Sustainability Commitment

It's the right thing to do.

SWCA is rooted in sustainability. Long before words like "green, eco-conscious, and environmentally friendly" became part of everyday language, we were helping clients effectively manage environmental resources and minimize environmental impacts. To us, sustainability is not a new catch phrase or marketing ploy. It's the way we practice business and have done so for nearly three decades. We are committed to business practices that help reduce our impacts on the environment as reflected in our sustainability vision statement:

“SWCA believes that achieving a sustainable balance between humanity’s social, economic, and environmental needs is essential in providing a healthy planet for future generations. We believe our sustainability actions will create a stronger company and will help ensure a prosperous future for our employees and clients and the communities we live in. We will be innovative and proactive leaders in sustainable business practices, and we will promote such practices by serving as a positive example for others.”

Company Commitment
Our ongoing company commitment to sustainability is demonstrated by

• Our work helping others implement sustainability practices
• Our dedication to good corporate citizenship, because it is important to our staff, our communities and our world,and because it includes creating a clean and sustainable environment for our future generations.

SWCA has made a strong commitment to reducing the environmental impacts of our services and business operations. As part of this commitment we have developed a structured Sustainability Program which includes specific actions and goals to reduce our environmental footprint.

As part of our program, we established a Sustainability Group that comprises employee representatives from our offices and corporate departments to provide a forum for exchanging ideas and practices and to provide recommendations for company-wide actions and standards.

Download Our 2010 Sustainability Report

Download Our 2009 Sustainability Report

Our Sustainability Plan
SWCA has also developed a detailed Sustainability Plan which includes the following four key environmental sustainability initiatives:

1. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and become a carbon-neutral company.
2. Reduce impacts on our natural resources, and achieve zero waste status.
3. Contribute to our communities in a positive and meaningful way.
4. Embed sustainability as a key value in our company culture.

SWCA is a founding member of the The Climate Registry, an organization which has rigorous standards for measuring and reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Since 2007 SWCA has completed a companywide carbon inventory and developed an annual GHG emissions report. SWCA received a successful third party Climate Registry verification of our 2008 GHG Inventory which will be used to measure future progress in reducing emissions.