2nd September 2016

About us

Done well, sustainability will add value to your organisation by helping you win more work, achieve your aspirations and support long term profitability. What are you waiting for?

Performance driven sustainability.

The word ‘Totem’ is “used broadly for any thing or person having particular emblematic or symbolic importance.” (Merriam-Webster, 2015)

Totem Sustainability aims to symbolise the pinnacle of sustainable business by being a name organisations can trust to deliver the best sustainability products and services. We will always look for new ways to help organisation minimise their impact with a performance led philosophy that focusses on substance over style, while developing user friendly and visually attractive products.

Clients and customers are increasingly looking at what a company is doing to reduce their impact on the planet. One of the best ways to do this is through reporting, recording your impact and trying to reduce it. Totem Sustainability builds reporting into our management system products to make analysis and reporting much easier, allowing you to communicate your achievements quickly and effectively. Furthermore, all our products support a "triple bottom line" sustainability philosophy, considering people, planet and profit to ensure effective, impactful and long lasting initiatives to drive your business sustainability forward.

Our approach to the Triple Bottom Line

People

People looks at training, awareness, health and well being. If your people buy into your your vision and your sustainability strategy they are more likely to help you achieve your aspirations by being more productive, innovating and spontaneously promoting your organisation. Healthy and valued employees, those who feel a sense of purpose, are more likely to be happy employees. Happy employees are productive employees. If you look after your employees they will look after your customers.

“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough, so they don’t want to” Richard Branson, 2014.

Planet

Planet looks at an organisations impact on the environment. The three usual focusses are energy, water and waste, but these can be expanded into areas including (but not limited to) pollution, emissions, ecology and biodiversity, land use, responsible sourcing and materials, and air quality.

Most organisations start with energy, water and waste because they usually have some data which they can begin analysing and reporting, and these commonly have the most economic impact too. There are also simple changes most organisations can make around material use and sourcing which can have a big impact. We can help you plan what you should focus on, how to monitor and report on your progress, and then communicate your achievements to your customers, giving you a competitive advantage while reducing your impact.

Profit

Profit is probably the best understood element of the triple bottom line, for the simple reason that if an organisation is not profitable (or at least economically responsible for not-for-profit organisations) then it is inherently unsustainable because it cannot continue to exist. If it doesn't exist then it cannot have any sort of impact on people or planet, positive or negative. We ensure that the economic impact is holistically considered at all stages of your sustainability journey to track a path to sustainability while contributing to the long term economic sustainability or your organisation.