Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who’s the Greenest of Them All?

Many companies claim to be green, but many appear not to have reflected on what green and sustainable really are. If you’re an Oregon company you’re probably familiar with Oregon Business magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For in Oregon” survey. Last year they expanded and added questions to determine how green a company is. I would argue that if you combine these ratings we might be looking at a more holistic “sustainability” ranking, but that issue is for another day. What we like about the survey, is that it is more reflective than many, asking questions both of ownership/management and employees. Employees can provide a valuable “reality check” against a company’s green claims. 

This year Oregon Business invited us to work with them on their green survey.  We jumped at the chance for two reasons. We wanted to insure that the survey probed whether an organization is taking a strategic approach to sustainability as well as asking about specific actions a company is taking. Our second reason was to test how the Framework could be used in a narrower context, a few questions, a few minutes of people’s time. It was an enjoyable process, and we hope that you’ll take the time to take the survey. Answering these questions might give you some insight as to where the gaps are in your sustainability efforts. 

Frankly, last year our members were well represented in both the 100 Best Businesses and the Greenest Companies. If you’re in Oregon we encourage you to participate in the new survey and let us know what you think.  Come next Spring, we hope to see our members at the top of the list once again