Going Green
Bill Goss
December 31, 2008 12:13 am Has your community proven it's serious about its commitment to the environment? Does your child's school take a proactive approach to making the learning environment as eco-friendly, low risk and pollution-free as possible? Is there a way for you, a citizen or parent, to see the data backing up "green" claims that these entities make? If you live in Dallas or your children go to school in New York City, then the answer is probably yes. The same is true for the wastewater treatment plant in Lowell and the Waltham public schools. Why? Because they are all ISO 14001 certified, which is the only international standard for environmental management. What this means is that like other communities, schools and businesses in 140 countries around the world, they are following an environmental management program that drives them to not only reduce pollution and negative environmental impact, but commit to continuously improve their environmental performance by meeting targets and objectives. Once certified by the International Organization for Standardization as having an environmental management system meeting the ISO 14001 requirements, organizations must submit to ongoing audits to ensure they remain in compliance. It's all well and good to say that a city, town or school is green, but really, it's not something that can be measured. But when municipalities, schools and businesses make a serious commitment to the environment (both now and in the future) by putting an environmental management system in place, the results are obvious, and can be documented, checked, improved upon and verified by a third-party registrar. As a parent, my children should be in a certified school like the ones in New York City, where the entire school system and community are dedicated to making positive changes. As a citizen, I should know that my town cares enough about its citizens to put a plan in place that guarantees less pollution and sets and reaches goals regarding every aspect of negative environmental impact in our community. Dallas recently became the first city in the U.S. to achieve ISO 14001 certification. Now, the world knows that Dallas leads the nation in its care for the environment. In June, Dallas was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as the first to implement ISO 14001 on such a broad scale. According to the EPA, here are some of Dallas' achievements: Nearly half of municipal power this year has been from renewable energy sources, such as wind. In the next two years, Dallas plans to have more than 25 green public buildings. The city is launching a Web site for environmental stewardship. Dallas is the first to partner with the EPA on Sustainable Skylines, a pilot program focusing on improving air quality by reducing emissions and other measures. The city's achievements are impressive and are sure to increase in the coming years. This is a city that its citizens are proud of, and rightly so. Congratulations to Dallas — what a fantastic place to reside, knowing the government is really "for the people." It is critical that where I live, work and raise my children is improving environmentally. Continual improvement is something we can all understand in our personal lives — the new year is upon us, and we are making our resolutions. Those resolutions may come back to haunt us or, perhaps, make us proud if we achieve them. ISO 14001 is a lot like a good New Year's resolution. Suppose you say, "I want to lose weight in the coming year." It's kind of like a city saying, "We want to be green." Nice thought, but it probably won't happen. Why? Because specifics must be documented: "I want to lose 10 pounds this year." Now we have a plan. How will I achieve this goal? "I will walk 1 extra mile a day five days a week." How will I know if this plan is working? "I will weigh myself every two weeks." Now you have a way to check. What if I haven't met my goal in a few months? "I will increase my walks by a half-mile a day." Once the goal is met, next year's resolution will probably be bigger and better, and you will achieve it because you know how ¬— continual improvement. When considered from a personal point of view, it's easy to see that ISO 14001, which uses the "Plan, Do, Check, Act" approach to environmental management, is more likely to succeed in reducing waste, pollution and risk and in saving money than just saying, "We want to be green." ¬¢¬¢¬¢ Bill Goss is the owner of Quality Systems Consulting Group in Amesbury. His Web site is www.merrimackvalleygreen.com. If you have any questions regarding Going Green, send them to merrimackvalleygreen@comcast.net, and he will answer them in upcoming columns.
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