How to set environmental performance targets

Once your business begins to collect significant quantities of environmental data about its impact, you can easily become overwhelmed by the raw data itself.

Make sure you accurately record all the data you have collected, eg using a spreadsheet.

How to present your environmental analysis

When you need to present your data - eg in an annual report or when discussing key environmental performance indicators (KEPIs) - you may want to use a number of methods including:

• Bar charts - this type of graphical analysis is ideal if the data you have gathered has a baseline or mean that you can measure against. Bar charts are useful as they can give the reader a simple snapshot of a time period. The reader can also see instantly how the KEPI is operating in relation to the baseline.
• Trends - if your business is tracking a large amount of data that has a high degree of variation, showing the overall trend is more meaningful as it illustrates how your business is moving towards its goal. For example, you could use a line graph showing a moving three-month average. This involves plotting the mean of the three months before and including the present one - ie three, two, one; four, three, two; five, four, three; etc.
• Scatter graphs and linear regression - this is ideal if you want to show the relationship between two components of your business. With this type of graph, the various time periods of data collected are scattered about rather than ordered chronologically.

When you are choosing how to display your data, think carefully about how the end reader will interpret the results. Using a bar chart to show trends isn't usually helpful as this could show wild variations within your KEPIs from month to month, when in fact the reality is that your environmental reporting is showing a positive trend that is not properly displayed.