Implementing a Green Team is a great way to begin moving your green ideals into green practices. But, just like any other committee, the Green Team’s effectiveness will be in direct proportion to the commitment of the team and the clarity of its purpose. Below are the characteristics that will ensure your Green Team efforts are successful. 

 

Team members that have embraced the concepts of sustainability and have incorporated green practices into their daily lives bring a contagious spirit of enthusiasm that supplies energy to the team as a whole. Enthusiasm fuels momentum. Momentum produces results. 

 

Sustainability touches each hotel department in a different way. Selecting team members with varying perspectives will ensure a connected and collaborative approach. 

 

Effective Green Teams stick together by staying focused on common objectives and a shared ambition for improved environmental performance. 

 

The importance of setting goals and monitoring progress cannot be overstated. Goals help measure the effectiveness of green initiatives, provide accountability, and give teams a reason to celebrate when achieved. 

 

Because team members each have an important job to do OUTSIDE of their green team role, successful Green Teams select a team leader that will encourage, motivate, and inspire the group to stay on track. 

 

Successful Green Teams embrace the concepts of a master plan approach, and view sustainability as a long-term enterprise, not a short-term project. 

 

Truly successful Green Teams know that their efforts are meaningful and significant to the overall objectives of the business. Managing Directors and General Managers can support and strengthen Green Team efforts through active participation, resource allocation, public endorsement, and recognition of achievements. 

 

By Julie A. Baylor, CHA, LEED GA