It is often said that the college years are the best years of one’s life. In the ideal setting, the freedom to learn, grow friendships, explore one’s passions and embrace youth all collide in a four-year span to create a sort of responsibility-free utopia. Amidst this collision, a college student may feel detached from the real world, but she is still very clearly a participant in the consumer economy.
College students spend over $740 billion on furniture, electronics, and apparel every year. Add that to what they spend on airline trips home, food, and beer and one thing should be clear: if students were to tell big companies they care about climate change, those companies would listen.
- National Research Federation & BIGresearch, CIA Aug-07
The big picture – youth is fleeting, but consumption isn’t.
If you think about it, campuses are communities, marketplaces, learning centers, idea generators, and ultimately, earth shakers. When corporations sell to college campuses, they are not only selling to large academic institutions, they’re directly tapping into future generations of consumers. But too few students realize that they have almost exactly the same opportunity in reverse. They’re not simply one-way receptacles for corporate messages. They can and should learn to talk back to those companies.
It does not take a petition thousands of signatures long or a day when the company switchboard lights up with complaints to make companies listen. Many business leaders will acknowledge it only takes a few dozen messages to bring a consumer or investor concern to a company’s attention. Just think of the impact a fully engaged student body could have.Everyone consumes goods and services, everyone can have a say in how the companies that produce those goods and services operate. But when launched from college campuses, those voices can really resonate.
The choice is yours.
Climate Counts Campus Champions have the power to jumpstart a climate-awareness consumer movement. They can motivate their peers, colleagues and administrators to take action. Climate Counts can serve as a source and a roadmap. With our information and support (nearly 150 companies scored representing over 3,000 brands), Champions can activate climate-conscious consumerism on their campuses and have a direct impact on way companies do business. The attention of college students on public policy related to climate change is critical, but perhaps nothing is more important in changing the trajectory of climate change than changing business as usual.
Mark Harrison coordinates campaigns at Climate Counts. E-mail him about the Climate Counts Campus Champions program at: mharrison@climatecounts.org
(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) December 1, 2009 – Princeton, NJ and Burlington, VT – Kaplan EduNeering, a leading provider of compliance and knowledge management solutions, and Seventh Generation, a pioneer and leader in sustainability, announced the launch of their new Sustainability Institute. The Kaplan EduNeering/Seventh Generation Sustainability Institute (www.InstituteSustainability.com) will provide business and governmental managers, employees, subcontractors and supply chain partners with best practices and specialized training in the development and implementation of sustainability initiatives.
“Sustainability is a holistic, systems-based learning approach to living well today by employing business practices that enable future generations to live better tomorrow,” said Lisa Clune, President of Kaplan EduNeering. “The Kaplan EduNeering/Seventh Generation Sustainability Institute provides practical guidance and training for business practices that are responsive to the principles of sustainability and to the financial expectations of stakeholders.”
“There is now compelling evidence that sustainable companies enjoy a competitive advantage over organizations that continue to embrace an exclusive focus on short term profits,” said Jeffrey Hollender, Executive Chairman of Seventh Generation. “That business paradigm is now seen as counterproductive, not only for society and the natural world but also for company stakeholders. Organizations are beginning to understand that responsible corporate behavior has become a business imperative and that it will only become increasingly more important in the future.”
Although recent studies confirm the belief among business professionals that environmental, social and governance activities create shareholder value and increase consumer loyalty, a study by MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group reports that only 30% of firms are implementing sustainability practices.
The Kaplan EduNeering/Seventh Generation Sustainability Institute provides:
• An online library of courses, including Sustainability 101, Sustainable Supply Chain and Greenhouse Gas Management. Each of these modules addresses one of the essential business practices in an effective sustainability program. The Sustainability Institute courses are also a good primer for companies seeking distribution with Wal-Mart and that must adhere to Wal-Mart’s Sustainability Index. Kaplan EduNeering is a pioneer in online learning and has developed more than 4,000 custom courses and learning exercises for its clients and a library of 550 standardized compliance and regulatory courses.
• Ten video modules for ongoing sustainability learning, with topics ranging from “Developing a Sustainability Mindset” to “Be Transparent.” The video series includes five modules centered on sustainable business practices. Each of these modules addresses one of the essential business practices in an effective sustainability program. The videos feature Jeffrey Hollender, Seventh Generation’s co-founder and current Executive Chairman. As the company’s Inspired Protagonist, Jeffrey has advised Fortune 500 companies and authored best-selling books including How to Make the World a Better Place: A Guide for Doing Good and What Matters Most – How a small group of pioneers are teaching social responsibility to big business – and why big business is listening. Jeffrey’s newest book, The Responsibility Revolution, is scheduled for publication in March 2010.
• An online toolkit called the Sustainability Communication CoachSM (SCC), which includes articles, brochures, mini-training modules, case studies and other resources to develop and sustain an ongoing, enterprise-wide sustainability communications program. The SCC is modeled after Kaplan EduNeering’s widely used Ethics Communication CoachSM, which now includes 2,000 tools and celebrates its ten-year anniversary in 2009.
• Optional services, including sustainability consulting, through Seventh Generation’s professional staff and an exam prep package for the LEEDv3 (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). A Green Associate certificate awarded by the Green Building Council can be provided by Kaplan AE Education.
“The gap between ‘recognizing’ the value of sustainability and ‘achieving’ that value is costing businesses around the world billions of dollars in lost profits,” said Lisa Clune. “The Kaplan EduNeering/Seventh Generation Sustainability Institute provides the broad resources to help companies understand and achieve the tangible benefits of sustainable business practices.”
About Kaplan EduNeering Kaplan EduNeering (www.kaplaneduneering.com) is part of Kaplan, Inc., a leading global provider of educational services to individuals, schools and businesses. Kaplan is a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO). Kaplan EduNeering develops technology-enabled knowledge solutions for assuring regulatory compliance and improving business performance. Kaplan EduNeering is headquartered in Princeton, NJ, and has offices in Houston, TX, Bloomsburg, PA, and London, UK.
About Seventh Generation Seventh Generation is a leader in corporate responsibility and sustainable business practices and is committed to being the most trusted brand of household and personal-care products for your living home. It derives its name from the Iroquois belief that “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
For information on Seventh Generation cleaning, paper, baby and feminine personal care products, to find store locations, and explore the company’s website visit www.seventhgeneration.com. To read more about Seventh Generation’s corporate responsibility, visit the Corporate Consciousness Report at: www.seventhgeneration.com/corporate-responsibility/2008.
Remember the scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas where he picks out the saddest little tree in the lot? Everyone else had passed it over – had Charlie not picked it out it would have ended up in the bonfire or trash heap. Then with love and caring of his community of friends, it became a beautiful little symbol of peace on earth and renewal. Charlie Brown became an environmental hero, utilizing a tree that would have gone to waste and likely sparing a living one in the woods!
Well, OK, that’s probably a bit of hyperbole and oversell. The tree was a cut one and was doomed to dry up and die anyway. But the message in that film of spirit and substance over consumption and commercialism is an enduring one, both in the holiday season and all year round. This year, you can do Charlie Brown one better.
First of all, what’s the meaning you want to create for yourself and family and the message you want to send to others? More and more people are decorating a living tree in their own yard, or bringing a small live one indoors to decorate and then replant outside later. I had one friend who has built an evergreen forest in his yard, one tree at a time. The message is conservation, and the living trees in his yard carry the meaning of each holiday season for ward year after year. Don’t want to buy? You can even rent a live tree in Portland, Oregon from the Original Living Christmas Tree Company - they replant them for you in sensitive areas to conserve water and soils.
If you choose to have a cut tree indoors, a locally cut or one you cut yourself will be fresher and last longer. Don’t feel too bad about cutting a tree from a tree farm, any more than you’d regret cutting a stalk of broccoli – they are grown as a crop, and new ones are planted as the more mature ones are cut, continuing a natural cycle. Avoid the big operations that cut those weeks ahead of time, ship those long distances, wasting fossil fuels and spewing carbon into your holiday air. When you are done with the tree, place it outside and hang popcorn, suet, and other treats for birds and wildlife- some will also shelter in it. If this is not possible, or when you have to get it out of your yard, break it up or chip it, and use it as mulch in your walkways, flower beds or gardens. Apartment dwellers, see if a friend in the ‘burbs or country will take it and use it up. Don’t send it to the landfill. Or you can contact the National Christmas Tree Association about their recycling program – they take old trees and reuse them as habitat, mulch, rebuilding sand dunes on beaches and restoring the Louisiana coastline to prevent future Katrina catastrophes.
For city dwellers. A better choice might be an artificial one. But who wants petroleum based tree in the house, even if you will use it year after year? A better bet might be a Buro Tree, made from reclaimed wood, or make your own tree from recycled materials.
Or if you’ve got a little one crawling about, how about this one made from baby food jars from Kaboose.com? You can go to Roxycraft.com and make this one out of faux fur.
But whatever you do, keep the spirit and message of the holiday out front. If you need a reminder, you can go here to watch Charlie Brown’s original tree video. Ho ho ho!
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.
The new children’s book Lu and the Earth Bug Crew Zap the Energy Spikes is making its way into hearts, homes and retail stores across the nation. Written by Derek Sabori and illustrated by Steven Riley and Mark Adams, the books about Lu and his friends are intended to reel kids into an active and healthy lifestyle that focuses on conservation, environmentalism, being a good friend and having fun doing it all!
Students of the Sustainability Officer Training will be provided a strong introduction to the Greening process, shown how to install a program that merits respect, and will actually save the company a great deal of money. Green is also about efficiencies, and we know how to make Green pay. This is a self-paced course that can be completed in a week or two of part-time study. Video and downloadable text is immediately available upon sign up. You will leave with the knowledge, the ability, and the plan to turn your company into an Authentically Green Business.
This is the first online training for Sustainability (Green) Officer Training. This will kick off on Monday November 9th, 2009, and there is no firm time limit to complete the course although we schedule a two week cycle as a normal experience. There are a series of recorded training classes that the student may take at their leisure, and three live classes that will be archived in the event that the student misses the broadcast.
Upon registrations, the student will receive access to pre-class orientation materials. Prior to class, the student will be able to download and print the study materials. Upon completion of a prescribe set of tasks, the Sustainability Officer Certificate will be sent to the student. This is a great credential on your professional resume.
We are limiting this class, so it is very important to make your reservation right away. Due to bandwidth requirements, we must buy the Internet capability in advance.
Upon registration, you will receive notice of your reservation and some early recommendations that will help you prepare for a very rewarding experience as the classes begin.
The registration fee is $250, and the remaining $1345 is due and payable by the start of class. We provide a 100% money back guarantee for all students if you find that the course is not everything we had promised. We fully expect that you will be exceedingly pleased with the volume of information, professional content, and breadth of subject matter.
Our goal is EMPOWERMENT, and this is done by providing a tremendous education on practical environmental issues that every business needs to know. Starting from the vantage point of vital facts and concepts, the program leads into a clear path to sustainable business transition.
Sustainability Officer Training offers a broad range of topics that cover every element of Green business applications. The goal is not to make the Sustainability Officer an expert in all subjects, but to make this person knowledgeable. That well-rounded knowledge is the missing ingredient in most Green committees.
Your company will Go Green. There is no doubt about that. What is unknown is how well or how poorly the Greening is done. If it is done poorly, your company will eventually have to return to the task to do it again and again until it is right. It just makes sense to Go Green the right way since it is relatively easy to do at this time.
As a trained Sustainability Officer returns to the workplace, there are noticeable changes. The sense of mission is now merged with business success. Green officers have learned about the triple bottom line: People, planet, and profits. At this point, the concept of Green is a clear asset to the business because the Green efficiency factor will increase company productivity and year-end profits.
Sustainability Officer Training is time well-spent, and it will be more informative and practical than any Green conference your people might attend. Our subject matter is direct, effective, and is designed to provide a clear path to a authentically Green business. If you want to sign up or learn more go to www.sustainabilityofficertraining.com.
The Sustainability/Green Officer Training is taught through an online program that provides clear instruction for Green business operation. For too long, the Green transition has been left to the best efforts of a few appointed people who had no formal training in environmental principles. Good intentions that are hampered by limited information will lead to a program that lacks integrity.
“Want to know if the stimulus act will work or whether ethanol is the right choice for U.S. energy independence? Need advice on how to beat Wall Street?” So asked the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) at the annual Moody’s Mega Math Challenge. For the past three years, Moody’s has awarded college scholarships and summer internships to the high school students with the best answers to these questions. In 2010, Moody’s is increasing to $100,000 of scholarships.
What drives a Wall Street firm to such generosity, especially now when every dollar they spend is accounted for to shareholders and the board? I have been working with corporate leaders for the past several years to help them shift their philanthropy and their service programs in order to advance the companies’ own purposes while also benefiting the community. This is the only way that corporate social responsibility will actually be effective and sustainable.
And as I reported from the Clinton Global Initiative in
Earning the right to be a Certified Green Consultant does not come from a simple desire to make a difference. The Green revolution has many pieces but few people that can put the whole puzzle together. As a Certified Green Consultant, you will learn a holistic approach to the Green challenges that we all face. This three day training program is not for those who are not merely curious, but for those who are serious about making a difference in their community.
Our program continues for a full year of support and continuing education to round out all that you should know about working with homes, schools, businesses, and organizations in your community. The environmental challenge is a universal problem that requires universal participation. With the Green Business League program, everyone can adopt Green Practices that are worth points toward a nationally-recognized certification.
This is not a LEED program focused only on building owners. Green Practices can be applied to every situation, and no one is exempt. We look at the daily operational issues of indoor air quality, energy, waste, the paperless office, sustainable practices, Green Supply Chain, and dozen of other issues that people practice every day.
The problem is that most people want a better world, but they do not want to change anything to get there. We are still in the early stages of the environmental revolution, but this is an inevitable and powerful movement that must be addressed at every level of society. To be honest, groups like TerraPass have discovered that 96% of all Green products exaggerate their claims and frankly Greenwash. Greenwashing is the popular method of environmental conformity, and this is because people simply do not have enough information or help to install an Authentically Green program.
The opportunity is real but it is still in the early stages of development. Those who establish themselves as leaders in this market will see many doors open up. This will require more than passion. Success will depend on great information, a proactive spirit, and a clear plan that businesses can easily adopt.
There are three parts to our training program. The fist is the Pre-Class material that is sent to each student once they enroll in one of our classes. This is for orientation and to provoke your thinking. The three-day Live Class is a fast-paced presentation of general and crucial subjects that will make you “knowledgeable” on nearly every environmental topic. Finally, you will participate in a year long training and support program designed to round out your education.
The final day of the live class is how to market your business as a Green consultant. This is something missing is nearly any educational program. The “How To” part is very important, and your success is very important to more than the Green Business League. Every consultant is, frankly, an agent of change in their community. Learning to the Green Go-to Person in your community will not happen because you are well educated,but from the fact that you press this information into a real program of community Greening.
As a Certified Green Consultant, you are head and shoulder above the self-appointed Green advisers. Too often, Green advisers are narrow applications like: energy consultants, carbon credit promoters, sustainability counselors, solar power installers, or ISO quality control programmers. None of these have the whole program although they make it sound like they do. Our certification introduces the student to all the areas of environmental concern. Therefore, your certification is very well-rounded and robust. This is a federal trademark, and a national program that presently has strong recognition.
As a Certified Green Consultant, you will be able to offer your professional services to assist homes, schools, and businesses on how to install Green Practices into their daily operation. At 100 points of accumulated Green Practices, the business will qualify as Green Certified Business with the Green Business League.
While there are other certifications cropping up on the Internet each month, none offer the credibility of the Green Business League. We proudly say that our certification is “Earned, not Bought,” and that says a lot about our level of commitment. This is not a program that can be cheated or abused.
Only a Certified Green Consultant can offer what we offer. We know that hundreds of knock off certification will crop up on the Internet and clandestine groups who hope to grab a piece of this growing market. Businesses that earn the GBL Green business certification represent the best Green businesses in America. This is a certification that is earned, and one that can be proudly promoted to a public that is willing to patronize an Authentically Green business.
Colorado Rocky Mountain School Work Crews provide an avenue for students to take leadership roles and initiate change on campus toward creating a more sustainable life. The Recycling Work Crew maintains recycling stations in all the dorms and major buildings. They collect recycled materials and take them to the local recycling center. In the Garden Work Crew, students work to provide the school community with healthy organic food that is grown in a manner that minimizes the toll on the land.
The Sustainability Work Crew brainstorms and problem-solves ways to improve our school’s efficiency. From educating the campus to adding weather stripping to all the obscure doorways on campus, the Sustainability Work Crew takes a variety of steps to minimize needless electrical, food, or heat waste. This Work Crew program allows passionate students to initiate change. Various student-led ideas have included: creating a sustainability dorm competition, a sustainability newsletter (humorously named The Toilet Paper), and a weekly “Green Tip” announcement to the entire school; changing our cleaning supplies to all-green products, measuring the campus energy usage, insulating the windows and doors, and researching better methods to improve our sustainability. While this work crew’s primary goal is to focus on sustainability, the rest of the work crews on campus (from Ranching to Electricity) also act under the green umbrella of sustainability.
