Answering an existential call for climate action

At 3M, we have a “15%” policy. You have your day job responsibilities, but you can donate 15% of your time to the things that excite you. So, I started a sustainability educational series and created a platform to showcase the sustainability work that was already happening. I helped create 3M’s own climate week – we had Jamie Beck Alexander [founder and former director of Drawdown Labs] come speak on the concept of “every job is a climate job.” That had a ripple effect for us here. It showed me that I don't have to wait for my team to tell me how to act upon sustainability; I can do it from my own chair. 

A: Your call to do more after becoming a mother, your persistence, and your leadership giving you the agency to take action – these are all the perfect ingredients for climate action! I especially love the company’s 15% policy. Too often climate advocates are stuck taking action as an “extracurricular” and can get burnt out.

I know you went on to help co-found a committee dedicated to helping make every 3M job a climate job. Can you tell me more about that?

L: We had a broader community, but started to think about how grassroots efforts could connect with the larger 3M sustainability goals. There were people across the globe that wanted to do more, and with a more direct connection with the corporate sustainability team, we could organize with their help. Project Drawdown’s Job Function Action Guides were really instrumental in getting us thinking about how to apply them to 3M’s own processes, our own ways of doing things, our own different functions. We wanted to put the guides into the context of our colleagues around the globe. We had people volunteering time in Asia, in India, in Europe, all divisions and all different business groups, engineers and marketers. We found that everybody wanted to do the right thing, they just didn’t have the how. So we came together and created five unique sustainability job guides: Marketing, Manufacturing, Sourcing, Customer Facing, and R&D Leadership. 

A: It’s so awesome to hear how the Project Drawdown action guides inspired you and your colleagues to create your own versions – I hope more people do so for their own companies! How have the 3M guides been received internally?

L: We started to talk to the HR department about the guides and the response we got was amazing. When we launched the guides, this is exactly what we wanted to head towards – charting a path into a future in which sustainability is truly at the core of everybody’s training. And now we have a direct endorsement from HR. During the launch event, the VP of the department was there and expressed full support of this work.

A: You had to work with so many different colleagues across time zones and functions to create the guides. What are your lessons being part of a group like that? How did you work effectively with everyone?

L: I learned a lot. I had a colleague in Germany so we were able to split up the teams into two different time zones. We were able to meet everybody where they are and be flexible. The other thing I learned from this was that I put so much into it, and I got so much more back. It’s been a hard year, and thinking and talking about climate can be daunting. And it’s only by the reflection of the people that were in the committee that I was able to stay actively hopeful, because I knew there were like-minded people doing their best. It was all of us coming together. Even if it was getting together for 30 minutes, we were able to find that community and give us extra excitement for our days.

A: I’m glad you mentioned the importance of community in doing climate work, because, like you said, it's very daunting! So, what are the next steps for the guides? How do you hope the work will evolve?

L: We had a lot of really positive feedback, and our next frontier is to continue working in the divisions in which each one of us sits and do more socialization and sharing of the guides, getting feedback. We’re also doing a pilot with VPs of R&D to figure out how to put sustainability at the forefront of the product commercialization and development process.

A: Do you have any advice for people who might want to start a group like the one at 3M? How can somebody start to rally up the other climate-passionate colleagues in their organization?

L: Just start talking about it, even if you don't feel like you have a quorum yet. Don't limit yourself with your own biases. Remove your own blinders, and you will be pleasantly surprised on how many people want to do the right thing. Sometimes, people just don't know where to start, and maybe your calling is to help them understand and show them how much power they have. 3M is not the walls or the buildings – 3M is their people. We're all part of this larger connective tissue that can accomplish so much.

A: And what about people who aren’t already passionate about sustainability? How do you get them onboard? 

L: We are all humans with so many complexities and layers. So being able to distill down climate change and act upon it, it’s hard. For you and I, and people that are in circles of sustainability, we don’t have this problem because it’s part of who we are, what makes us tick. But systemic change is going to need a lot more people to start seeing through the lens of where we’re coming from. We also need to not be afraid to have uncomfortable dialogue and debate. We might get into our own siloed thinking and sometimes we find ourselves in extremes. But the answer always lies somewhere in the middle. Even in the Committee, I recall a couple of tense discussions, but we were able to maintain our care for another and come out of it better than before.

A: Clearly you and your colleagues have done a lot of work to engage others on climate action. Why do you think it’s important to take climate action at work? 

L: For me, it was an existential calling to do more. When I look at the time that I spend awake, the majority of my time is here [at work]. There’s no way to separate the person you are at home and the person you are at work. And it’s about multiplying impact – we can compost, we can recycle, we can do so many things in our household, but the real impact is also bringing that persona to work. Bringing that persona to work can only lead to solutions, engagement, and innovation.

Laura would also like to thank her colleagues on the 3M Sustainability Council: Giovanna Longo, Sarah Luckow, Nina Panda, Caleb Brian, Rudi Aben, Joris Van de Velde, Malachi Heder, and Katlyn Echeverri.