ECSI Blog

One of the biggest obstacles organizations face when “going green” is where to start.  If not approached systematically the process can be frustrating and costly with  the end result not meeting the original objective.  Obtaining competent advice on where to begin will ensure that the end result (an effective EMS) will provide a good return on investment.

Some organizations are finding that over the years their EMS has become stale, ineffective,  and costly to operate. The typical reaction to this discovery is  “that ISO stuff is a waste of time and money”.  Unfortunately,  what they do not realize is that the failure of the EMS is largely due to misconception or misinformation of how to build and operate an effective EMS.

What is Enviro-Lean?

Enviro-Lean is based on the principals of continual improvement found in Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, and ISO. Enviro-Lean creates results and discourages non-value added bureaucracy.

Who can use Enviro-Lean?

The Enviro-Lean process can be used by any organization.  It is particularly well suited for small-to-medium sized businesses and government entities because these organizations are nimble and able to act quickly to take advantage of Enviro-Lean opportunities. Large organizations can also use Enviro-Lean to supplement in house Six-Sigma and lean processes to investigate and implement incremental performance improvements.

How long does it take to see results?

Enviro-Lean results are immediate.  The first step in the process assesses areas of potential risk and controls unacceptable risks to a tolerable level.  These could include risk from unplanned releases, regulatory non-compliance or other financial exposure.  The second Enviro-Lean step identifies improvement areas within the organization  where significant cost reduction could be achieved.  The Enviro-Lean process systematically investigates these areas, identifies feasible options with attractive ROIs,  and presents these to management for review and approval.  When implemented these improvements prevent pollution.

How much does it cost?

Enviro-Lean requires some investment of effort by an organizaiton but that investment pays for itself in a short period of time (usually 6 months or less).  Contact us for more information at envirolean@envcompsys.com

Organizations wanting to be prepared for the USEPA mandatory GHG Emission Inventory requirements coming this  November now have a source of information and assistance to guide their efforts.  Our role  as ANSI GHG Verification and Validation program Lead Auditors has given us unique insight into how USEPA and others will be operating GHG inventory and Cap and Trade programs.  Equipped with our unique insight we are now offering assistance to organizations for submission to the following GHG Inventory and Offset Trading programs:

• The Climate Registry (TCR), 
• The Climate Action Reserve (CAR), 
• The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)
• Midwest GHG Reduction (Cap and Trade) Accord
• Western Climate Initiative
• Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
• Voluntary Carbon Standard

 Call us for more information at 920-648-4134 or email us at ghgprograms@envcompsys.com

Dear Friends, 

I want to thank our loyal clients and customers who we have continued to assist through these difficult economic times.  I look forward to improved conditions when their investments pay off with a competitive advantage.  The slower-than-usual period has been used to carefully examine our service mix, how we market services,  and how we deliver them to our clients.  Environ-Lean^® and our GHG climate change programs discussed in this  issue are examples of additions and changes we have made. We are keenly aware of and focused on how our management system consulting, training, and auditing services integrate with emerging GHG and climate change national and international regulatory initiatives.

The good news is that despite the economy all of our associates are still with us and I was able to find the time to guide several sea kayak trips on Lakes Superior and Michigan this summer.  The trips are actually a lot of physical work for not much pay but it’s sort of like getting a paid vacation, which is something most small business owners don’t often experience.

 I hope you find the articles in this issue valuable and apologize for the rather large size (300 kb) of the file that gets delivered to your inbox.  We hope to make it smaller soon. As always please, provide your feedback on our blog www.envcompsys.com/blog or email us at kalehner@envcompsys.com

 Kevin A. Lehner, EMS-LA, CHMM
President
ECSI

Newsletter Format and Distribution

 Dear Friends & Colleges,

 After some internal debate around the virtual conference table here at ECSI we have decided to distribute our second newsletter the same way as the first.  We were considering using a email distribution company, either Constant Contact or My Emma but found that, although the content formatting was a bit easier to control and the size of the emails delivered to your inboxes was only 20 percent of the size of this email, some email programs excluded important content.  In addition there is a monthly fee for this service and we did not plan to use many of the behind the scenes features such as tracking who opens the email when and did they forward it to someone else. 

 At present we use a program called Microsoft Publisher to create the newsletter and then Jennifer and I email it out to each an every one of you, one at a time to prevent some of the negative consequences of batch emailing it.  So it is really a home cooking (slow cooking) sort of process that is done over several weeks.  It can be frustrating at times to have to focus so much attention on the process of the newsletter rather than the content but we are confident that as we learn more and grow the list of those wishing to receive it we will also find the right solution for delivery.

Send us any comments or questions you have about the newsletter content, format or delivery or post a comment on the ECSI blog. Have a great rest of the spring and expect the next letter later this summer.

Kevin A. Lehner, EMS-LA, CHMM
President
Environmental Compliance Systems, Inc.

Wendy Ward joins ECSI

Wendy joined the team in late April as an auditor, project manager and will be assisting with business development.  Wendy’s has a marketing degree from Marquette University.  Her most recent professional experience was with Veyance Technologies (Formerly Goodyear Engineered Products) as their Internal Audit Coordinator.  Veyance is registered to TS 16949, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.

 Mike Juszczak Joins ECSI

 Mike joined us in early May of this year as a Project Manager and Auditor.  Mike has an Industrial Engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin.  His past experience includes positions with American Packaging in Columbus, WI and Uniroyal, Stoughton, WI where he was a Production Superintendent and Safety Manager.  He has experience in environmental regulatory compliance including emission inventory, air permitting, hazardous waste, and wastewater management.  This experience will help us expand our ability to help our clients in the area of environmental and health and safety compliance and auditing.  Mike recently assisted us in an OHSAS 18001 internal audit for one of our clients.

Jennifer Miller Returns to the Audit Trail!

 As some of you know Jennifer Miller (Smith) gave birth to a baby girl in November 2008 resulting in a brief interruption in here ability to perform audits with us.  In April, Jennifer returned to what we auditors fondly refer to as “the audit trail”.  Last month Jennifer waded back into the water when she helped us with an ISO 9001:2008 internal audit we performed for one of our clients.  We are pleased to have her back as she manages the challenges of raising a family and being on the road to help our clients perform audits.