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Workshops teach organizations about 'Going Green'
Businesses and other organizations in West Virginia can learn more about "Going Green," sustainability and other ways to improve their environmental performance during two identical, two-day Sustainability 101 and Environmental Management System workshops at the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's Charleston headquarters.
The workshops, scheduled June 7-8 and June 9-10, are sponsored by the DEP, the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable and Bridgemont Community and Technical College.
The first part of each two-day workshop will introduce Sustainability 101 and the concept of sustainability as it relates to everyday life. It will provide an understanding of the economic, social and environmental impacts of humans on the planet and how the "Nine Opportunities for Sustainability" can be used as potential solutions to those impacts.
"Sustainability 101 is designed to challenge people to think 'Green' in their communities, personal lives and daily business activities with the goals of using resources more efficiently, creating a safer work environment and reducing the amount of materials added to the waste stream," said Matt Earnest, executive director of the Office of Workforce Development at Bridgemont Community and Technical College.
The remainder of each workshop will focus on an Environmental Management System, a framework that helps an organization achieve its environmental goals through control of its operations and environmental impacts. This control will help them improve environmental performance, according to Greg Adolfson, DEP sustainability officer.
"The EMS itself does not dictate a level of environmental performance that must be achieved; each organization's EMS is tailored to their operation and goals," Adolfson said.
The workshops will be directed and instructed by Adolfson, Earnest, and Jeffrey Burke, executive director of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable.
"Managing environmental impacts is really a sensible, yet progressive way to do business," said DEP Cabinet Secretary Randy C. Huffman. "There is an increasing demand both domestically and internationally for organizations to adopt sustainability concepts and Environmental Management Systems into existing practices."
Burke said, "These workshops will put West Virginia organizations on the pathway to accelerating their environmental performance. Participants will actively learn the benefits of sustainability concepts and Environmental Management Systems."
Registration is free and the deadline is Friday, May 28. To register, go to: http://apps.dep.wv.gov/pio/registration/registration.cfm.
For more information contact Adolfson at (866) 568-6649, ext. 1332, or gregory.e.adolfson@wv.gov.