Program on the Environment

Despite more companies feeling the pressure to commit to sustainability policies based on government, activist, and shareholder voices, the role of broader employees in shaping these sustainability practices remains minimally studied. However, employee-led sustainability approaches may aid in strengthening organizational engagement, ensuring long-lasting adoption, and increasing employee retention/recruitment. Due to this array of potential advantages, my study sought to investigate the factors that contribute to the origins of corporate sustainability practices (top-down vs bottom-up strategies). These lessons could then be utilized when approaching the implementation of my host organization’s Reuse Seattle program. While interning with Seattle Public Utilities’ Reuse Seattle team, I interviewed and surveyed corporate sector employees about their experiences with sustainability to help answer my research questions. The interviews focused on the perspectives of senior-level corporate sustainability leadership while the surveys targeted entry/intermediate-level employees. Although my research showed that there are opportunities for both top-down and bottom-up approaches, they may be utilized for different purposes. My research and literature review also uncovered that work culture (as displayed through organizational support and co-worker relationships) and communication/education (as influencing employee perceptions of sustainability) can contribute to how workplace sustainability practices are initiated and engaged with by employees. Bridging organizational sustainability through effective communication/education and a more supportive work culture could be crucial for successfully implementing sustainability practices, like Reuse Seattle. As this occurs, workplace sustainability norms may shift and lead to the corporate sector scaling up its goals.