Giving Compass' Take:

• Writing for TriplePundit, Alegria Partners' Nikki Pava discusses two obstacles to good sustainability practices in business (paralysis and over-ambition) and how to overcome them.

• Are you overthinking things? Setting reasonable milestones? Many of the action items in this piece are applicable to many different organizations and can be applied to any number of initiatives.

• Here's how CEO's can create a better culture around sustainability.

The fossil fuels you use each day took 300 million years to form. Americans used about 50 billion plastic water bottles last year alone. What on earth is your team supposed to do with statistics of this magnitude? It seems that your every action matters, and at the same time, no change could possibly be enough.

While it is important to have a firm grasp on the big-picture reality of the effects of business choices and the seriousness of the many environmental threats to the planet, it is equally important that Sustainability Teams in companies avoid two common pitfalls when formulating their corporate response: paralysis and over-ambition.

Paralysis: All actions add up.

Don’t become so overwhelmed by the numbers gathered from preliminary research for a new sustainability initiative that you hesitate to put a plan in motion. Movement in the right direction will begin to add up and even the smallest micro-changes will have an impact. Environmental and social change builds from the bottom up and has a ripple effect that will reach all levels of the company, in addition to all stakeholders, over time.

Over-ambition: Be aware of your limits.

Take inventory of your capacity. A team of employees mandated by the company to work on sustainability issues will have a different capacity than a team of volunteers that is focusing on environmental and social issues in their free time. Additionally, it is helpful to set goals and milestones that are attainable.

Read the full article about keeping your sustainability mission on track by Nikki Pava at TriplePundit.