Going Green had the opportunity to sit down with Founder and CEO Josh Sprigge.
What is your occupation? Where do you work?
Founder and CEO of Sustridge Sustainability Consulting
Tell us a little bit about you and your background:
I am a sustainability practitioner, college professor, published author, and public speaker with nearly a decade of experience managing sustainability programs and initiatives for large organizations. In 2017, I was recognized as a top 50 environmental leader in the business sector receiving the Environmental Leader 50 award. My work has been featured in publications such as Forbes.com, The Guardian, The Huffington Post and Triple Pundit, and I have presented at numerous sustainability conferences and events around the world including:
United Nations COP21 Paris Climate Conference
Sustainable Brands Conference
Environmental Leader Conference
U.S. Zero Waste Business Council Conference
Ceres Conference
B Corp Champions Retreat
Climate Leadership Conference
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I hold a Master of Arts in Global Leadership and Sustainable Development, an MBA, accreditation as a TRUE Zero Waste Advisor and LEED Green Associate and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) certified training.
What is a fun fact about you?
I’m from Minnesota and I’m a sports nut. I played a year of semi professional football while in college.
What was your motivation to get into this industry?
My motivation to get into the industry was to help fight the battle against climate change.
Why do you think climate change and sustainability is such an important topic today?
We are on a path of irreversible damage and certain catastrophe if we do not operate or society in a sustainable way. There are also huge economic benefits to sustainability which I love making the case for to businesses: reduced operating costs, increased employee engagement, reduced risks, attracting new customers, marketing opportunities and more.
What do you envision your industry looking like 10 years from now?
I am a sustainability professional and I interview other sustainability professionals every week for my Sustainable Nation Podcast. I envision this field continuing to grow enormously as the demand for sustainability continues to grow in government and communities, business and higher education.
What can the average person do to make a difference?
A lot. Individual behavior changes are very important because when we all make small changes they add up to big changes. But more importantly, people can have a bigger impact my advocating for sustainability with their government officials and the businesses they support.
What positive changes are you seeing?
Every week I interview a sustainability leader for my podcast and I am overwhelmed by all the positive things happening in the world. Too much to describe. I would say that right now I am most excited about the ESG and sustainable investing movement. The CEO of BlackRock, which is the largest asset manager in the world and a client of mine, has said that within the next 5 years every single investor will assess a company’s sustainability commitment to determine it’s worth. That is extremely exciting to hear from the biggest asset manager in the world.
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