Once you’ve identified the changes you can make, worked out your priorities and set up systems to track your progress, its time to get started!

To ensure successful outcomes:

• Set goals which are consistent with your environmental management policy and are practical, achievable and measurable (e.g. reduce energy consumption by 10% over the next financial year)
• Set a timeframe for implementing each action
• Determine who is responsible for following through and making it happen
• Review and report on progress.

It’s important to be realistic. Focus on areas where you can make the biggest improvements for the least expense or effort. Don’t be overwhelmed by all the things that you’ve identified you should be doing, rather take small steps and remember that becoming a more environmentally sustainable business is a journey – it won’t happen overnight.

Fostering sustainable behaviour

A critical aspect of implementation is in understanding how to encourage people to be sustainable – although it might seem straightforward, it isn’t necessarily the case.

Some of the actions identified in your plan only need to be implemented once, such as installing more efficient lighting, or putting in water saving devices. Other actions will require repetitive behaviour change for there to be significant environmental benefit (such as staff remembering to turn off computers and monitors, or encouraging guests to take shorter showers). These behaviours are more difficult to cultivate because they rely on people changing their habits.

Relying only on telling people what you want them to do is likely to be ineffective. Introducing sustainability initiatives involves:

educating people to change their attitudes, which is only half the battle
influencing people to change their behaviour which will deliver the results.

To influence behaviour change you will need to understand the barriers people face or perceive and convince them of the benefits of changing their behaviour.

To encourage sustainable behaviour it is important to gain a commitment from people to convert their intentions into actions. People who have made a commitment, particularly a public or organisational commitment, are more likely to follow through with that action.

Tools to aide with educating and influencing people's behaviour

Prompts help people remember to act – such as signs telling people to turn off the lights, take shorter showers, switch off office equipment etc. Prompts should be noticeable, self explanatory, and simple. They should also be presented as close to the targeted behaviour as possible, e.g. directly above the light switch.

Social norms – people are more likely to change behaviour if others are visibly leading the way. They will want to be seen to be ‘doing the right thing’ within the community, or within your organisation.

Effective communication – be vivid, clear and specific about what the desired behaviour is, make it easy for people to remember what to do, how to do it and when to do it, and where possible deliver the information in person and using someone credible.

Reward appropriate behaviour as people change. Show them you recognise their efforts.

Next step: Monitoring your performance