Ecomapping is a step-by-step process to gather useful information and to immediately trigger environmental action.
As 80% of environmental information is location-based, ecomaps of your shop floor are very useful. They show what is happening, and where, in terms of environmental protection.
Ecomapping is a toolbox and each of its 10 working steps lead into – and enriches the next one. The work is partly done in the office, but mainly on the shop floor…
Ecomapping is easy: it helps you to understand environmental problems, material flows, workers' opinions, and facts and figures.
10 steps of ecomapping:
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1
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Draw your urban ecomap and obtain your sector-specific ID
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2
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Check your material flows and make a rough evaluation of what is going in and out
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3
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Get workers' opinions and get them involved
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4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
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Ecomap your organisation
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10
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Integrate your data for reporting
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STEP 1.
Site in the city: the urban situation
Make a map of the site, seen from above, including car parks, access areas, roads and the surrounding environment. What is the big picture?
STEP 2.
What is going in and out?
Get an idea of your material flows and their very nature and this will help you to pay more attention later in the work to some aspects like storage, health risk and resource use.
STEP 3.
What do they think and how do they feel?
Workers are adults with experience, opinions and ideas. Get them involved with a 120-second audit. This will influence the way you do your assessment on the shopfloor.
STEPS 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Map out the site –
Observe and evaluate behaviour and equipment
The ecomaps should show the real situation - they should be simple, recognisable and in proportion. They should have a date, a name and a reference. You will have to integrate one or two significant objects which will enable you to orient yourself straight away in the site (e.g. machines, boilers, etc.). The Ecomapping tool provides an example that you can use as a template for your own maps.
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STEP 10.
Organise, manage and communicate
During the ecomapping process you will uncover information deficits but also decide on environmental steps and on actions to implement. Capture all this information and store it in the appropriate cases and files. The environmental indicators you will develop and the very lean reporting system will help you to keep you and your staff informed, and to dialogue with all other stakeholders like your customers or public administration.
You may want to take a moment now to download and review the
Ecomapping template before you move on to the next section.
