Workplace Giving: 6 Trends for Companies to Consider (Part 2)

Doing well by doing good: it’s not just a corporate catch phrase or nice-to-do anymore, it’s a must do for a growing number of businesses. A growing number of people expect businesses to not only “do good” but to provide opportunities for them to give back to causes that resonate with them. “Giving back” isn’t limited to consumer scenarios: employees also want to work for companies that care. 

“Giving back” isn’t limited to consumer scenarios: employees also want to work for companies that care. Cone Research found that 79% of people would also prefer to work for a socially responsible company (Cone Millennial Cause Study 2006) and 79% of employees think it’s important that their companies match their giving. (2008 Cone Cause Evolution Study).
 
One key way employers can engage their employees in giving back is through a workplace giving program. In the current environment where employee disengagement is reportedly at a high, a workplace giving program that actively involves employees and provides a means for employers to demonstrate their commitment to giving back, is one tool in the employee engagement toolbox. A major driver behind the increased corporate appetite for implementing workplace giving programs is the mounting research that shows that employees want to work for companies that care, that social responsibility is a consideration in employees’ decisions to join, stay with or leave companies, and that there is a link between social responsibility and engaged, productive employees.

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Volcom, In Partnership With National Coalition For The Homeless, Prepares To Launch Jeans Recycling Program For 2010

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) COSTA MESA, CA – July 13, 2010– Volcom, Inc. (NASDAQ: VLCM), the youth clothing innovator, is giving your jeans a chance again in 2010. 

In 2009 more than 5,000 pairs of jeans were collected by 100 North American stores featuring Volcom product and then donated to fifty local homeless shelters across the country. This year Volcom is hoping to collect upwards of 10,000 pairs from more than 300 participating stores around the world. 

In August, each of the participating retailers will set up a Denim Recycle Bin in their store where do-gooders can bring in a used pair of jeans in good, wearable condition to contribute to the drive. Anyone who donates a pair of jeans at any one of the participating stores will receive either a Give Jeans a Chance hat, sticker or button. Additionally, every participant automatically gets entered for a chance to win a year supply of Volcom Brand Jeans (VBJ), a $1,000 Volcom prize pack or one of the 50 VBJ runner up prize packages being offered.  
 
Regarding last year’s campaign, Neil Donovan, Executive Director, National Coalition for the Homeless said, “Volcom’s Give Jeans a Chance (GJAC) is inspiring thousands to make a single donation and it’s having a huge impact in the lives of so many homeless people.”  
 
So that fans can show their support, Volcom is offering a Give Jeans a Chance t-shirt, which will be available at most participating retailers in early August (see attached image). As part of the Volcom Give Back Series, part of the proceeds from the shirt will be donated to the National Coalition for the Homeless in support of their quest to end homelessness.
 
“Last year’s drive proved to be rewarding to all involved,” said Derek Sabori, Volcom’s Director of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility. “You see the photos and people are just stoked… Stoked to give back.”
 
Floris Gierman, Volcom’s Director of Retail Marketing is heading up the program and agrees, “Putting on clean, dry jeans in the morning is something that most of us take for granted. It’s easy to forget the tremendous number of homeless people living in the US who cannot enjoy the same simple privilege. We could not be more excited about Give Jeans a Chance returning for its second year. With the continued support of shops and homeless shelters we hope to reach our goal of raising 10,000 pairs to keep those in need warm this winter.”
 
For more info about Give Jeans a Chance and for updates on the drive, check www.volcom.com/givejeansachance.
 
For additional info, please contact
 
Floris Gierman
 
Phone: 949-646-2175
 
fgierman@volcom.com
 
About Volcom, Inc.
 
Volcom is an innovative designer, marketer and distributor of premium quality young men’s and women’s clothing, accessories and related products. The Volcom brand, symbolized by The Stone, is athlete-driven, creative and forward thinking.   Volcom has consistently followed its motto of “youth against establishment,” and the brand is inspired by the energy of youth culture. Volcom branded products are sold throughout the United States and internationally. Volcom’s news announcements and SEC filings are available through the company’s website at www.volcom.com.
 
About the Volcom Give Back Series
 
Created in 2008, the Volcom Give Back Series (VGBS), is a program where a percentage of proceeds from select styles go directly to community-based non-profits. The company has supported charities and organizations including the National Coalition for the Homeless, TACA (Talk About Curing Autism), Boys and Girls Club of Hawaii, and Boarding for Breast Cancer (B4BC).

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Tips to Living a Zero Waste Lifestyle

Were you aware that the average American throws out 550 pounds of paper, 318 pounds of food, and 90 pounds of glass per year?   About 80 percent of that garbage ends up in landfills.  Inspired to do better, those living a sustainable lifestyle are striving to live a zero waste lifestyle as well. 

 Within our eco friendly training we share the intention behind a zero waste lifestyle is to  maximize recycling, minimizes waste, reduces consumption and ensures that products are made to be reused, repaired or recycled back into nature or the marketplace.

 A quick start to set you on your personal sustainability plan on waste reduction will not only reduce waste, but save you money as well.  But what does reducing waste mean?  When you avoid making garbage in the first place, you eliminate the disposing of waste or recycling it later.  It’s the first component of the sustainability concept of the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle. 

 Ready to get started?  Check out your garbage!  Your garbage gives you clues as to how to reduce waste, save money, and live a more sustainable lifestyle. 

 Clue #1:
This is an easy one.  If you look in your garbage and notice paper, plastic, aluminum, kitchen waste and more all combined together, then your first step towards building a personal sustainability program is to embrace the sustainability concept of recycle.  Separate the paper, plastics, glass, and aluminum into bins and begin a recycling program. 

 Clue #2:
Inspect the paper and plastic in your garbage.  Are the paper products you are using made from recycled content?  Do you receive a lot of junk mail? Are you using reusable containers?  What kind of garbage bags do you use?  Take eco action and make a difference.  Address each area and explore ways to reduce your waste as well as make more environmentally friendly choices. 

 Following are some suggestions from our eco friendly training classes:

 Reduce Food Waste:
•    Pre plan your meals, buy in bulk, and prepare what you need.
•    Compost and turn your old food into healthy soil.

 Reduce when you shop and shop with the environment in mind:
•    Purchase products that are returnable, reusable or refillable.  Use reusable and refillable containers in your home instead of disposable items.
•    Purchase products with the least amount of packaging.
•    Get the most out of what you buy by comparing warranties and cost to repair or replace the item.
•    Look for products designed with the environment in mind.  Organic clothing, sustainable furnishings, and solar powered products are just a few examples.
•    Rent or borrow instead of purchasing.  Check out the post, Buy or Barter? Best Trading Websites for ideas.

 Reduce items at home:
•    Reduce paper consumption- go paperless.  In fact, try using technology to go paperless.
•    Find new life for old furnishings, appliances and clothes.

 By evaluating the contents of your garbage, there exist the opportunity to make more sustainable purchase choices, to reduce your waste, and to modify behavior to support the environment.

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Be Green Packaging Employees Lend a Helping Hand

As a triple bottom line company focused on people, planet, and profit, Be Green Packaging LLC strives to uphold socially responsible practices. Be Green seeks to work with businesses that operate to improve the educational, environmental, cultural, economic and social well being of the communities in which they work.  

In addition to the company’s socially responsible practices, Be Green staff has dedicated personal time to enriching the lives of others. Recently, employees donated a weekend of their time to support a building project in Tijuana, Mexico. Partnering with Corazon, a non-profit organization, Be Green staff helped build and furnish a house for a family of three. The family, through many hours of community service, was chosen by their community to be the next Corazon member to receive a house. Be Green staff joined a team of 40 to help complete the project on time.
 
Be Green employees also plan to volunteer their time towards working on a local organic farm managed by A Rocha International. Be Green staff plans to help build compost bins and assist with cultivation and harvesting. In turn, all food produced by this farm will be donated to struggling families within the local community.
 
Be Green Packaging is proud to have employees so inclined to donate their time and efforts to causes that not only support Be Green’s vision, but help make the world a better place.
 
More information on Be Green Packaging’s social commitments can be found at http://www.begreenpackaging.com/eco_social_commitments.html.
 
Be Green…Live the Color.
 
Questions/comments please email: info@begreenpackaging.com
 
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Posted via web from 3BL Media, CSR News, and Emily

Empty Spaces make for Sustainable Places

Is a roof just a roof, or a space to “grow?” Sometimes you may not consider an empty space as a place that bears fruit, but maybe you just need a little imagination and creativity. Wolfson Children’s Hospital, in Jacksonville Florida joined up with my group at Sodexo to plant gardens in spaces around the hospital including its third floor patio and the medical center’s roof. 

The garden idea first sprouted during a pediatric food conference, Working with my team at Sodexo, we decided a garden on the patio above the hospital’s main lobby would serve a lot of purposes, especially for long-term pediatric patients.

It gives the kids the opportunity to get outside, out of the rooms and get their hands a little dirty. After all, they are kids – and being in a hospital room sometimes doesn’t allow for that.

The fun part is that we plan on using what we are able to grow in the garden, right here at the hospital. In the weather and sunshine cooperate, fresh herbs will be ready for kitchen use in 45 days, and the vegetables soon after. The best part is that the children who help cultivate and grow the produce will also be able to watch it prepared in the kitchen, and eventually eat it!

Our garden’s idea and it’s creation may be a small addition, but it fits in with Sodexo’s Better Tomorrow Plan, which is a commitment to a brighter, sustainable future. The program pushes three main pillars including protecting and restoring our environment, supporting local community development, and promoting health and wellness. It may be small, but I believe my team in Jacksonville has hit the “Better Tomorrow” trifecta with our roof garden!

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

Awareness: First Steps to Sustainable Change

Whenever you want to improve in a specific area or program, just the process of increasing awareness will yield improvements.  The same applies to living a sustainable lifestyle.  Most of us recognize that change can be tricky:  habits and convenience make it far easier to slip back into the comfortable way of doing things.  However, implementing effective sustainable change does not have to be a laboring process.  The key is conscious awareness. 

Awareness is the tool used to help discover the personal patterns of behavior that offer low hanging fruit for a sustainable lifestyle.  For instance, are you aware of your habits related to energy?  Consider how and when you consume the most energy in your day?  How could you be more efficient? What inspiring eco actions could you take? 
 
Conscious awareness is key to sparking the eco awareness in a personal sustainability program.  As noted in our eco friendly training, following are aids to assist in raising awareness: 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”.

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

10 Ways to Green your Cubicle

Most U.S. employees want to work for businesses that are environmentally-friendly, though many admit they are not doing enough to help create a greener workplace.  In our sustainability consulting we work with both businesses and individuals to integrate sustainability concepts into the workplace and daily lives.  For workers frustrated with your employer not bringing eco awareness to your workplace, here are 10 ways to green your work space:  

1. Bring an indoor plant to work. They give your office a little green flair and give oxygen as well as help filter indoor pollutants. Best office plants include: spider plant, jade plant, and the peace lily. 
2. Recycle at your Desk. 
3. Get your daily dose of green and Subscribe to Blogs: BestGreenBlogs, Idealbite, and Taiga Company.
4. Engage your co-workers with a custom designed Sustainability Plan.
5. Showcase messages on your cubicle that promote environmental-friendliness and decorate your desk with earthy and recycled materials and objects. Consider transporting your laptop in a solar powered backpack.
6. Put your computer in sleep mode. Do so whenever you are away from the computer for any period of time, including short breaks.
7. Go paperless. This is one of the simplest actions you can take, yet it has one of the biggest impacts. Only print those documents you must print.  Save paper and print double sided or re-use printer paper. 
8. Invest in reusable containers and utensils for lunch.  Have a reusable coffee mug and glass for drinking. To clean, have available eco aware cleaning products to use.
9. Turn off your computer and its power strip whenever you leave for the night.
10. Make sure your office switches off its lights at night.
11. Eco commute: ride your bicycle, take mass transit, or carpool to work.

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

5 Ways to Recycle Eyeglasses

5 Ways to Recycle Eyeglasses

I don’t know about you, but I’m one of the millions of people in the world that has worn eyeglasses since youth. I think it was genetic for me since everyone in my family has horrible eyesight, but I’m also guessing that those many mornings watching cartoons in front of the TV didn’t help my sight either.

I’ve owned at least 10 different pairs of eyeglasses in my lifetime, ranging from my first gigantor big pink plastic pair, to my current wanna-be hipster big brown plastic pair. Sadly, since I’m a packrat, I still have my last 4 pair of glasses. I know that many eyeglass locations recycle your old glasses, but I always seem to forget to bring my old pair when the new ones come in.  So I wanted to see what other eyeglass recycling options were out there for the absent-minded folks like me.

Here are 5 ways that you can finally get rid of those outdated eyeglasses!

1. Search online for a recycling center

Earth911.com has a great search engine for recyclables on its website. Click on the above image and type in the type of item you’d like to recycle, as well as your zip code. A list of recycling facilities will come up, and you can find a location that’s convenient for you.

2. Lions Club International

Ever heard of the Lions Club International? In 2009 the Lions Club collected almost 700,000 pairs of glasses to donate to developing nations with its program Lions Recycle for Sight.

3. New Eyes for the Needy

Founded in 1932, New Eyes for the Needy is a non-profit organization whose sole mission is to provide good eyesight to the less fortunate.

4. Third World Eye Care Society Canada

Here’s the mission of the Canada-based charity organization TWECS: “To collect old unused eyeglasses and distribute these eyeglasses in conjunction with eye exams given by properly trained individuals. The distribution of eyeglasses shall be in developing countries where, because of poverty or lack of availability of eye care services, individuals are unable to obtain eyeglasses and primary eye care.”

5. Make ART!

If you just can’t get rid of your old eyeglasses for some weird sentimental reason, then you can always convert them into a creative piece of art. Take for example the recycled eyeglass Spectacle chandelier of London designer Stuart Haygarth. It was made from over 1000 old eyeglasses that were linked together!

Now that you know what to do with your old eyeglasses, take a deep breath, grab them from your drawer or from that box in your closet, and recycle them for a good cause!

For more information and videos about the organizations we featured here, visit our blog.

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

Plenary Session 1: The Convergence of Social Media and CSR

The Convergence of Social Media and CSR
Plenary Session 1 at CSR and Social Media 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010, 8:45 am
Priority Code: 3BL1
Toronto

Featuring:
Celesa Horvath, Owner and Principal, Ventus Development Services Inc.

Social networking promises to change not only the way in which companies communicate and interact with their stakeholders, but also their behaviour and performance as corporate citizens. This context-setting presentation will explore social media’s game-changing potential and implications for CSR, including:

• how the accessibility of information will drive transparency and best practice in corporate social responsibility

• how the speed at which information and opinions are shared affects reputation management

• how the scope of, and level of trust in, social networks will transform stakeholder engagement practices

• how the shift from push to pull by user-determined needs will lead to more collaborative, open-source approaches

Celesa Horvath contends that, in the emerging “Attention Age,” the difference between risk and opportunity is a matter of perspective and strategy. Join Celesa as she explores how to leverage social media to enhance corporate responsibility performance and uncover fertile ground for innovation.

Celesa is experienced in developing and implementing sustainability strategies for business, and is founder of the Canadian CSR and SD Practitioners’ Network on LinkedIn.
Click here to find Celesa on her LinkedIn Page
Click here to follow Celesa on Twitter

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. Register Before April 18 to save $150! Please quote priority code 3BL1 when registering.

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Power of the Hour – Transforming Inspiration into Action

TOPIC: Power of the Hour: Transforming Inspiration into Action
Luncheon Presentation at CSR and Social Media 2010
WHEN: Thursday, May 13, 2010, 12:15 pm
WHERE: Toronto
Priority Code: 3BL1
Featuring:
Dorothy Engelman, Executive Director, GetInvolved.ca, and Senior Partner, q media solutions
GetInvolved.ca has entered in partnership with TVO, Volunteer Canada, and the Corporate Council on Volunteering to leverage the ability of social networks to motivate and connect for positive change. Power of the Hour is an online tool that helps individuals, groups, and businesses, large and small, pledge and track their volunteer hours. The online and television Power of the Hour campaign challenges Canadians to help reach a goal of 2,000,000 volunteer hours in 2010.
Building on the success of GetInvolved.ca, a social networking site built as an online companion to a 50 part TVO documentary series, Power of the Hour is motivating individuals, not-for-profits, charities, and community organizations to connect with one another and make a difference.
Hear from Dorothy Engelman, Executive Director of GetInvolved.ca and Senior Partner at q media solutions, about the launch and implementation of GetInvolved.ca and Power of the Hour. Learn more about how to promote engagement and facilitate collaboration with online social networks.
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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