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Program
History
Sustainable
Business Leader Program (SBLP)
The
Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston (SBN)
developed a technical assistance program to help small- and mid-sized
businesses improve their environmental practices and decrease their
carbon footprint.
This
technical assistance program builds on the successful “Business
Summits for a Sustainable Boston” which SBN organized in conjunction
with the Boston Redevelopment Authority in 2006 and 2007.
These bi-monthly meetings created a forum for small and
medium-sized Boston-based businesses to share waste reduction
strategies and learn about new climate protection initiatives.
The Business Summits culminated with the successful “Green
Business Awards” presented by Mayor Menino in the spring of 2007.
After running
the Business Summits and assisting the City of
Boston
in organizing the Green Business awards, SBN understood that there
were a large number of small and medium-sized businesses that needed
help in reducing their carbon footprint.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority and SBN wanted to reach out
to and assist businesses that weren’t aware of how to reduce their
waste generation rate, lower their energy and water consumption, and
purchase green products produced from local and regional
manufacturers.
SBN has received financial grants
from its members to
initiate this program.
In addition, SBN has received a pledge to print 5,000
resource guides titled the
“Busy Business Guide to Sustainable Practices.”
These contributions supplement the funds granted from the
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
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Program
Objectives
1)
Assist small and medium-sized business owners:
l
Develop
a baseline assessment of
their environmental footprint.
l
Make
a waste reduction and
sustainability Action Plan.
l
Guide
them to appropriate programs
and vendors for implementation.
l
Help
measure results.
2)
Provide a website that helps a business calculate its carbon footprint
and that lists best practices in six categories:
l
Energy
conservation
l
Water
conservation
l
Recycling
and waste management
l
Pollution
reduction
l
Transportation
l
Sustainability
management
3)
Support businesses in applying for the Boston Green Business Award and
making an annual pledge to make improvements in their business
practices.
4)
Offer a Busy Business Guide to
Sustainability as a way of promoting sustainable business
practices. This will be published in conjunction with Save that
Stuff and Charles River Publishing.
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5)
Offer an ongoing program for 25 small and mid-sized business
owners to help them decrease their waste generation rates and carbon
footprint. Work with three to five businesses in each of the
following business sectors: Restaurant, Retail, Light Manufacturing,
Service, Hospitality, and Miscellaneous.
Each
company will:
l
Assess
its current waste generation
rate and carbon footprint.
l
Develop
a Sustainability Action Plan
that sets goals and details where
the business can improve its
sustainability practices.
l
Report
its progress against the Plan
on a quarterly basis.
l
Contribute
$250 toward the
operation of this Program as a
requirement of participation.
6)
Prepare a case study for each of the business sectors.
Each case study will describe what worked and didn’t work and
lessons learned, and a model way for developing a sustainability
action plans, implementing the plans, and measuring results.
7)
Provide workshops, seminars, and training opportunities in
collaboration with the Boston Redevelopment Authority to raise
awareness and improve business practices in the city of
Boston
.
8)
Prepare a plan for continuation of this program on a financially
self-sustaining basis.
9) Share best practices, lessons
learned, and green business resources to help identify effective and
appropriate sustainability strategies.
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