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Businesses of every size are becoming more aware of their corporate social responsibility. Put simply, this is the idea of giving back to the wider community and the natural world. A big part of being socially responsible is acknowledging your company's impact on the environment. You can put this into words using an environmental policy.
The overlying purpose of an environmental policy is to highlight your company's compliance with state laws and regulations concerning the environment. The document sets out the policies and procedures that your company has in place to reduce the impact it has on the natural world. An environmental policy can cover anything from waste management practices and recycling to supporting the efforts of environmental charities.
Having an environmental policy is not required by law, but more and more businesses are choosing to put one in place for a number of reasons. An environmental policy:
Choosing what to include in an environmental policy differs across industries and businesses. Generally speaking, your policy should address the following:
It's also worth including a detailed section on how you intend to deal with the environmental issues that your company faces. This can include a section on:
There are a few no-nos when it comes to putting together your environmental policy:
An environmental policy is only as effective as you make it. To ensure your environmental policy is credible to the public, customers and stakeholders, you may want to establish an environmental management system alongside it. This will allow you to implement, manage and review your environmental policies regularly.
No, you don't have to hire a lawyer to help you write your environmental policy. However, onboarding the help of an environmental lawyer can be extremely beneficial. It'll help to speed up the whole process and make sure that you haven't missed out any crucial clauses in the policy.
There's no right and wrong when it comes to putting together an environmental policy. As this is a policy that needs to be upheld by all corners of the business, as well as reflect the businesses' culture, all senior staff should be involved in writing it. Once you've agreed on what to include in your policy, you can use an environmental policy template to draft it up.
Remember, your policy should be made accessible to all staff and customers. To do this, use simple, understandable language throughout, and make a copy of the policy available on your website.
While we don't all have access to legal help, we all do have access to a series of online templates that can be downloaded for free or for a one-time payment. Here are a few places we'd recommend starting your search.
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