Improve Your Personal ESG Score By Composting Three Daily Habits

Walk the Talk. Be the Change. Seize the Day. How on Earth do we do that?

Ethical investing in companies and organizations with high Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) scores has been in vogue for about a quarter of a century. Data analytics, routine screening, assessment, and reporting for ESG impact reached a zenith of popularity in the early 2020s, with a surfeit of ESG specialization training and consulting, certifications, and software programs dominating the field. Assessing the positive or negative impact a company has on people and the planet had become a high-stakes investment proposition for Millennials and Gen Zers. Trillions of dollars transferred to Gen Zers caused an upsurge in demand for high ESG scores populating investment portfolios, but more recently, the tide is shifting. Gen Z is beginning to lose faith, according to a McKinsey & Company study.

If Gen Zers are beginning to lose interest in ESG purchasing due to inflation - i.e., they just can't afford to make socially and environmentally conscious choices - there are other reasons, too. A seething skepticism arising from the bowels of disgust with complicit corporate and government corruption, a lack of trust in their buying power to effect immediate change, and a surge in current financial and geopolitical instability means Gen Zers are beginning to take matters into their own hands. Purchase power and investing is one way, but personal commitment and effective networking to effect change based on ESG values is another. Personal ESG awareness and practice is on the rise, creating a grassroots surge of resistance in a financial and political matrix of antipathy.

How can we assess our personal ESG commitment and calculate our personal ESG score? Applying ESG principles in our close encounter with everyday life might be something we do already. If it doesn't involve a systematic assessment, we might have a cursory awareness and commitment. We might recycle or turn off lights when we're not in the room. We might teach our kids to conserve water. Our complex ethical matrix at home can be examined further to help us apply ESG principles, and we can even look at ESG impacts in our relationships and habits. Personal ESG assessment consists of attention to three general areas, and the issues may include some of these:

Environmental: Energy - Consumption and Efficiency; Carbon Footprint; Sources of Renewable Energy; Water - Consumption and Efficiency, Pollution; Waste - Composting and Recycling; Practical Needs and Consumables - Consumption and Waste; Sustainable Land Care - Biodiversity, Deforestation, Regenerative Farming, Sustainable Gardening, Use of Pesticides/Herbicides; Air Pollution - Smoking, Fuel Exhaust, Aerosols, Noise; Creature-Care - Adoption, Protection, Wildlife Habitat, Humane Treatment/Experimentation; Eco-Justice (Rights of Nature)

Social: Human Rights; Environmental Justice; Health and Safety; Wellness; JEDI Initiatives for Inclusion and Access; BIPOC & IPLCs; Volunteering and Philanthropy; Grassroots Civic Engagement; Homeless and Mental Health Needs; Hospitality and Learning; Special Needs Care and Access; Special Education; Early Childhood and Elder Care; Spiritual/Religious and Cultural Organizations Devoted to the Common Good; Arts & Culture - Access, Learning, and Celebrations

Governance: Family and Community Governance; Service-Leadership; Personal, Family, and Community Finances; Ethics for the Wider "We" of Family and Community; Transparency and Inclusivity in Leadership; Assessing, Reviewing Policies and Practices that Affect the Good of the Whole; Managing Risk and Mitigating Damage to the Wider "We"

We may know the general areas of ESG concerns, but how can we assess whether our values align with our practices? Quantifying and rating is what I help organizations and businesses do, and ESG scores are often tied to the editorial biases of the software programs they use, and the ideologies embedded in their ethical matrix. How do we uncover our own "rating system" and ethical matrix? It doesn't have to be complicated, but it does take practice.

We can practice an "Examination of Consciousness" to foster awareness of the ways we spend our valuable resources - e.g., our time, energy, and money - and whether and how they align with our ethical values and ESG principles. I like to focus on this process annually, usually by making a private retreat, but it can also be done on a daily basis, either in the morning or the evening, looking back at the day.

It starts with gratitude, a posture of humility, and non-judgmental awareness. We might set our intention as one of leaning forward into our best potential self, and to foster learning and graciousness toward ourselves and our significant circle of family and friends. We're all valuable, immeasurably unique and irreplaceable! We're loved.

We look at movements of consolation (what gave us life and energy) and desolation (what pulled us off-course, away from our mission). What do we find? What we might find as we look at three general areas, Environmental, Social, and Governance, is that we have to do some deeper digging, some questioning, and some reaching out for resources to help us learn more. Responsible investments in Nature, relationships, and leadership take time. We might also find that we make some assumptions that lead to mistakes. Course-correction is not only okay, but necessary. That's where composting comes in, and it might feel messy at times, but it really pays dividends for new growth, new life.

If there are three things we might compost among our daily habits to catalyze our overall commitment to ESG, perhaps consider these:

1) Lead with Curiosity and Compassion, not triumphalism or the need to dominate, preserve tradition at all costs, or to always need to be "right." Practice patience and expansiveness, malleability and openness. The more we can reside comfortably - not complacently, but comfortably - in our own unknowing, the better equipped we are to be lifelong learners and nimble adapters. We'll be able to learn that what we don't know is a healthy portal to growth. It is a potent opening to something new, something unknown, and it could be salvific not just for us, but all our SOIs. Conversely, doing what we've always done or thinking as we've always thought could be harmful to the environment, others, and ourselves. Learning is key.

2) Practice Healthy Bodily Energy Awareness and Engagement. Knowing our own Energy, how it morphs, how it affects others and our environment is endemic to healthy daily interaction and practice. Tai chi/qigong, centering, mindfulness, meditation, prayer, and other embodied energy work connects us with Chi, or Energy itself. The reservoirs of Earth's energy are vast and regenerative if we pay attention, discipline our minds and bodies, and become conversant with its courses and rhythms. Nature immersion also has physical, psychological, relational and spiritual benefits. Exploring and fostering healthy relationships with Nature, food sources, cherished friends and family, and creature-kin can yield high returns on investment.

3) Eliminate Excess and Waste. Mindfulness of "too much" is a skill lost on those with ubiquitous access to instant gratification and excess. Moderation is key. Just one example: food consumption and waste. Fast, processed food is a health, financial, environmental, and social hazard. Explore a fast burger's journey from animal to stomach. Learn and understand every step and ESG cost. Now, grow a veggie garden at home or in the community garden. Follow the journey from seed to harvest. Enjoy a beautiful, color-saturated salad or an aromatic veggie stew at home with your SO or kids or neighbors. Add fresh herbs and spices. Let it simmer. Take a bite. One small bite at a time. Breathe in the pungent aroma. Taste the flavor and texture of each bite. Note the feeling of fullness. Bask in the love and laughter around the table. Enjoy. Then stop eating. Compost the scraps. Savor the leftovers. A paradigm shift and a different approach to daily eating can raise your personal ESG score significantly.

Now, CONNECT. CONNECT. CONNECT. Invite others "home," either to your place of residence or to your mind and heart. Share these and other ESG practices. Let the SOI do its miraculous work of mycelial networking, where rooted connections allow us to communicate beneath the surface for vibrancy and resiliency.

What can grow now? What can grow better?

Composting these three habits can help raise our personal ESG scores and align our values with our daily practice. But it doesn't stop there. Once an "Examination of Consciousness" helps focus and crystallize areas where we need attention, it will become clear which practices will call us into greater awareness, learning, and growth.

Best of all, composting can begin today with a first, fierce step!