Business Sustainability Template
This template empowers organizations to systematically assess and monitor sustainability practices across all key operational areas. Use it to track implementation progress, ensure consistent adherence to environmental standards, and pinpoint areas for continuous improvement. Inspired by the City of Melbourne's Sustainable Business Framework, this comprehensive tool covers energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, sustainable travel, procurement, and food service practices.
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How to Use This Checklist
- Complete the site details first — who conducted the check, who prepared it, and where it took place. These fields anchor the record to a specific visit.
- Walking a live site is usually quicker and more accurate than reviewing documents from a desk. Work through the areas you can actually see first — lighting and equipment left running, thermostat settings and door seals, dripping taps and worn fixtures, the contents of bins and the single-use items in use, cycle parking and end-of-trip facilities — and record what you observe.
- Work through the checklist from top to bottom, section by section. Answer each item as Compliant, Non-Compliant, or Not Applicable. If a requirement genuinely does not apply to your premises or your operations, mark it as such and add a short note explaining why, so the exemption is not mistaken for a missed item later.
- Allow some items to run alongside the on-site visit. Checking water and energy bills, procurement contracts, and appliance ratings takes time, so note who is gathering that evidence rather than rushing the answer.
- Repeat the checklist at regular intervals. Several items only make sense as periodic checks — reviewing energy usage and renewable energy purchasing, watching for unexplained changes in water consumption, auditing waste streams, and measuring whether waste has actually reduced.
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What this checklist is for
This checklist describes a structured sustainability review of a business or site, covering the operational areas where day-to-day choices have environmental consequences: energy, water, waste, travel and commuting, procurement, and food and beverage service. It is designed to be worked through as a whole, so that you build a single picture of how your organisation currently performs rather than a set of disconnected observations. The template is inspired by the City of Melbourne's Sustainable Business Framework. It is arranged as a series of action plans, one for each area, plus a review section at the end. Working through it produces a record you can return to and compare against later, which is what turns a one-off audit into a monitoring routine.
Why it matters
Most sustainability progress is made through many small operational decisions rather than one large project. Equipment left running overnight, dripping taps, waste streams with no recycling option, single-use items with no alternative on hand, and procurement decisions made without a stated standard all add up, and none of them are visible from a management dashboard. A checklist makes those items visible and gives you somewhere to record what you found. It also asks you to fix a baseline — the standard you expect on new purchases, the rating a new appliance must meet, the share of certified or locally sourced products in your supply chain — so that improvement can be measured against something. The waste reduction item at the end of the review asks for results in both financial value and material weight in kilograms, which keeps the exercise tied to real outcomes rather than intentions.
Energy efficiency
The energy section starts with immediate operational practice and moves towards larger investments. At the simplest level, it asks you to verify that lighting, appliances, and equipment are switched off when not in active use, and to provide signage and staff education on power-saving practices. It then asks you to investigate automatic shut-off systems, where switching off reliably is a matter of equipment rather than memory. A second thread covers the building itself: checking thermostat settings, weather seals, and insulation, assessing the building envelope for gaps and uncontrolled air movement, and establishing whether that leakage is undermining the heating and cooling system. Corrective measures and door-closure protocols belong here. A third thread concerns what you buy. Review the energy efficiency ratings of existing appliances and equipment, and evaluate upcoming procurement needs so that efficient alternatives are chosen before the purchase is made. To these, the checklist adds renewable energy: review energy bills and procurement contracts to establish how much renewable energy you currently use, transition to certified green energy purchasing where feasible, and evaluate whether on-site solar generation is viable.
Water conservation
Water is treated in this checklist as something to monitor as well as maintain. On one side are physical checks: inspect taps, fixtures, and water-using appliances for leaks and deterioration, and repair dripping taps and leaking appliances promptly. The template notes that an unexplained increase in a water bill may be a sign of an undetected leak, so establishing a consumption monitoring programme is the companion to the physical inspection. On the other side are standards and purchasing. The checklist asks you to familiarise yourself with water efficiency rating systems and relevant standards, assess current and future water equipment requirements, and commit to a minimum efficiency rating for all new equipment purchases and lease agreements. It also asks you to assess your organisation's overall water needs, research water-saving solutions on the market, and engage suppliers who can offer tailored conservation options. A final item sits outside the building: locating nearby public water fountains and refill stations in proximity to your premises.
Waste management
The waste section begins with a hazard check. Identify whether chemicals or oils are used in your operations or events, provide training to staff and contractors on handling and managing them responsibly, and make sure appropriate disposal systems, procedures, and containment measures are in place and maintained. The main body of the section is a waste audit followed by action. You are asked to conduct a comprehensive waste audit that identifies all waste streams generated by your operations, map and categorise those streams, and research viable recycling options for each one. From there, take action to reduce waste at source: identify single-use disposable items used in the business, investigate sustainable alternatives, and put in place the infrastructure that supports bring-your-own container and utensil programmes. The checklist also asks you to look for ways to promote and incentivise reusable products and packaging, and to research waste management partnerships and circular economy collaborations available to you.
Travel and commuting
This section addresses travel in two directions: how staff and customers reach you, and how the business itself moves people and goods. On active travel, the checklist asks you to curate or identify walking and cycling route information, display it on your website and at key customer touchpoints, promote walking and cycling through social media, and trial incentive programmes for sustainable commuting. It then turns to whether the infrastructure actually supports it, asking you to assess existing facilities and provide secure cycle parking, changing facilities, and end-of-trip amenities. On vehicles, you assess organisational rental and fleet requirements, evaluate environmentally preferable and low-emission options, and set minimum fuel efficiency and green rating standards for all vehicle procurement and rentals. The section also asks you to analyse travel patterns to find unnecessary business travel, and to purchase verified carbon offsets for unavoidable travel where such options exist.
Sustainable procurement
Procurement is where sustainability requirements either become commitments or stay as good intentions. The checklist starts from what you already buy: identify product requirements and assess how much recycled content, reusability, or durability current purchases offer, then research better alternatives and analyse the cost difference. From that evidence, set a standard. The template asks you to establish minimum sustainability standards for procurement with an acceptable cost differential, giving an example of permitting up to a 10% premium for certified sustainable alternatives. Use the figure as an illustration of the approach rather than as a fixed threshold. The section then widens the scope to the supply chain: analyse procurement needs across all operational categories, identify local suppliers and locally sourced alternatives, and set minimum local content and sustainability standards. It also asks you to identify environmental and social certifications that match your organisation's values, and to develop a strategy for increasing the share of certified products over time. Finally, explore moving from ownership to leasing or equipment-as-a-service arrangements where that reduces the resources you consume.
Food and beverage
Food service sits within the same framework as the other sections: understand what your operation currently uses, find alternatives, and set a standard you can hold to. The lines of enquiry are the same ones that run through waste and procurement — single-use items associated with your operations, the alternatives available, and the infrastructure needed to support reuse — applied to the specific context of food and beverage service.
Reviewing results
The final section closes the loop. Quantify waste reduction achievements in both financial value and material weight in kilograms. Reporting the two together keeps the review honest: a drop in waste disposal cost means one thing if the volume of material went down with it, and something quite different if the saving came from a change in pricing. Use the review as the starting point for the next cycle. Items that came back non-compliant, standards you set but have not yet applied, and monitoring programmes that are not yet running are all candidates for the follow-up.
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