or think of the lifecycle of a product or service to pinpoint reductions. 

Reference initiatives to compile reduction strategies and goals. 

Brainstorm Teams, Overlap and Use

Start to think about who affects and is affected by this policy. This could be all employees or just a single team. 

Think about:

1. What teams are responsible for this?

2. Who is reading/following this policy?

Be sure to get employee input and beware of the learning curve of a policy.

Check out “How to Get Employees to Do Initiatives” to get a better understanding of integrating employees into your strategy and vice versa.

Look at Samples But Don’t Template

It’s ok to Google and get some ideas for what the policy might look like. Beware a direct copy! You want it to sound like your company. Learn more ways to make it sound like your company here. 

A note about big companies and policies: Most of the policies you google will bring back large, international conglomerates. These companies are dealing with thousands of employees, shareholders and multiple offices. These policies will seem overly complicated and they are. Don’t be afraid to keep your policy simple and under a page. 

Connect to Mission/Culture

You’ve started working on sustainability because it’s a company value or something employees care about (I’m guessing). State the mission or value connected to the policy at the top to make sure employees understand its gravity and rationale for existence. A mission focus can also help determine which policies the company needs. 

Ok, let’s write this thing! Taking the information from above, you can insert items into the categories outlined below.

Make Sure Your Policy Includes

To me, these items are “must-haves,” it’s important to have a schedule for review to certify the policy is working, it’s signed off and has been viewed by those it affects and provides information to reduce. 

• Title

• Mission Statement/Value Statement for Policy

• Timeline

• Team(s) Involved

• Steps Taken to Reduce Resource

• Person Responsible

• Review Requirements

• Signature Requirements

Let’s look at each of these requirements!

What to Include in Every Resource Reduction Policy

Title

Fairly self-explanatory. Title the policy to match the appropriate resource. 

Mission Statement/Value Statement for Policy

What’s the mission or value statement prompting this policy? This could be something like “ Company cares about ____ through value ______ or  " ____ policy allows the company to carry out ____ value.”

Timeline 

Is this policy everlasting or for a specific year? If you’ve included goals, make sure their timelines are included. 

I prefer to keep the policy as a stagnant document and either link to existing initiatives or reference them annually. Once you have the policy, give it small tweaks as you get started and then it can stay relatively stagnant aside from annual review. 

Team(s) Involved

Who is involved in this policy, either responsible for making sure it’s completed or completing the actions. 

Steps Taken to Reduce the Resource

This is where you answer the question of “How does your company reduce the resource discussed in the title?” Whether explicit steps, allocated resources or both. 

It’s your choice to include the explicit steps within the document to link to a different document showing initiatives or items if you’d like to keep the policy more streamlined. However you prefer to do it. 

This is something you probably won’t find in a big company’s policy example (maybe in their annual sustainability report). Bigger public companies found on Google for “Energy Policy,” want to share their energy policy to show investors what they’re doing but don’t provide details on action completion (as a rule). 

Person(s) Responsible 

If you are including action items within the policy, reference the person responsible and action routine. This explicit instruction doesn't have to be included in the policy per se, but the person responsible is aware. 

Provide the person responsible with a set of action items to complete the policy. The policy is there as a reminder and proof of concept. It's important to remember to assign tasks and not just let the policy stand alone. If you don't believe me, try posting the policy without assignment, then wait six weeks and check progress. Then, assign tasks and check momentum in six weeks. 

Review Requirements

Does this policy get reviewed annually? Or every 18 months? Include a review designation and make sure the responsible employee puts the review date on a recurring calendar to be reminded. 

Signature Requirements

Does a manager or leadership team need to sign off on this? If yes, add a signature line and get it to them to sign.

Final Thoughts

Once you’ve followed the steps above, read this blog for tips to check it, make it match your company culture, and see if a lawyer needs to review it. 

Combine these best practices with company guidelines for writing policies. 

In the next blog, I’ll provide examples of policies to consider and why, alongside companies matched to needed policies. 

If you’re interested in getting help with policies, check out our consulting services to learn more.