1. Designed to be a ‘bottom-up’ mechanism to get ideas and best practice from the people who are closest to the activity, green teams can act like local heroes and motivate their department’s staff
2. A green team will show clients and employees that a company is serious about taking steps to protect the environ-ment, so recruit well
3. A company needs to invest time and ideas, and the green team must have a clear statement of aims and how it will progress
4. Set-up does not need to involve costs. However, a reasonable level of time investment is necessary to ensure progress
5. Make sure you get staff on side. By using peers rather than management figures, employees will feel more confident to approach colleagues with ideas. Those on the ground will also be armed with the knowledge of what practices can be implemented efficiently on site
6. Measurement is key, so you need to make sure you have a starting figure so you can see improvement. The BPIF CO2 calculator is due for release in the autumn and should provide companies in the sector with more accurate emissions measurements
7. The Carbon Trust offers advice at www.carbontrust.co.uk. This website helps a company calculate its emissions, allowing success to be measured more accurately
8. Remember, behaviour change takes time, but, hopefully, people will take good practice home

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