Have you ever found yourself daydreaming about all of the ways that your office could be greened… properly labeled recycling bins, a composting system, a car sharing program, and an office environment that encourages energy conservation? If so, it’s time to start a Green Office Team!
A Green Team is a group of employees that work to promote sustainability through environmental education, event programming, and project implementation. Green Teams are designed to be multi-stakeholder, with individuals participating from each area of the office, including: Line Staff, Management, Housekeeping, Maintenance, Finance, Human Resources, the list goes on… Multi-stakeholder support is important so that teams can draw on the expertise and enthusiasm of everyone in the office and sustain themselves from year to year. The guide that follows will help you start a Green Team in your own office.1
BENEFITS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: As the name implies, Green Teams are all about being green and leading projects that have an environmental benefit, whether that is to reduce energy use, water use, or waste production.
BENEFITS FOR YOUR BUDGET: Even though Green Teams require some staff time, implementing green projects at work can actually help businesses save money in the long-term:
- Saving money by reducing waste (e.g., conserving paper and energy).
- Boosting morale by addressing employee interest in sustainability at work.
Time and Effort: After an initial launch meeting of 2-3 hours, each member of the Green Team can expect to spend about 2 hrs per month on outreach activities related to sustainability campaigns.
The Green Team Office Plan
The process for establishing a Green Team in your office typically involves the following steps:
- Management discusses the program with her/his staff, identifies one or more Green Team champions.
- The Green Champions and managers help to recruit staff for the first Green Team launch event meeting.
- At the first meeting, participants discuss the green efforts that have already taken place at their office, and brainstorm environmental projects they would like to see happen. This is the visioning process, and in addition to projects, participants should come up with a mission statement, near-term and long-term goals, and elect a president.
- At the second meeting, the Team sets goals based on the group’s vision, develops a list of initial projects, designates individuals to head up specific sub-committees, and sets up a schedule of ongoing meetings. Many Green Teams are divided into smaller sub-committees known as working groups. Participants can choose a group that interests them most, such as Energy, Water, Waste, Transportation, or Outreach.
- Meetings are often structured so that the meeting starts with a guest speaker or Green Team member who presents on a current environmental topic. Next, the subcommittees meet to discuss how they plan to implement projects (approximately one project every one to three months). Finally everyone reconvenes so that working groups have time to report their progress to the entire Green Team.
- At the third and subsequent meetings, the Team will determine what resources they need to achieve their goals and monitor their challenges and successes.
- It is good to quantify savings and publicize successes, both at the office and via marketing and media materials and postings so that the Green Team generates increasing interest and support. Recognition and rewards should also be provided to members of the team wherever possible.6
Here are some Greeniacs Guides 
that you may want to use for getting started on office greening projects:
- Waste Diversion
- Join a Carpool
- Green Data Centers
- Fix Laptops
- Sustainable Lighting
- Holiday Time Green Gift Ideas for the Office
- Benchmark Review of Your Utilities
For additional information about starting a Green Team check out the following resources:
