Making Sustainability Stick The Blueprint for Successful Implementation

This book provides the blueprint for implementation, breaking down barriers, and the steps required to integrate sustainability successfully into any business.  It is laid out in easily digestible chapters, with action steps backed up from interviews with sustainability thought leaders, case studies, and the real life experience of the author, as well as over 40 interviews with CSR and Sustainability Directors at various companies on how to “get things done” based on their successes and temporary setbacks.  It provides the step-by-step roadmap for implementing sustainability successfully and focuses on “how” companies can realize the benefits of sustainability by engaging the head, heart, and hands of their employees.  Also included is a checklist for implementation and tips on how to regain momentum or get “un-stuck” at the end of each chapter as well as additional helpful resources and exercises to overcome the most common barriers towards implementation.

Kevin Wilhelm is the one of the world’s preeminent business consultants in the field of sustainability and climate change. He is the CEO of Sustainable Business Consulting, a Seattle-based consulting firm focused on demonstrating the bottom-line business benefits of sustainability and then leading companies through successful implementation. Kevin brings nearly two decades of experience working with businesses ranging from Fortune 500 multinationals to medium-sized businesses. His clients include Nordstrom, REI, The North Face, Alaska Airlines, Redbox, Expeditors, Drugstore.com, Puget Sound Energy, and more than 75 others.

Previously he wrote the acclaimed Return on Sustainability: How Business Can Increase Profitability and Address Climate Change in an Uncertain Economy, and he is a professor at the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, where he teaches various courses on sustainable business.

Introduction     1
How to Use This Book     5
Chapter 1: The Business Case     9
Chapter 2: Defining Sustainability     45
Chapter 3: Understanding Your Stakeholders and What Is Material to Them     53
Chapter 4: Baselining Sustainability to Measure What Matters     75
Chapter 5: Goals/Vision and Your Sustainability North Star     103
Chapter 6: Management Support Is Essential     129
Chapter 7: Understanding Change Management to Guide Implementation     141
Chapter 8: Engaging Employees Around Sustainability     177
Chapter 9: Systems, Decision Making, and Internal Alignment     201
Chapter 10: Institutionalizing Sustainability     227
Chapter 11: Communicating Sustainability Internally     245
Individuals Interviewed for This Book     265
Citations and Endnotes     267
Index     279