Every Sustainability Journey Starts With a Baseline Assessment
Embarking on a sustainability journey often starts with the question: "Where in the world do we begin?" It's a question that's probably crossed your mind, so, let's break down the all important starting point.
If you've ever taken a stab at a diet, you're familiar with the routine. Set your goals, map out a plan, and the very first step involves confronting the scale – establishing a baseline from which to steer your progress.
Starting a sustainability journey follows a similar pathway. You've got to set a baseline measurement and craft your strategy around it. My recommendation is to kick things off with a basic assessment that looks at tackling carbon emission segments and strategies for mitigation. Undergoing this baseline review not only familiarizes you with the key data points, it also illuminates where you may have gaps.
While there are numerous assessments available, for those in the media tech sector, I always recommend the DPP's Commitment to Sustainability Assessment. It's not flawless (more on that later), but it lays out the details in a straightforward manner.
Comprising 15 main questions, with subsequent questions, spanning categories like Policies and Standards, Energy, Waste, and Emissions, the DPP Assessment addresses the major aspects of sustainability. Within each category, the organization must submit answers as well as supporting materials. The handy assessment guide helps you on exactly what data you need. For example, under Energy, you’ll need to report on your business's power consumption, while in the Waste section, you’ll need to distinguish between recycled and landfill waste, including electronic waste.
But what if you haven't quite rounded up these data points yet. In that case, using the DPP Assessment serves as a guide to assist in setting up the systems to gather that information. Just working through the questions helps you grasp the metrics you're aiming for and readies your operations to collect the necessary data. It's a good starting point that naturally evolves over time as knowledge is gained and improvements are made.
Now, let’s address the imperfections of the DPP Assessment. Firstly, it's somewhat generic, not delving into media-specific areas. But let's face it – sustainability is a universal concept, impacting all industries similarly – Policies, Energy, Waste, and Emissions are shared concerns and so this is not a major drawback. But if you are looking to integrate your green production data, you’d have to augment the report with a subsequent report. The Assessment also doesn’t specifically address Scopes 1, 2, and 3.
Despite these (minor) drawbacks, if you're standing at the starting line of your sustainability journey, unsure where to begin or what to measure, give the DPP Assessment a look. Explore your data options, nail that initial baseline measure, and you're on your way.
