As you may have noticed, The Partners Group (TPG) has embarked on a newfound mission to analyze our business practices with an eye towards sustainability. As a whole, TPG does a great job of limiting our overall impact on society through a variety of ways. However, we’re always looking for opportunities for improvement and environmental stewardship was one such opportunity. In early 2017, TPG established the “Green Team,” a team designed to collaborate on sustainable business practices at TPG. Janelle Austen, one of our employees working within the Group Physician Advisory Services department, helped start the movement and is joined by seven other sustainability-minded individuals from departments across the organization. Through various trainings and initiatives, the Green Team seeks to encourage a Triple Bottom Line philosophy at TPG which focuses on the social, financial, and environmental impact of an organization.
Simply said, our program has been a success and that is in large part due to the support from leadership and TPG employees. However, the details are in the fine print – especially concerning the insurance industry, thus I’ve highlighted a few opportunities we championed this year, and will conclude with an outlook for 2018 and beyond.
- Certifications and Awards: TPG’s Centerpointe Office is located in Clackamas County while TPG’s Headquarters Office is located in Washington County. Both counties offer opportunities for organizations to be recognized for achievements in reducing waste, conserving resources, promoting a healthy workplace environment and helping to build a vibrant community. To receive gold status for both the Leaders in Sustainability (Clackamas County) & the Green Business Award (Washington County) certification programs, TPG was required to meet over 50 sustainability actions, including actions targeting Policy & Employee Engagement; Water; Energy; Hazardous Material; Community Engagement and Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We were awarded both certifications at the Gold level! To receive these awards within a year is very rewarding as it reflects the commitment of TPG to support sustainability initiatives.
- Waste Sort: During November 2017, Washington County Solid Waste & Recycling (SWR) conducted an audit of The Partner’s Group’s waste stream at the HQ office. The goal of this waste audit was to better understand TPG’s waste streams and identify potential recycling and waste reduction opportunities. SWR sorted the waste into specific materials, grouped the specific materials into four overarching categories: curbside recycling, non-curbside recycling, food waste, and garbage. SWR provided a detailed summary of the sort as well as identified waste reduction opportunities and recommendations for further education.
- Policies for TPG Handbook: We revamped the TPG Sustainability Policy for the handbook and created additional policies to encourage sustainable business practices. Additional policies include a green purchasing policy, waste prevention/reduction policy and recycling policy. In addition, the Green Team crafted a Green Mission Statement to include on TPG’s website, which will be rolled out later this year.
- Joined the Corporate Sustainability Collaborate (CSC): We joined the CSC, which is a group of over 50 Portland & SW Washington organizations who meet quarterly to share best practices in sustainable business, create programs to engage employees in green business practices, and elevate sustainability and environmental ethics to the leadership level.
The Green Team has a plethora of ideas to improve our sustainability efforts. A few of the agenda items we have in store for 2018 are:
- Creating a 2018 Sustainability Report
- Completing a waste sort at our Centerpointe offices
- Organizing Earth Month activities, such as the Spring Beach Cleanup day in March
- Continuing TPG’s CSA program started in 2017
- Providing a quarterly Blog update on our progress and achievements
- Launching a Bellevue Green Team
Overall, it’s been a fantastic journey, one which we are proud to say has increased the awareness of sustainability efforts at our organization and reduced our overall impact on the environment.
We hope you join us in implementing the Triple Bottom Line philosophy and encourage all those interested to share their own stories, successes or failures, with our team. If you’d like more information, please email the Green Team at greenteam@thepartnersgroup.com.
Author:
Nathan Hungate
Commercial Insurance Account Executive The Partners Group
NHungate@thepartnersgroup.com
503.941.4347
Founded in 1981, The Partners Group has been serving the financial and insurance needs of employers and successful individuals for over 35 years. They are an independent consulting firm with services including employee benefits, retirement planning, investment services, commercial and individual insurance. While they have developed a national network and reputation, you can count on their local commitment and service, delivered through the hard work of over 140 teammates. The Partners Group has offices in Portland, OR; Lake Oswego, OR; Bellevue, WA; Bend, OR; and Bozeman, MT. For more information, please visit https://www.thepartnersgroup.com. 800-722-6339.
