Quite a few of the businesses that I work with run into a challenge when they’re getting started with their sustainability programs:
How do they educate employees around sustainability?
Some are just starting to form a green team, while others are organizing “lunch and learns” for employees. Regardless of where they are in their sustainability journey, though, they find that they need to provide sustainability training for employees.
The sustainability videos below can be used to spur discussions about sustainability inside your organization.
Explaining Sustainability & Climate Change
Is your company just getting started with sustainability? If so, these are good videos to share with your team if you’re just introducing sustainability to them for the first time.
This video (3:52) is a clip from a documentary film called “The Corporation” and features Ray Anderson, founder and CEO of carpet company Interface, talking about what caused him to change his paradigm. His “spear in the chest” moment put his company on the path to sustainability and made him one of the most credible early voices for the sustainable business movement.
After the first few minutes of Al Gore’s stand-up comedy, this TED talk (16:14) explains how energy efficiency and conservation are investments that pay for themselves, and then dives into 15 ways that individuals can address climate change.
In this TED talk (14:23), climate researcher Alice Bows-Larkin explains some of the science behind climate change and how economic systems will need to adapt. It is sobering but should spark a lively discussion among your team.
The Business Case for Sustainability
With climate change as the driving factor behind sustainability, how does this apply to business? What is the business case for sustainability? The videos below address how businesses can increase profits, reduce expenses, and build brand equity through sustainability.
This video (4:37) provides a quick overview about some of the ways that sustainability can help a business increase profits by using best practices to increase revenue and decrease expenses (for more on best practices, see how your business can use existing sustainability frameworks).
Hear from Ray Anderson, one of the earliest CEOs to adopt sustainability, in this short video (5:03). In addition to bringing love into a discussion about business, this CEO of a manufacturing company clearly articulates the business case of a better way to make a bigger profit.
Once your company is paying attention to sustainability, you’ll need to work on initiatives and develop a strategy. This interview (10:27) with Adam Werbach, author of “Strategy for Sustainability.” The interview includes examples of Personal Sustainability Projects and discusses how to engage employees.
B Corporations
B Corporations are businesses that are committed to using the power of business as a force for good. It’s a growing international movement that every business that is interested in sustainability should be paying attention to (for more about this, see What You Ought to Know About B Corps).
This short (1:56) video is a great introduction to what the community of Certified B Corporations believe in.
This “story about the evolution of capitalism” (19:35) features Jay Coen Gilbert, one of the founders of the B Corp movement, who explains why and how to harness the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.
Sustainable Investing
A shift towards a sustainable future will require a shift in the flow of capital, which is why business sustainability is so important. In addition to that, however, all of us as individual have control over our purchases and investments, which makes this an important topic to consider.
The power of this video (12:34) lies in how Audrey Choi shows the compelling data about sustainable investing and how individuals have the power to vote with their investment dollars. This can be used to get your employees thinking about their investments and also to look at your company’s 401k options: are they aligned with your values?
Next Steps
Pull up a chair and watch the videos that are most relevant for your business. Share them with your green team and also with employees at “lunch and learns” and then have an open discussion.