ESG / Sustainability

EcoVadis is a well-known assessment and rating service that issues scorecards for business sustainability efforts. Since their founding in 2007, Ecovadis has rated over 90,000 companies including, recently, SWCA. The process was instructive, and we are pleased to announce that we scored in the 78th percentile and were awarded a Silver Medal.

Our score illustrates the robust sustainability foundation that has been developed over the past decade and most recently with the Environmental Sustainability Committee and Green Team Network, and we are eager to continue to improve our policies, actions, and reporting to bring home the gold!

As more companies work to decrease their carbon footprint, many are finding that reducing or eliminating single-use plastics can be an important part of an “all-of-the-above” approach to sustainability. SWCA decided to eliminate single-use plastic cups, plates, utensils, and disposable water bottles in all our offices nationwide, which was a key step in reducing our consumption of nonrenewable resources. If your company is navigating its own sustainability path, we’d like to share a few key takeaways, valuable lessons, and tips for success we learned through our own process of reducing single-use plastics.

SWCA’s Green Team Network connects employees who serve as champions of environmental sustainability at the office level. Working in conjunction with our Environmental Sustainability Committee, the Green Team promotes changes in each office through education, engagement, and implementation of corporate initiatives. 

Lauren Strong, an associate project biologist and the Green Team representative out of our San Diego, California office, allows her passion for the environment to shine through her work – in the field and representing the Green Team

SWCA has been working with West Bay Sanitary District since 2020 to design and permit a living shoreline that will protect critical wastewater infrastructure in San Francisco Bay. SWCA’s environmental engineers designed an ecotone levee that will allow existing marsh habitat to migrate upslope with sea-level rise, reducing the impacts that sea-level rise will have on the infrastructure.

SWCA performed environmental clearance services for the Rebuild Florida Program to assist the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This voluntary buyout is part of a disaster recovery program to reduce risk to Bay County residents after Hurricane Michael impacted the area in 2018.

Shaped by rivers, sounds, and the Atlantic Ocean, the coastal regions of North Carolina offer thousands of miles of scenic waterfront. Yet, due to the increasing impacts of climate change, these very waterways threaten the livelihood of a coastline dotted with historic towns and millions of residents. North Carolina launched its Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) in 2021 as a framework for counties and municipalities to prepare for coastal hazards through technical and financial support. 

SWCA is pleased to share that as of 2022, 100% of offices across the country are replacing disposable water bottles, plastic cups, plates, utensils, and other single-use plastic items for office use with environmentally friendly alternatives. This is an important step forward in SWCA’s sustainability goals and further reduces the company’s consumption of nonrenewable resources.

Collectively, the world is awakening to the need for sustainability and social justice, and SWCA Environmental Consultants is making significant strides in these arenas. As SWCA has experienced significant growth and geographic expansion in recent years, we have also expanded our commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) best practices.

SWCA worked with Santa Fe County Fire Department to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The SWCA Team developed an interactive Story Map to increase engagement with the Santa Fe County public during the COVID-19 Pandemic.