Pro Tips for the Green Masters Program Action Manager
Collected by Jessica Stoll, Operations and Membership Coordinator, WSBC
Green Masters Program season is upon us and that means it's time to fill out your action manager!
The Green Masters Program is offered exclusively by the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council and is a recognition, assessment, and certification program for businesses working to improve their sustainability outcomes. It's a tool for you to measure and plan your sustainability actions. Completing the action manager allows your organization to get recognized, become self-certified, and compare your performance to other companies in your sector.
Since we have a handful of new businesses joining the program every year, we want to offer some advice from two seasoned Green Masters Program participants, Bounce Milwaukee and General Plastics. Their pro tips are offered below.
Green Master Program "Pro Tips"
Bounce Milwaukee is a full-service entertainment center in Bay View. They operate a bar, restaurant, and event space with laser tag, rock climbing, ax throwing, inflatables, and more! As a small business, they understand that time management and tracking metrics can be challenging. They offer the following pro tips:
The application will feel overwhelming at first, but it offers flexibility and can help you generate ideas for sustainability actions to take.
Track your progress in action areas that are specific to your operations. Don’t be shy in adding actions that make sense for your company. One example for Bounce is that they are voluntarily unionizing—which contributes to social aspects and governance actions in the program. They will add this in the “additional actions” section.
Remember that all of the information asked is relevant. The data may seem tedious, but it is for your benefit and helps you develop systems across your organization. You only manage and improve the things you measure.
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel like a leader in sustainability. You will likely find that you are doing more than you think you are. Build off of your progress.
The action manager supports Bounce in facilitating employee engagement. They ask employees to get involved in the data tracking so that the application is a group effort where everyone contributes.
Lastly, commitment matters! Committing is the first step in the journey, and Bounce states that the outcomes of the program and worth the effort.
Another participant, General Plastics, is an ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001: 2015 certified, full-service custom plastic thermoformer located on Milwaukee‘s northside. They pride themselves on providing high-quality and cost-effective turnkey solutions for Point of Purchase (POP) and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Their advice includes:
Build a team to spread out the data collection and responsibility. This will help you be more successful long term and assure it is not just one person’s responsibility.
Create a process for measuring and collecting your metrics. GP created the dashboard below that each team member updates monthly. This streamlined the data collection, which can be tedious if not done well.
Lastly, they encourage that “you don’t have to be an expert to get started; you just need to take the first step. The GMP is a tool to help you identify various steps in your journey to reduce your carbon footprint. Sustainability is an ongoing process. Make sure you develop a process to manage long-term change while motivating the workforce that their daily actions do make a difference.”
WSBC is here to support your application process!
Reach out to Jessy if you have questions or are interested in being paired with a business mentor. The program closes on October 31st.
Member organizations and new applicants can apply for free at any time before the deadline.
For returning non-member businesses, there is a $100 fee for applications received before October 1st and a $250 fee for applications received between October 1st and October 31st.
