Many sustainability issues are complex and extend far beyond the boundaries of individual organizations and institutions. Despite this, it’s (understandably) common for organizations to attempt to solve problems on their own. My first-hand experience has shown me how much duplication of effort is created when organizations engage in separate, siloed efforts to improve sustainability.

To help accelerate sustainability progress, I currently offer two primary categories of services – bringing in support from other colleagues as needed – to help organizations collectively address sustainability issues.

Open-Sourced Sustainability Research

The best first step can often be gaining a deeper understanding of the systems in question to share with others. In my work with Google’s Consumer Hardware Sustainability team, a colleague and I brought together academic research and detailed consumer insights to help provide a better understanding of why consumers hold on to their electronics after they stop using them (instead of donating or recycling them, for example). This research led to a blog post and white paper published by Google, as well as a presentation at an academic conference. Through Google’s generosity, all data from the research is available to researchers for further study.

Cross-Organizational Collaboration

Bringing together multiple organizations to collaborate can frankly be tricky, but in my opinion is one of the best way to make progress on longer-term, large-scale sustainability issues. I, with colleagues, help groups build a structure to identify and address common, non-competitive sustainability issues. These longer-term efforts can avoid wasted duplication of efforts and expenditures when the organizations work together to build trust and a common vision.