Celebrating Earth Day Every Day at The Resource Group

By Tom Kalla

Tom Kalla

Senior Manager, Sustainability

At The Resource Group we are committed to fostering change and doing our part to have a positive environmental impact. This means we strive for sustainability not just today, but every day. We are proud to be a part of an organization that is publicly committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions and zero waste by 2040.

We recently asked Tom Kalla, Senior Manager, Sustainability, a few questions about The Resource Group's environmental sustainability goals and efforts. Continue reading to learn more about what we have accomplished in the past year, how we are continuing our efforts in the future, and what challenges we are working to overcome. 

Over the past year, what environmental initiatives or projects has The Resource Group been working on? What impact did these projects have? 

Throughout the past year, The Resource Group has continued to work towards reducing waste. This past year, we collaborated with two suppliers to reduce packaging waste and minimize the amount of cardboard needing to be recycled. One supplier consolidated shipments into fewer containers, using internal separation to keep items organized and easy to identify. Meanwhile, our medical-surgical distributor expanded a national reusable tote program to replace traditional cardboard boxes. Together, these efforts successfully avoided 20.4 tons of cardboard waste, demonstrating the impact of thoughtful supply chain partnerships and our commitment to reducing environmental waste across the system.

One of The Resource Group’s goals is to align our Request for Information (RFI) sustainability questions with The Climate Excellence Standard. By integrating these standards into our procurement processes, we aim to identify and showcase suppliers that meet the highest benchmarks for climate excellence. This initiative not only drives our sustainability objectives forward but also positions The Resource Group as a leader in promoting environmental stewardship and climate action within the supply chain. Through these efforts, we are committed to creating a more sustainable, low-carbon future for our organization and our partners. Over the past year, we secured 480 RFI responses across 97 categories that included carbon footprint and packaging. 

What future goals does The Resource Group have around environmental sustainability?

To ensure meaningful progress, The Resource Group is committed to tracking and measuring supplier greenhouse gas emissions year over year. We began this process by establishing a baseline using 2020 data and have since expanded our efforts through improved data collection and supplier engagement. While we are working toward the 2030 reduction target, our current focus is on building the foundation needed to support that goal—engaging suppliers, encouraging transparency, and identifying year-over-year progress. This measured approach allows us to promote accountability, support continuous improvement, and elevate suppliers actively working to reduce their environmental impact.

What is the biggest challenge The Resource Group has to face while trying to reach these goals? What opportunities are there to overcome this challenge?

As we work toward our sustainability goals, one of the biggest challenges we face is supply chain decarbonization. Aligning our sustainability efforts with a diverse group of suppliers can be complex, especially as many suppliers are at different stages in their environmental journey. However, this challenge presents valuable opportunities for collaboration. By working together with like-minded organizations, we can share best practices, adopt innovative solutions, and drive collective progress. To further strengthen our supplier partnerships, we look forward to hosting a Sustainability Supplier Symposium this fall, where we can come together to learn, discuss, and collaborate on how to achieve our shared sustainability goals.

Find additional Earth Day resources here: earthday.org