5) ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITING
Financial auditing, which originated in the late 1800s, is the
precise examination of the financial statements of a business.
It can be carried out internally, i.e. by employees of the
company concerned. However, the law requires that it is also
carried out externally, i.e. by a firm of professional auditors
who are not employees of the company being audited.
The financial audit assesses if finances are being managed
correctly, i.e. it is a check of the accounting controls within
an organisation. The audit thus plays an important role in
verifying if an organisation is profitable or not - important
information for those running the company. Such information is
commonly referred to as `the bottom line', i.e. the bottom line
of an income statement gives an amount of money which reflects
either a profit or loss.
The bottom line, however, does not reflect environmental
consequences (e.g. pollution) that may have been incurred in the
process of doing business, as these are often difficult to
measure in financial terms. The environmental audit is an attempt
to provide information on the environmental performance of a
company, and thus include environmental issues in the decision
making process.
REDUCING ENVIRONMENTAL AND FINANCIAL COSTS
Environmental auditing originated in the United States in the
1970s as a way of checking whether a company was complying with
a multitude of new environmental laws and regulations. More
recently, it is used as an extremely valuable tool for assessing
a company's environmental management systems, policy, and
equipment. It provides the company with recommendations on how
it can improve its environmental management practices, and reduce
the impact that a company is having on the environment. In
addition, improved environmental practices often save money in
the long run.
Environmental audits can be conducted internally by staff of the
business concerned, or independently by experts. Unlike financial
audits, there is currently no legal requirement for an external
audit.
WHO IS AUDITING
Environmental audits can happen at many different levels, for
example in commerce, industry, municipalities, and governments,
and on a less formal level, in households and schools. Within a
school, for example, an audit can focus on the classroom, the
school grounds, or the entire school. Whether an audit leads to
simple changes, such as a school adopting a recycling programme,
or more complex changes, such as a supermarket chain introducing
energy saving practices, the cumulative effect will benefit all
of us.
PLANNING AN AUDIT
An audit cannot be designed as a ready-made package to suit all
circumstances. This framework will help you in researching and
developing an audit to suit your particular needs.
* Identify the situation, or place, in which you will audit,
e.g. the school grounds, the home kitchen, the office.
* Select the area/s or issue/s that you will audit, e.g. waste
management, energy, water or biodiversity (see table below). *
Identify key questions to focus your investigation within each
issue, e.g. how do we attempt to reduce and reuse products, and
recycle waste?
* For each key question identify additional questions to
investigate the issue in more detail. The Enviro Facts listed
below will provide background information to help you identify
appropriate and meaningful questions. In developing these
questions it is useful to consider the impacts of using a
resource in your particular situation, and both before, and after
your situation, for example:
1. How much paper is used in the school?
2. What are the environmental effects of afforestation and paper
mills?
3. What are the environmental effects of the waste paper?
* Work out remedial action, i.e. what can you do to improve the
way in which resources are used.
Issue: WASTE
Question: How do we attempt to reduce and reuse products, and
recycle waste?
Additional questions: Organic material, glass, paper and card,
plastic, metals, liquids (e.g. toxic wastes, oil).
Enviro Facts to assist: War on waste; Pollution; Marine
pollution; Toxic waste
Issue: ENERGY
Question: How do we attempt to reduce the amount of energy used?
Additional questions: Heaters, lights, geysers, stoves,
transport.
Enviro Facts to assist: Global warming; Energy options; Energy
and the environment; Deforestation; Desertification
Issue: WATER
Question: How do we attempt to reduce the amount of water used?
How do we manage rivers, wetlands or dams on the property?
Additional questions: Hostel, kitchen, bathrooms, school grounds
or gardens. Pollution, riparian vegetation, erosion.
Enviro Facts to assist: Precious water; Wetlands; River
catchments; Estuaries; Marine pollution
Issue: BIODIVERSITY
Question: How do we attempt to increase biodiversity in the
grounds and buildings?
Additional questions: Poisons used to kill pests, the variety of
habitats in the school grounds, encouraging animals to come into
the grounds, use of indigenous plants.
Enviro Facts to assist: Biodiversity; Biodiversity in South
Africa; Gardening for wildlife; Permaculture; Poisons in the home
and garden; Soil; Soil erosion; Plant a tree today; Indigenous,
alien and invasive; Traditional medicine
HELPFUL GUIDELINES
Get support! Best results are achieved when the audit has wide
support, and the changes it recommends are backed by everyone
involved. Get permission for the audit from the relevant
authorities; involve as many people as possible and share the
results of the audit widely.
Don't be dismayed: Most answers to the questions will probably
be "No, we don't do this" or "No, we haven't, not yet" - the
purpose of auditing is to identify where improvements can occur,
not to pass or fail the institution concerned! If a great deal
of work needs to be done, don't be daunted. Everything cannot
change overnight, and change must be manageable, so pace
yourself. The audit may lead to a two month, six month, one year
or five year plan.
ACTION AFTER THE AUDIT
To be successful the audit must lead to remedial action. A guide
for action might be an environmental charter, such as this one
drawn up by a school:
At all times, the pupils, staff and friends of Stoffelstroom School will try to:
* teach everyone about the importance of caring for the
environment;
* keep the school and grounds clear of litter;
* save energy by switching off unwanted lights and heaters, and
keeping doors and windows closed;
* recycle as much as possible, and use products with a recycled
content;
* develop and improve the school grounds and plant more trees;
* keep the school a non-smoking zone.
DID YOU KNOW?
* These guidelines can easily be adapted for running an audit
in your home, school, office, sports club or community centre.
* The audit process is also useful for environmental education
curriculum development (see "Further Reading" below).
FURTHER READING
ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT: TOWARDS A SCHOOL POLICY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL
EDUCATION.
K. Baczala. NAEE, England, 1992. Available from Share-Net,
address below.
ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITY INVENTORY FOR SCHOOLS.
C. McNerney and K. Wheeler. Available from Share-Net, address
below.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND AUDITING: GUIDELINES FOR SOUTH
AFRICAN MANAGERS.
D. Soutter and D. Mohr. WWF-SA, 1991.
All books are available from Russel Friedman Books, PO Box 73,
Halfway House, 1685. Tel. 011-702 2300/1.
ENVIRO FACTS "ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS", "INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL
MANAGEMENT" AND "SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT".
USEFUL CONTACTS
Share-Net.
PO Box 394, Howick, 3290. Tel. 0332-303931.
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