Green industry members can now take part in a short self-assessment survey to see how their environmental practices measure up. Created by Landscape Ontario's Environmental Stewardship committee, the online survey was launched to the green industry on Earth Day, April 22, 2009.

The online scorecard has been created to help green industry members become better environmental stewards. Using it as a tool, companies can measure their impact on air quality, waste management, water stewardship, greening their offices and use of horticultural best practices within their own areas of practice (landscape design, maintenance, garden centre, snow and ice management, irrigation, etc.) Nursery growers are covered under their Environmental Farm Plans, so best practices for the nursery sector have not been included in the scorecard.

The survey is quick to use; it will take approximately 10 minutes to fill out, and will provide you with a snapshot of your company's environmental practices. After taking the survey, your comments are welcomed, and will be used to improve future versions of the green industry environmental scorecard.

To access the online survey, CLICK HERE.

Comments are welcomed to environment@landscapeontario.com.

Where do you stand?
Here are the average results for the environmental survey as of September 2010.  Compare your results to this list and see how your company rates.*

Average score for all responses:  69%

Average score based on various sectors:
    Contractors:  71%
    Designers:  69%
    Garden Centres:  68%
    Hydroseeders:  81%
    Irrigation:  69%
    Lawn Care:  69%
    Maintenance:  70%
    Plantscapes:  69%
    Lighting:  80%
    Snowplowing:  68%
    Tree Care:  69%
    Growers:  64%

* Note that this is a self-scoring survey and is not meant to define the environmental stewardship of each sector.  Please review these numbers with discretion, and understand that results may be skewed.  Some companies are part of more than one sector, and the total number of responses per sector varies significantly (for example there are many more responses from contractors than hydroseeders).