Boston College MBA students compete to propose socially responsible business for Verizon | 3BL Media

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) – January 7, 2010 – Chestnut Hill, Mass. – Twenty teams of MBA students in Boston College’s Carroll School of Management recently competed to propose ideas that could both create innovative business opportunities for the major telecommunications firm Verizon and do good. In the end, one team came up with a proposal designed to make their student competitors and the competitors of the business green with envy.

The case competition was part of a for-credit required unit on corporate social responsibility  (CSR) integrated into the Management Processes 1 foundation course required for all first-year MBA students at the Carroll School, designed and taught by faculty from the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship. As part of the course, the more than 100 students were given a challenge to use a CSR perspective to create a win-win idea for Verizon that would both address a social need and create new business opportunities for the company. Teams were required to present a summary of the CSR opportunities and challenges facing the company, outline proposed goals and objectives, and create a business development plan. At stake in the competition were two paid summer internships at the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship supported by Verizon.  

A panel of judges from Verizon and Boston College’s Carroll School and Center for Corporate Citizenship selected as the winner a proposal for creating the Green with Envy Program, a package of green products and services including a recyclable phone that will both benefit the environment and enable Verizon to gain market share in the rapidly growing “green” consumer marketplace. The team’s concept also included a Green Alerts program to use Verizon’s wireless technology to keep customers aware of environmental issues and educated on how to reduce their own carbon footprint.

Team members included Aaron Copeland, Jian Kang, Fahd Latif, Rich Lemerise and Krista Zundl. In their proposal the winning team members wrote: “This initiative would help save the planet, increase Verizon’s brand reputation, and improve their bottom line all at the same time. Everyone will be Green with Envy if they are not part of this program.”

Verizon Executive Director of Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility Christopher T. Lloyd agreed, noting “We feel there is an untapped pool of bright minds in business schools who can help companies like ours use CSR as a way to drive real innovation for our business. We were delighted by the results.” Lloyd was joined on the judging panel by Verizon colleagues Brendan O’Connor, director of strategy and development; and Afshin Moshrefi, director of business development and research.

The other two finalists in the competition were proposals for a campaign by Verizon to discourage teens from texting behind the wheel, and an idea for a simple phone designed for use by people with autism and incorporating GPS technology as a tracking device in the event they became lost.

Chris Pinney, director of research and policy at the Boston College Center, and Center Research Manager Vesela Veleva worked with Adjunct Associate Professor, Operations & Strategic Management Department Larry Meile to design and teach this year’s CSR program. “This program reveals the unharnessed potential of young business leaders to use CSR as strategy to drive innovation and grow their business by creating products that generate business opportunities that address social problems,” remarked Pinney.  Carroll School Associate Dean Graduate Programs Jeffrey L. Ringuest commented that “this year’s CSR program and case competition are part of a commitment by the Carroll School to be a leader in the integration of CSR into the core of the MBA program and ensure Carroll School graduates are prepared for the challenges of business leadership in the 21st century.”

The Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship is a membership-based research organization associated with the Carroll School of Management. It is committed to helping business leverage its social, economic and human assets to ensure both its success and a more just and sustainable world. As a leading resource on corporate citizenship, the Center works with global corporations to help them define, plan and operationalize their corporate citizenship. Through the power of research, management and leadership programs, and the insights of its 350 corporate members, the Center creates knowledge, value and demand for corporate citizenship. www.BCCorporateCitizenship.org

For more information contact:

Tim Wilson
Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
wilsontk@bc.edu
617-552-1173

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Love Food, Hate Waste | 3BL Media

We all know that the best way to manage waste is to not create it in the first place. An interesting study by WRAP in April 2008 found that 1/3 of the food we buy gets thrown away. These foods—including lots of baked goods and vegetables—could have been eaten if managed properly.

I can understand this—I have admittedly thrown away slices of moldy bread and the occasional bag of slimy forgotten vegetables. I didn’t mean to waste the bread. I didn’t intend to neglect the zucchini.

WRAP understands this, too. People do not maliciously mismanage their food; they just get busy doing other things, or perhaps make poor choices on the front end. That’s why WRAP developed outreach and education tools—like this slick website with recipes, shopping lists, and meal planning programs—to help people buy and manage their perishable foods.

Some of their tips are just basic common sense: make a list before you go to the store. By using these tools, you save time and money, and you do not generate as much food waste.Always a punster, here are some of my ideas for pitching (and promoting) these ideas:

• Lettuce (let us) save money!

• Donut (do not) let your baked goods go bad.

• Think & ink ahead: make a shopping list.

I learned about WRAP’s study and LoveFoodHateWaste.com website when, in November 2008, I attended an “Organic Waste Management in Urban Environments” Conference in Brussels, Belgium. While most of the topics were on composting and food scrap collection, this presentation went straight to the source: food purchases. It made me think, “Give me your jelly donuts!”

Here is the executive summary of the study.
Here is the full report of the study.

At your food scrap disposal,
Meredith

A side note:
The English language in the UK is a bit different from the English language in the US. “Rubbish” means “trash,” and a “tonne” is different than a “ton.”

Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.

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The Cause Marketing Masters Series presents “Corporate Social Marketing: Why It’s Best in Breed ” | 3BL Media

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) January 7, 2010 – In our kickoff teleconference of 2010, Nancy Lee, President of Social Marketing Services, and an adjunct faculty at the University of Washington, will describe the tenets of effective corporate social marketing in a presentation illustrated with case studies from a variety of industries.

Sign up today to hear about the work that Lee has pioneered in this area with numerous companies and nonprofits. She has written the most quoted books in the field with Philip Kotler, the noted marketing guru and prolific author from Northwestern University ‘s Kellogg School of Management.

Join us for what is sure to be a fascinating session!

This valuable teleconference is only $99 (FREE to paid CMF members) and includes materials you’ll want to keep for ready reference.

If you miss the live teleconference from 1:30 to 2:30 pm EST, don’t worry! We provide all participants with access to a class recording.

 Click here to register.

Visit the our website to register for this valuable session today.

  Click here to become a member and receive free access to this and other teleconferences.

 

Contact us at 914-921-3914 or info@causemarketingforum.com

You deserve a vacation. Why not give the planet a break too? | 3BL Media

Climate Counts scored a total of 16 different Airlines and Hotel companies in 2009 and came up with some interesting results. When scored on a scale of 0 – 100 points, each sector began to establish clear leaders committed to combating climate change.

Click here to continue reading.

Winter Is Green At 2010 Olympics | 3BL Media

2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Villages achieve a new level of commitment to LEED sustainability.

The Olympics are coming! The Olympics are coming!

The thrill of victory. The agony of da’ feet. The passionate cheers of glory-hogging fans as their team squashes mine.

What can I say? I’m an avid underdog-rooter.

But this year as the Parade Of Nations goes by – and our mouths hang open in rapt amazement when we find out that toosmall-istan actually has a curling team  - we will also have another reason to cheer.

For the first time the Olympic Village, including 16 buildings and 1.4 million square feet, has been constructed to the LEED Gold standard. The Community Center is being built to the LEED Platinum standard.

Taaa-daaaa! Winter is green, after all.

All of the buildings in Vancouver’s Olympic Village compound are fitted with solar panels and green roofs irrigated by rainwater. There is also an in-slab hydronic heating and cooling system. The latent heat of the sewer pipes is also being used by an innovative heat exchange system within the structures.

When the games are over, the building will not sit empty and unused, either.

About 900 of the residential dwellings will be sold at market rates. About 250 will become non-market housing for seniors and low income singles and families.

Sustainable construction on this scale is intended to showcase cutting edge architectural and engineering practices in an urban setting.

The larger of the Olympic Villages, Southeast False Creek, includes an elementary school, a streetcar line, parks, day cares, commercial, retail, office space, at least one grocery store, a community center, and a marina.

The housing complex, all built to meet the highest levels of LEED sustainability, will ultimately house between 10,000 and 15,000 people.

After the Olympics, the Village’s apartments, row-houses and community facilities will be renamed to reflect the nationalities of the athletes who stayed in their homes while competing.

With everything the Vancouver Olympic Committee has accomplished for 2010, London has some big shoes to fill in 2012. But they have already promised an even higher standard in environmentalism and sustainability for the games.

Go team green!

Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.

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The “Heat” Just Got Cooler! | 3BL Media

From the files of Police Squad: The call comes in – burglary in process at 69 Elm St! Detective Frank Drebbin and Captain Ed Hocken jump into their squad car to race to the scene, and …the battery is dead. Cut to the two men in blue being chewed out in the Chief’s office.

Well, that scene was never aired, for the simple reason that it’s not very good. But a much better story is coming out of the Dallas Police Department, where squad cars are being outfitted with a power management system called the Independence Package.

Police squads require a ton of power to run laptops, radios, lights, sirens and other state of the art technology like dashboard donut and coffee machines. Well, not the last two. But dead batteries are an issue that plagues officers. The solution has been to let squad cars idle while the officers are checking your registration and insurance, investigating a scene, or stopping at Dunkin Donuts to regain their strength. This is bad for the cars in terms of wear and tear, and bad for the planet because of emissions like carbon monoxide and CO2. It also wastes a lot of gas. An hour of idling is equivalent to 35 miles of driving that never shows up on your odometer. It can age a car before its time.

What the power management system does is run all the electricals when the engine is off. It consists of two solid state power storage devices that live in the trunk. The officers can run headlights, spotlights, siren, red/blue/white lights, radio and laptops for up to 5 hours without killing the battery or spewing exhaust. The system also tracks usage. On average, the squads in Dallas are running their equipment off the power management system about 5 hours a day – that’s 5 hours less idling, fuel consumption, emissions, and wear and tear on the engine. The systems may also extend the life of the cars themselves, saving taxpayer dollars as well as the energy and materials to make a new car.

While TV shows titled “NYPD Green” and “Hill Street Greens” may not catch on, the men and women in blue in Dallas are conserving resources as they capture crooks, and protecting the planet as well as the people. That deserves a reward!

Greenopolis.com is dedicated to our users. We focus our attention on changing the world through recycling, waste-to-energy and conservation. We reward our users for their sustainable behaviors on our website, through our Greenopolis Tracking Stations and with curbside recycling programs.

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CSR Minute: LEED’s Status in China Construction; Home Deport Foundation Award to SC

Corporate Social Responsibility News: LEED’s Status in China Construction; Home Depot Foundation + Sustainability Institute of South Carolina’s Sustainability Award to North Charleston.

Beyond Conflict-free: An overview of sustainable jewelry | 3BL Media

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) January 7, 2010 – While many websites and women’s magazine’s are starting to cover the topic of “green weddings,” only eco-lifestyle magazine, Eucalyptus, has accurately covered the topic of “sustainable jewelry.”

Since the 2006 release of the movie Blood Diamond, consumers have been aware that the diamond trade is helping to fund armed conflict in some of the world’s most impoverished countries. Unfortunately, little light has been shed on the myriad of other negative impacts associated with diamonds and traditional jewelry.

In its January issue, Eucalyptus enlightens readers to the environmental devastation caused by the jewelry sector. For example, they state that a single gold ring results in 30 tons of mine waste and 100 tons from a single 1-carat diamond. Metal mining in the US is the single largest toxic polluter as cyanide and mercury used to extract gold from the ore ends up in the water system.

Fortunately, the article Eco-bling Responsible Luxury, offers resources for consumers who don’t want to sacrifice sustainability for luxury or vice versa. C5 company, is rapidly emerging as the leader in offering beautifully crafted jewelry with minimal social and environmental impact. 

 

 

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The Price of Freedom: 79% | 3BL Media

A January 2010 Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal accused a moderately progressive U.S. Congress of inadvertently creating a loan-sharking credit card interest rate. Congress enacted credit card reform to stop lender abuses. In retaliation, credit companies are finding ways to get around the new law. WSJ Opinion claimed that Congress’ attempt to rein in excessive credit card fees led the First Premier Bank of South Dakota to raise its rates from 9% to 79%.  

“The whopping rate increase is First Premier’s way of complying with the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009. Among other provisions, that law prohibits fees of more than 25% above a card’s credit limit. First Premier has been offering an account with a $250 limit and annual fees of $256. By law the latter figure must come down to $75. To compensate for the lost $181 in fees, the bank is raising the rate by 70% of $250, or $175, a year.”
 
As the anonymous author points out,
 
“Banks can’t be expected to give money away, even if Congress is in the habit of doing just that. Unlike lawmakers, banks and other businesses can collect revenues only by offering something of value in return.” 
 
Hmmm…. Whom does Congress habitually give money away to? Certainly not ordinary citizens. Why, banks of course – banks like First Premier. Deposit-taking interest-charging banks want their cake and to eat it too. And they won’t stop there – they also want yours.
 
Money can’t buy you love, but it can buy you food, shelter, clothing, education, and healthcare – all the basics of living a good life that free market capitalism can offer. So what is the price of freedom? 79%.
 
First Premier, aka “America’s vulture creditor,” is there to help anyone desperate enough for credit to put the final nail in their financial coffin.  One consumer states, “The only difference between First Premier Bank and Jesse James was he did it with a gun. They advertise as trying to help people with bad credit, but really they are just taking advantage of the poor people and lining their pockets.”

To be truly “free” in America, you need access to credit for almost everything. The ordinary citizen-borrower is caught in a trap.  How free are you when you can’t have your phone turned on, apply for job, or buy a car to get to work without “good credit?”
 
“Freedom” in America’s credit-trapped economy comes at a very high price. Thus some folks go for the 79% as a last resort. Hungry banks sit in wait, ready to pick at the bones of the economically wounded. For a price, credit card companies will happily devour you alive – legally and with impunity. Like good ole’ WSJ reports, they can’t be expected to do it for nothing – that is strictly the job of the Federal Reserve.
 
The discount window at the Federal Reserve is “giving money away” for “nothing” – not to you or me of course, but to banks.  The current rate for loans from the Fed is 0%, ZERO, nada, nichts, njet!  The same banks that get their money for free lend it to you for 24-79%.
 
(Riddle #1: What is the difference between banking in 2010 United States and loan sharking? One is legal and the other is not.)
 
The Fed lending rate gives you a clue on how Bank of America, Citibank, and Wells Fargo managed to “repay” the government while continuing to swim in billions of dollars of unpaid debt.
                                                                               
In addition to “borrowing” at zero percent, banks are legally allowed to move “toxic assets” (money-losing debts) “off balance sheet.” This would be akin to calculating your net worth by ignoring your entire loan, credit, and mortgage debt and counting only assets. In the dualistic system created since TARP, somehow you arein the red and your bank is in the black. 
 
Oddly enough this arrangement is loosely called the “free market.” Although there is nothing “free” about being forced to pay unlimited interest rates—especially not if the scales are tilted unfairly in one direction. Banks don’t have to pay their debts, but they sure as hell expect you to pay yours.
 
Credit in ancient times, according to historian Paul Millet, began as “a process of neighborly reciprocity in rural societies.” Long before “consumer societies” or money itself was invented, there was credit. Citizens traded their own labor (as well as that of their children and spouses) and their land to have access to credit, becoming enslaved and impoverished in the desperate effort to survive. Sound familiar?
 
Even Ancient Babylon had more consumer protections than we currently do. The first recorded laws in human history, Hammurabi’s code, stipulated interest rate limits of 20% on silver-based loans and 33% on grain loans.
 
In 1763 B.C. in the Ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur, only a few years and few miles away from King Hammurabi, Dumuzi-gamil “the grain supplier to the King” acted as an ancient banker.
 
The Temple under the King Rim-Sin collected rents (modern equivalent of taxes) from all citizens. Clay tablets written in cuneiform reveal that Dumuzi-gamil borrowed 250 grams of silver minas from the Temple and promised to repay 297.3 grams in five years – an annual interest rate of 3.78%. Over the five year period, Dumuzi made a personal fortune by lending at rates as much as 20% per month to distressed farmers and fisherman unable to pay Temple rents or to feed their families.
 
Very quickly, the situation for ordinary citizens became unbearable and a severe credit crisis ensued as more citizens were shackled under the burden of debt.  The King felt there was no way to relieve the crisis other than cancel all debts. Thus King Rim-Sin created the first official act of “debt forgiveness” on record, nearly 1200 years before the Athenian Solon did the same.
 
The system of gouging blood money out of distressed borrowers is primitive and stealthy, worthy only of those without the moral or creative resources to generate profit in a non-predatory way. There is no honor in the exploitation of the desperate.It is not good business – no matter what the powers that be might claim. Perhaps it was in the second millennium B.C. however, not in the second millennium A.D.
 
People are “free to choose” to borrow or not – in theory. However, in practice there is really no choice. We are enslaved in a system of credit and debt that has terrorized humanity for 4,000 years.
 
In this new year of 2010, as the banks that created the credit crisis for ordinary folks continue to rape and pillage the society they feed on, something must be done to turn the tide of vulture credit.
 
Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois introduced a bill to limit interest rates to 36% (3% more than Ancient Babylon) in 2009. It was shot down. Democrat and Republican Senators, in the pockets of powerful credit card lobbyists like the “Financial Services Roundtable,” wanted no limits on interest rates.
 
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders introduced another bill to limit credit card interest to 15%. It was defeated in a landslide of 33 votes for and 60 against.  Senator Sanders said, “When banks are charging 30 percent interest rates, they are not making credit available. They are engaged in loan-sharking.”
 
(Riddle # 2: What is the difference between mafia loan sharks, ancient lenders, and the present state of U.S. banking credit? The mafia takes your life; the ancients owned your life; modern banks destroy your life.)
 
The same distorted system of predatory lending that ended in financial collapse in 2008, echoing the Ancient world, continues with unlimited interest rates that prey on the poor and desperate. Perhaps 2010 will bring a more enlightened system of credit to modern finance – one that allows all debtors the same protections and opportunities given to vulture creditors – true freedom of choice.
 
Haven’t we waited long enough?