Sustainability Strategy Management: Part 2 – Implementation

Leveraging traditional strategic management process, businesses are applying the four development steps to business sustainability planning: Situation Analysis, Strategy Formulation, Strategy Implementation and Strategy Evaluation.

To initiate a strategic management process for business sustainability, organizations begin with an evaluation of their current state through internal observation and engagement with key stakeholders. Companies often leverage tools such as stakeholder discussions, interviews, and surveys to analyze the internal environment.  This information may already be available from previous or current business improvements programs.

The next step is to formulate and evaluate business sustainability strategies.  Picking the right business sustainability strategy is not always an easy task.  Companies aim to adopt strategies that meet specific needs, engage the organization, and most efficiently generates defined results.  Examples include:

•    Cost effective strategies are employed when dollars, resources and time are in short supply.  These practices can be an effective way to identify obvious areas of business sustainability improvement and address quick and easy solutions.

•    Risk management strategies are typically focused on addressing internal weak points in an attempt to protect the bottom line.  This is a tactic often employed when considering a sustainability concept that is seen as having a potentially large negative impact.

•    Innovation strategies are progressive strategies that seek out opportunities to add value.  These strategies are often viewed as leading actions and the marks of the most progressive companies.  They are defined by a shift in the way something is currently being done to make radical and revolutionary changes in thinking.

In the implementation of sustainable change, there are demonstrated and measureable marks of progress.  Business leader recognize that one of the keys to a successful implementation of a sustainable business model is the management of change.  Setting and celebrating milestones is a great means of communicating progress to an organization.

•    Communicate the company’s sustainability strategy, including clearly stated policies, integration into core business, links to profitability.

•    Recognize and reward the creation of specific value from sustainability defined from within organization.

•    Reward value creation and business sustainability within the company’s supply chain.

Finally, the strategic management of sustainability is a process of continuous improvement.  It includes periods of reflection, reevaluation, and potentially redefinition.  Leading businesses are continuously evaluating and challenging the status quo.

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Sustainability Strategy Management: Part 1 – The Concept

In a 2008 survey by Pinnacle Worldwide, 45% of businesses reported to have a sustainability strategy already in place and another 27% responded that they were working on one.  However, a strategy is only as good as the ability to implement and continuously manage its progress.  

As we have discussed in a recent post, business sustainability is a mind-set change that may be consistent and in alignment with traditional strategic decision making and continuous improvement effort in the company.  While the decision criteria might vary, the business processes may be the same.
 
Leveraging a traditional strategic management process, businesses are applying the four development steps to business sustainability planning.  These steps can be applied to sustainability concepts when developing or reevaluating a business sustainability plan. These applied steps include:  click here to continue reading.
 
Home to one third of the earth’s trees, the Taiga is the largest land-based biosphere and encircles the globe. Its immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the planet. It is this continuous renewal that has shaped Taiga Company’s vision to drive similar change in the business world. Taiga Company seeks to be the “oxygen for your business”.

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Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Organic, Green, and Fair Trade . . . Fundraising?

Organic, Green and Fair Trade: these are three words you don’t usually find in your kid’s school fundraiser. In a market littered with cheap tricks and even cheaper products, here’s an alternative to making your next fundraiser good for the environment, good for small farmers and good for you!

Many of us have been there… staring down at a glossy catalog, our eyes glazing over from one crowded page to the next. A small child is bouncing on their toes nearby, eagerly awaiting your purchasing decision and thinking only of the plastic toy (made in China) that they will receive at the end of this for all their hard work. At this point we close our eyes and point to something at random. This time: a tub full of cookie dough. The last time: holographic gift wrap that made your head hurt just thinking how and where or how it was made.

The truth is these items sell.  Schools need to fundraise in order to offer important services, like after- school programs, classes focusing on the arts and sciences, even paying for practical and common sense items like markers, tape and special reading materials. The large fundraising companies cater to these needs, touting large margins in exchange for inexpensive junk. We buy because we care about our schools and our community… but there are alternatives available that allow us to support our schools while also supporting a more fair and just food system.

I’d like to introduce you to Equal Exchange Fundraising: a program of the first and largest Fair Trade company in the United States. Equal Exchange offers something you won’t find anywhere else in the fundraising world: organic and fairly traded foods, beautiful fairly traded gifts and recycled cotton gift wrap (tree-free!). With Equal Exchange Fundraising, your school or organization can support sustainability, enjoy award-winning products and make a difference in the lives of small farmers and artisans across the globe.

Hundreds of schools have made the switch. “I don’t think I could do any other fundraiser,” said Kim Montgomery, a seventh grade teacher in Houston, Texas, who has participated in the fundraiser for the past three years. “The Equal Exchange fundraiser has great products and a good mission.” These products include fairly traded and organic coffee, chocolate bars, cocoa, tea, and healthy snacks – things people consume every day. Here’s a fundraiser that helps fund a school’s valuable programs – things like arts and science programs – while also benefitting small-scale farmers who grow really high-quality foods in remote parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The Equal Exchange Fundraising Program also provides an opportunity to talk with kids about where their foods come from, how wealth is distributed around the world, and how we can make choices as consumers to make that wealth distribution fairer. There’s even a Fair Trade curriculum, Win-Win Solutions. With this curriculum, your child can learn about the life of a cocoa farmer and how their daily actions have direct impact on the lives of farmers across the globe.   

You can contribute to a more just world, be green, raise money for your school and eat well – all in one simple fundraiser. For more information and to sign up for a free info kit, go to www.equalexchange.coop/fundraiser. 

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

The Grossest Recycling Projects

I’m all for a good recycle and reuse project. It’s great when you can find a new use for an old object like making a clock out of a record or a giftbox out of a greeting card. There are some items that just shouldn’t be reused at all and should be sent to the landfill.

Here are five of the grossest recycle and reuse projects:

Clothing Made From Cigarette Butts

Smoking isn’t an environmentally (or human) friendly act to begin with. Besides the smoke, the cigarette butts are a huge waste. Chilean fashion designer Alexandra Guerrero and her clothing design company, Mantis, found a way to reuse those cigarette butts – in the clothing that she designed. It’s made up for 10% cigarette butts and 90% natural sheep wool.

It’s great that she’s keeping some of the estimated 4.3 trillion cigarette butts off the streets and out of the landfill, but c’mon.

Dress Made From Human Hair

In 2007, Croatian design company Artidjana Company used human hair to design a dress. Over 150 feet of blond hair was used.

This seems like some crazy voodoo type thing. A bit too much.

Paper Made From Poop

The people over at PooPooPaper make 100% recycled paper from you guessed it poop. They specifically use elephant poop and a percentage of the proceeds are donated to the conservation of endangered elephants.

This seems like a great company that’s dedicated to having a sustainable business both environmentally and financially, but it’s elephant poop. They likely poop things that are bigger than me!

Clothing Made From Blow-Up Dolls

Dutch artist Sander Reijgers makes clothing out of old blow-up dolls. Yes, I said old blow-up dolls as in ones that have been used.

The novelty of wearing clothing is funny for a few minutes, but after the shock factor wears off, you are the one wearing an old blow-up doll. There has to be a better way to reuse them or just toss them out.

Condom Hair Bands
In 2007 there were reports being circulated that in Southern China used condoms were being recycled and used in rubber hair bands. The report turned out to be true and the product to be wildly popular.

Instead of preventing STDs, the second life of the condoms were helping to spread STDs. Think about it what do most females do with the rubber bands when they are fixing up their hair. Yup, that’s right, they put them in their mouth.

Ok, I just threw up in my mouth a bit.

Now here’s 40 projects that aren’t nearly as gross that you can do.

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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Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Case Study – Aviva Community Fund

TOPIC: Case Study: Aviva Community Fund
Plenary Session 6 at CSR and Social Media 2010
WHEN: Thursday, May 13, 2010, 2:30 pm
WHERE: Toronto
Priority Code: 3BL1

Featuring:
Paul Fletcher, Senior Vice-President, Marketing, Aviva Canada Inc.

Aviva Canada launched a competition to find innovative ideas that would change Canada for the better in 2009, and offered $500,000 to make them happen. Centred on an online portal and supported by Facebook and YouTube, entrants were encouraged to submit ideas and upload photos, images, and videos to help describe their idea and attract votes to their cause.

Canadians were invited to vote on the 2,000 ideas submitted, with the most popular entries qualified for funding. Aviva also ensured that other great ideas also received the financial and practical help they needed to get off the ground.

Hear more about the success of this program, the lessons learned, and how Aviva departments worked together to create this unique forum where individuals could come together to make a difference.

For more information on this session, or to see a copy of the full agenda, please visit our web site, or contact Joel Elliott at elliott@conferenceboard.ca. Please quote priority code 3BL1 when registering.

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Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Sustainable IT: Power Management

According to a recent report by Forrester titled “How Much Money Are Your Idle PCs Wasting?” PC power management is promoting businesses sustainability and saving companies money.  In fact, General Electric has reported a saving $1.8 million per year and is seeing a substantial reduction in CO2 emissions.

Despite the payback presented by professional consulting firms and demonstrated by companies such as GE, there is still hesitancy by some organizations to implement PC power management.  This skepticism could be partially due to some misconceptions about PC power management.

Forrester addresses some of these misconceptions by dispelling some of the “myths” of PC power management .  Some of these “myths” include:

•    The power used turning my PC on negates any benefits of turning it off.
•    There are larger gains in the data center.
•    There isn’t a business case for PC Power Management.
•    I have to buy new, energy efficient hardware to reduce energy consumption.
•    Turning my PC on and off will reduce its performance and useful life.
•    I have no way of tracking and reporting the benefits.
•    I don’t own my power bill so there’s little incentive for me to reduce it.

Forrester recommends that businesses and individuals take a “time-based” approach to PC power management.  They conclude that business and individuals can maximize gains by simply:

•    Powering down PCs during nights and weekends
•    Applying industry best practices (e.g., activate “standby” after 30 minutes)
•    Enabling power management on as many assets as possible

At Taiga Company, we believe conservation through proactive power management is essential for business sustainability.  The application of this sustainability concept through standard businesses sustainability processes and individual participation will result in reduced energy consumption, lower electrical bills, and decreased emissions. 

As an energy consultant, we work with clients to apply the sustainability concept of power management to not just IT but to all areas of a business’s operations.  Power management can be applied to all non-essential idle devices. 

Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

The Most Recycled Product in the U.S. is Not What You Think

Well, it’s Earth Day. I am sitting here with the Greenopolis crew down in Times Square. We are showcasing–and celebrating–our new Dream Machine. To learn more about the Dream Machine, click here.

The Pepsi-sponsored product is a great way to engage people with recycling. I know some greenies will call greenwashing. But before you do, hear me out.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), less than 30-percent of all waste generated in the U.S. is recycled. Most waste just ends up in landfillls or incinerators. That’s a pretty depressing number.

Don’t worry, I am not going to play the Earth Day card because I am personally against Earth Day. It’s just not relevant anymore. Forty years ago, yes. Today, not so much. The fact is, the earth will be just fine no matter what we do to it. Like pressing the reset button on your computer, the earth can reboot; it’ll take 5 billion years but it can happen. Earth Day is every day!

Here’s the real question: are humans living in a way where we can sustain 5 billion years? Well, obviously not.

Sure, we might go the way of the Dinosaur but that’s not the point. If we don’t let conventional companies attempt to make changes without support, how can we solve these problems?

So do you want to know what the most recycled product in America is?

Well, it isn’t that can of Pepsi you are drinking…it is car batteries. More than 99-percent of them end up recycled. Only half of aluminum cans are recycled. For office paper, more than 70-percent of it is recycled. I hope by next Earth Day that these numbers are much higher!

Now I have to go, it has started to rain.

Like this article? Follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook.

Via Scientific American

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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Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

First U.S. Zero Energy Public School

Los Angeles? New York? Portland? No, not even San Francisco is set to have the first zero energy public school. For that you’ll have to go to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Yes, Bowling Green, Kentucky where Richardsville Elementary School in Warren County is soon to be the first zero energy public school in the United States.

Now don’t kid yourself, the Warren County Public School System is no stranger to saving energy. They received the 2009 Andromeda Star of Energy Efficiency Award for their ongoing commitment to reducing energy in their schools while at the same time educating their students on the benefits of energy efficiency. Their accomplishments included saving more than $4 million in energy savings over the prior 4 years, 28% reduction in energy usage, Energy Star ratings on fourteen buildings and more.

To continue with their commitment to saving energy, Warren County aims to have Richardsville Elementary become the first zero energy public school in the Unites States.

Key environmental features in this zero energy public school include: insulated concrete form wall construction, geothermal HVAC with CO2 monitoring, daylighting through light shelves and Solatubes®, compact two-story design with reduced building volume, roof-adhered thin film photovoltaic system, energy-efficient lighting, reduced plug loads for computers, solar water heating and more.

The school has been laid out so it can reap the most rewards from renewable energy sources such as the sun and wind. It is expected that the new building will reduce energy consumption by 75%. Additionally, with renewable energy sources on site, Richardsville Elementary will produce enough energy every year to cover 100% of its estimated energy usage.

But remember, this zero energy school isn’t just about the building, it’s about the students too. They want their students learning about how energy works and how they can be more energy-efficient. To see more diagrams of the school’s infrastructure, click here.

Laptops are recharged in the “solar hallway” where students can actually see how much energy is being received from the solar panels.

The “geothermal hallway” has colored pipes and temperature gauges.

In the “water conservation hallway” students can see how much rainwater has been collected and used to flush toilets in the school’s restrooms.
The “recycling hallway” shows students how they are doing at recycling around the school.

They even have a weather station out on the patio, which they plan to incorporate into math and science studies.

If you are interested, you can follow the construction of the school via the Warren County Public Schools’ website.

(School images from Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects).

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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Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily