Celebrating Earth Day: ‘Invest in Our Planet’ With NSF’s Sustainability Services
Each year, more people around the world witness the growing adverse effects of climate change. As its effect on our environment is becoming painstakingly clear, it is now more important than ever to act while we still can. Celebrated on April 22, Earth Day 2022 has the theme of “Invest in Our Planet.” The goal is to engage more than one billion people from businesses, the government and institutions to help bring healing and health to our planet. The climate crisis is real, and everyone is accountable.
Sustainable Business Pays Off
Many companies and governments are now investing in sustainable operations, creating a variety of job opportunities. According to Business Insider and LinkedIn’s report, the number of “green” jobs has increased by 8% within the last five years due to many corporations implementing sustainability goals. Additionally, the job marketplace is seeing the benefits of shifting to sustainable organizational objectives. This is demonstrated in a study conducted by George Serafeim and his colleagues, who found that companies that developed ESG (environment social governance) operational processes in the early 1990s financially outperformed a control group over two decades. ESG also translates to company stock performance, with asset owners demanding that their portfolio managers include sustainability in their investment strategies (Harvard Business Review).
“Environmental commitments are demanded from company stakeholders and consumers as their spending is increasingly shifting to companies who operate sustainably,” says Suzan Somo, Senior Manager of NSF’s Residential Water Division. “This is favorable for protecting our earth, as companies no longer have to choose between profitability and sustainability, since they go hand in hand.”
NSF’s Role in Sustainability
NSF proudly offers sustainability services to help ensure that certified companies are compliant with established national and international standards. NSF’s sustainability services offer businesses support through consumer-packaged goods, supply chain management, ESG reporting, environmental product declarations (EPDs), climate strategy and action plans, and more. With NSF, companies have the tools to improve and demonstrate their sustainability initiatives through a range of services, including:
- Safer Chemistry: NSF assesses full chemical inventories to help provide businesses with chemical and material information for selection decisions.
- Product Certification: Separate from our consulting services, NSF certifies and audits companies and products to national and international standards to support businesses seeking to corroborate their sustainability claims. This promotes the retention and attraction of employee talent, customers and investors.
- EPD Verifications: NSF reviews, verifies and provides feedback on EPDs, allowing companies to provide better life-cycle impact information on their products in a credible and transparent manner.
- Management Systems: NSF audits company frameworks to requirements intended to optimize performance and increase sustainability.
“NSF’s sustainability standards span across many sectors, including food, eWaste, recycling, forest management, building product materials and management systems, to name a few,” says Mike McRandall, Director of NSR-ISR Management Systems. “With NSF, there are many sustainability services to help companies perform in a more efficient and eco-friendly fashion.”
Global Collaboration for Change
In recent years, “net zero” has become a common phrase for global organizations with goals to reduce their climate emissions. Commitments to decrease problems like deforestation and carbon emissions are great, but taking action is imperative. Corporations can make one of the largest impacts in our global fight against climate change, from sustainable sourcing to operating more efficiently, due to their size and expansive reach. With science providing information on how we can work toward a more sustainable future and data showing that sustainable operations positively affect a company’s bottom line, there is no reason to not act.
“Operating sustainably is no longer optional for businesses who plan to maintain market share,” states Lisa Spicka, Director of Sustainability Consulting at NSF. “NSF is a proud resource for businesses incorporating or transitioning to more eco-friendly practices and is here to support businesses striving to make a positive global impact.”
Separate from certification services, NSF also offers consulting services to ensure that company products and services are “Safe for the Consumer, Good for the Planet.” NSF Sustainability Consulting is a silver-level accredited CDP service provider and services include ESG strategy and reporting, climate action plans, and sustainable supply chain assurance programs. Additional work includes greenhouse gas (GHG) calculations/verification and life-cycle assessments (LCAs).
Show your love for our planet this Earth Day and find ways you can enhance your company’s role in providing a sustainable future for generations to come.
How NSF Can Help You
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