The Ideal Sustainability Advocate

Written by Emma Wightman, MSc - Content Specialist & Technical Writer, Triumvirate Environmental

In today’s fast-paced world, it may feel like you don’t have a voice when it comes to sustainability initiatives, whether you're a manager uncertain about executive buy-in, or a lab assistant unsure how to raise your concerns and ideas to those higher up.

We’re here to tell you that regardless of who you are—your title, rank, or tenure—you are the ideal candidate to be passionate about and make meaningful changes for operational sustainability. Not only that, but sustainability advocacy is a key leadership opportunity. Those who take on this role will be the ones leading the charge, proving daily their commitment to bettering operations and the environment alike.

Everyone across an organization has the power to be a sustainability leader and make a tangible operational and environmental difference—it takes just one or a few people to step forward in order to make widespread and important environmental improvements. We will break this down by rank and tenure below.

Sustainability Champions in Various Roles

Novice/Lab Staff: In your first few years or months at a new position, you may not feel like you can speak up about making widespread changes. Often, people just beginning their careers don’t feel they can mess with “the way things have always been done.” This is a myth, however—newer staff come to positions with heaps of varied real-world experiences, making them the perfect candidates to help innovate.

Lab staff are the boots-on-the-ground workforce that gets things done—and see what works and what doesn’t on a daily basis. They are the teams that will actually have to implement any proposed changes, and thus should be respected for their willingness to change the game. These team members can, among others:

• Perform waste audits to help identify opportunities for improving waste stream management
• Become a My Green Lab Ambassador to gain foundational knowledge of lab sustainability
• Identify operational gaps
• Brainstorm and research sustainability solutions and certifications
• Implement decided-upon initiatives
• Track metrics
• Report on successes

Additionally, for those who want to become lab sustainability experts, the My Green Lab Accredited Professional program offers six modules on Waste, Procurement, Water, Energy, Green Chemistry, and Engagement.

As a newer team member, don’t hesitate to bring data-backed ideas to meetings and open up new conversations.

Mid-tenure/Frontline Managers: Often, mid-tenure employees can become immersed in the routine demands of daily work life. Be it processes they’ve been doing repeatedly for years or challenges to funding and protocols, it can feel like meaningful change hasn’t happened—so it never will. Folks in this position tend to be powerhouses of collaboration, however; they have seen what has worked and what hasn’t worked for years, but still have the spark and passion for the job they did when they were new.
Frontline and operations managers condense broad executive orders into actionable steps for their teams. Without this vital switchboard, some executive orders would fall flat—or lab staff initiatives might never reach executive ears. These team members are ideal for helping brainstorm new sustainability initiatives, as well as thinking about how logistically they would fit into operations. Mid-tenure employees can also, among others:

• Allocate resources and budgets
• Manage sustainability program implementation
• Establish key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Analyze metrics and collected data
• Evaluate the practicality of best practices so as not to sacrifice research integrity

These team members can use green procurement guidelines, sustainability partners, and tracking/reporting/resource-sharing platforms to accomplish their goals.

As an organization, empower these employees to digest their teams’ struggles and turn them into an actionable plan. As a manager, don’t hesitate to speak up when you have an idea that will make everyone’s lives easier, based on your observations.

Late-term/Executive Team: People who have been around for years have seen it all—successes, failures, and everything in between. People at this stage can be a great sounding board for which sustainability initiatives can be filtered through, making decisions and creating actionable plans to distill to the whole organization.

If this describes you, don’t be afraid to wield your decision-making power over the organization—and leverage your experience with communication and plan implementation to ensure it works for all involved. On top of this, these team members can, among others:

• Help establish and approve KPIs
• Allocate large-scale budgets
• Communicate expected or ongoing changes, company-wide
• Brainstorm and research sustainability solutions
• Make decisions using collected data

Executives and late-term employees can use carbon calculators, green procurement guidelines, and internally collected sustainability program data to reach their goals.

As an organization, be flexible and prepared to pivot as these ideas change and grow.

Collaboration Is Key

The key to all of this is collaboration—it will take people of all tenures and roles to succeed in implementing sustainability initiatives. Sustainability isn’t the responsibility of just one person or department—it’s a collective effort that requires the engagement of every role across an organization. From the enthusiasm of new lab staff to the strategic oversight of executives, everyone has the power to drive meaningful environmental change. By fostering a culture of open communication, innovation, and collaboration, organizations can create a thriving environment where sustainable practices are not just encouraged but actively implemented and celebrated.

No matter your position, tenure, or experience, your voice and actions are valuable. Together, we can build a more sustainable future for laboratories, one initiative at a time. When we unite our expertise, insights, and passion, we not only make our labs greener but also contribute to a larger movement toward global sustainability. So, take the first step—no matter how small—and become a champion for sustainability in your lab today.
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To get started with lab sustainability, visit Triumvirate Environmental’s Lab Sustainability page to see how this dedicated partner can help you reach your full potential—no matter who you are.