Green Teams are dedicated
groups of employees,
regardless of discipline
or organizational
level, which facilitate
the pragmatic implementation
of sustainable operations
principles on their
unit. Green teams
range from the informal
– a few employees
working together to
increase recycling
opportunities for
themselves and their
community, to the
formal – a group
specifically chartered
by leadership to promote
and foster sustainable
operations that reduce
a unit’s environmental
footprint. Successful
green teams are very
“Place-based,”
that is the issues
they choose to work
on are meaningful
to their specific
community and geographic
location. What is
sustainable in one
location may be very
different then in
another location because
the natural resources,
culture and economic
situations are all
different. While many
green teams begin
as an internal effort,
often they grow to
include members of
the local community
or other state, federal,
or local agencies
so that sustainable
operations efforts
can become successful
on a larger more community
or ecosystem connected
basis.
Most place-based green
teams choose to work
across many environmental
footprint areas (water
conservation, energy
conservation/renewable
energy, waste prevention/recycling,
green purchasing,
fleet/transportation,
sustainable leadership).
However, some green
teams have been created
with membership across
geographic units to
specifically to foster
dialog about the sustainable
operations opportunities
within a particular
topic area such as
recreation or energy
management.
USDA’s Forest
Service has been a
leader in this area.
Below is a current
list of USDA Green
Teams (which is constantly
growing):
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