What is an effective environmental reporting? What is the difference between genuine disclosure versus 'greenwashng? In this study, we report how doing it the right way could help firms to strengthen corporate identity within the organisation. Read more or visit us at http://www.verityconsult.com

1. Creativity | Passion | Growth
Disclosing environmental
practices in low-impact
industries
By Sandy Chong & Irene Pollach

2. Creativity | Passion | Growth
Environmental efforts made by low impact industries
are often dismissed as trite responses to modern
competitive pressures.
Environmental reports, also referred to efforts are: those who have a high
as sustainability reports or corporate impact on the environment, and -
social responsibility (CSR) reports, interestingly - low impact industries
detail a company's environmental (e.g. service industries like banking).
objectives, activities and Unfortunately though, environmental
achievements. Almost thirty years ago, efforts made by low impact industries
there was no demand for such are often dismissed as trite responses
disclosures, because the content of to modern competitive pressures; their
environmental disclosures is often sustainability reports are nothing but
irrelevant to external decision-makers. mere "greenwashing".
Things have changed, however. Today, The usefulness of such reports are
companies publish environmental therefore being brought into question.
information for a host of reasons: to And, is there no genuine way for these
reduce information asymmetries low impact companies address
between stakeholders and themselves, environmental concerns without being
to respond to public pressures, and to dismissed as "greenwashing"?
manage their reputations. Pressures
from institutional investors also Certainly not. The key is to implement
contribute to this trend; increasingly, substantive measures to mitigate
social and environmental factors are climate change, and publicize them
being considered while making plainly. In other words - cut the
investment decisions. "environmental terminology". Our
research has shown that, more often
In this article, we review the manner in than not, excessive use of
which companies disclose their environmental jargon reflects a
environmental practices to the public. company's vain public relations
Doing it the right way can also help to attempt, and readers are more
strengthen corporate identity within discerning than companies think they
the organization. are.
Amongst the industries in which
companies publish their sustainability
Disclosing environmental practices 2

3. Creativity | Passion | Growth
Sustainability Measures
Fig. 1 shows some of the measures achieved by purchasing green energy,
that European and American controlling lights and temperature in
companies in low impact industries office buildings, and reducing energy
have taken (and reported) to address consumption by IT. Lastly, controlling
issues in waste management, energy the frequency of business travels
efficiency and climate change. mitigates climate change.
Measures taken to manage waste Interestingly, some of these measures
include recycling and actual waste also help to cut operational costs (e.g.
reduction, e.g. by reducing paper less business travels by air).
consumption. Energy efficiency is
I. Waste Management
 Separation of paper waste with non-paper
 Recycling of: paper, batteries, light bulbs,
office furniture, toner cartridges, and IT
waste
 Use of non-disposable mugs and kitchen
utensils
II. Energy Efficiency
 Use of green energy sources, roof solar
panels, and fuel-efficient/hybrid vehicles
 Use of multifunctional copiers
 Use of LCD panel screens (instead of
monitors)
 Use of lighting motion sensors and energy-
efficient light bulbs
 Shutting down of computer terminals and
lighting automatically
III. Climate Change
 Cutting down business travel by using
video/phone/web conferencing and
encouraging travel by train instead of air
 Working from home
 Cycling facilities
Fig. 1: Measures taken by
 Subsidizing public transport expenses,
European and American low-
shuttle bus services and car-pooling
impact companies
schemes for employees
Disclosing environmental practices 3

4. Creativity | Passion | Growth
Environmental reports as means of
corporate communication
Certain company documents are In their reports, companies can also
especially useful in reinforcing make use of external auditing services
corporate identity; they contain and awards to endorse and reinforce
corporate messages which are read their sustainability efforts.
and processed in the minds of the
employees. This article is an abridged version of a
research paper entitled - Corporate
And when these are sent out to Sustainability Discourse as Auto-
external stakeholders, the validity of Communication: A Study of Disclosure
these messages increases greatly. Practices in Low-Impact Industries.
Hence annual reports, value
statements or CSR reports are About the Authors
potentially the most effective albeit Dr. Sandy Chong
lesser-known vehicles to generate Principal consultant
employee commitment and pride.
Verity Consulting Pty Ltd
But in order for environmental dr.sandychong@verityconsult.com
reports to serve the above purposes, linkedin.com/in/sandychong
concrete actions - not abstract
commitments - have to be clearly Dr. Irene Pollach
published. Environmental Centre for Corporate Communication
communication should come in a less Aarhus School of Business
technical form, whilst still Aarhus, Denmark
communicating the pertinent facts. If
external audiences were to respond
to CSR messages with skepticism,
the reverse of instilling corporate
identity may occur instead.
Disclosing environmental practices 4

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