Personal Sustainability Program

Unlocking your Green Potential for Greater Good

Friday, February 3, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

What are the most common excuses for not "doing the green thing"? Convenience? Lack of education/ information?   Unclear value? How do you go green conveniently yet still have your eco actions add up?

Sustainability is really about transformation - a transformation process by discovering hidden treasures in daily habits that unite conscious habits and routines with eco awareness and eco actions to take.   Most of us are inspired by eco actions and the idea of "doing the right thing." However, we also recognize that change can be unsettling. It can be scary, and too often it is just easier to slip back into a traditional and comfortable way of doing things. Part of staying on the green path is reconnecting with our personal drivers for seeking a sustainable lifestyle.   There are many benefits to living a sustainable lifestyle; however, implementing effective sustainable change does not have to be a laboring process.

Create a plan - Personal sustainability programs are about making and sustaining a change in your life that you can be inspired and passionate about. Although a sustainability plan originates as a comprehensive one, your actions are the expression of that plan in daily life. Eco actions can be anything from riding a bike to work or using eco-friendly office supplies to eating organic healthy meals or recycling. It can also be about achieving a personal goal, sustaining it, and building from that platform. Ultimately, it's about making choices that feel good to you and generate an expectation of more and better to come in your life and the environment.

The basic premise of a personal sustainability program is reducing your carbon footprint; lighten the load on the planet as well as be good to yourself, others, and your community.

Do the green thing via subcategory or importance. Categorizing gives awareness to the habit change as it relates to the sustainability concept. For instance, energy consumption and turning off a light as you leave a room, or replacing bulbs, or using an energy strip. Another perspective is to prioritize the habit as it relates to environmental impact. If your carbon footprint is large due to travel, then exploring ways to reduce your travel. Suggestions made in our eco friendly consulting include: telework, virtual conferences, and green travel options.

Schedule time. If the habit requires a new way of doing things, then schedule time to learn the new habit, integrate it into your routine, and make adjustments as you learn. Bike commuting would be an excellent example of embracing a new habit, reducing your carbon footprint, yet, requiring time to learn and develop a new routine.

Reward and Review. The process of linking sustainable living with new opportunities for development creates a personal incentive that further promotes the process. Sustainable actions are reinforced daily by positive feedback from realizing your personal goals.

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” – Unknown If you never start, you will never get anywhere. In fact, did you know that approximately 80 percent of pollination by insects is carried out by bees? Maybe that's why the call them busy bees.   Perhaps, but curiously, what would our world look like today if those living a sustainable lifestyle were as busy as bees in sprinkling or "pollinating" our daily lives with eco action? Unlock your green potential for our greater good.

Focus: A Prerequisite to Green Choices

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

When it comes to daily choices, our personal and professional consulting views each decision point as an opportunity to integrate eco awareness into an eventual outcome. While the result of every decision does not have to be directly aligned with sustainable values, the inclusion of sustainability concepts in the thought process can greatly improve the evaluation. Seems simple enough?

Yes, but look around and you'll see going green slogans everywhere. The web is full of information on going green, living a sustainable lifestyle and advice on personal sustainability. For many, this mountain of information can be confusing and at times a little overwhelming. In fact, the post, A Practical Plan for When You Feel Overwhelmed, refers to overwhelm and its effect on our ability to make choices. "The more numerous our options, the more difficult it becomes to choose a single one, and so we end up choosing none at all. That's what happens when we have too many things to do. We become overwhelmed and don't do any of them."

Noted, we are all faced with an endless number of choices every day that can lead us in one direction or another. Standing at a decision intersection, some may choose to turn right while others may choose to turn left. The outcome of a left versus right turn is not the concern. Our sustainability consulting simply asks the question: was sustainability part of your decision making process?

Rather than getting bogged down with the enormity of the sustainability discussion, our sustainability consulting advises clients to first focus on solutions that are within their control and which have immediate impact. For example, two areas of immediate personal impact lie in energy conservation and source control. We encourage individual efforts to identify the ‘low hanging fruit’ at home first.

Conservation is a solution within every one's control and can be a huge difference maker. Our green living consulting helps clients identify personal mitigation strategies as well as understand the nature of their consumption.

• What appliances and/or equipment are consuming the most energy?
• How are these high energy consumption items being run (simultaneously, non-efficiently, etc.)
• When are these high energy consumption items running (when not needed, during peak load times, etc.).
• Are appliances and/or equipment left plugged in when not in use?

However, conservation is not the end of the story. Managing your energy source can be very simple and often does not have to be a huge capital expense. Depending on where you live and work, you may have a choice in your electricity provider. While the debate over deregulation continues, the ability to choose may offer you the opportunity to make a significant difference.

• By simply choosing a “100% Wind Energy” option, the average household can have the same impact as not driving their car 20,000 miles in that same year.

• The same choice made for a “Renewable Energy Option” (typically 90% hydro, 10% Wind) would equal a 2,000 mile reduction.

Whether you have the capital to make home improvements, the power to choose, or simply a desire to consume less, the decisions you make have real impacts on your business, life, environment.

2012 Trend: Workplaces that Promote Sustainability

Friday, January 27, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

Evidence suggests employee engagement strategies can make a difference in internalizing sustainability and translating high-level commitments into action and results on the ground. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development document, People Matter Engage: inspiring employees about sustainability draws lessons from corporate experience:
The Corporate Leadership Council reports that engaged organizations grew profits as much as three times faster than their competitors. They found that highly engaged organizations have 87% less staff turnover and 20% better performance than average.
A global survey by Tower Perrins-ISR, involving more than 664,000 employees in 50 companies, found that the operating income of companies with engaged employees improved by 19% in one year, while it declined by 33% for companies with low levels of employee engagement.
A survey by Gallup of 23,910 business units found that those with low engagement suffer from 50% more employee turnover, inventory shrinkage and accidents. Those with higher engagement scores increased customer advocacy by 12%, productivity by 18% and profitability by 12%.
Fully engaged employees are 2.5 times more likely to exceed performance expectations than their disengaged colleagues.
59% of engaged employees say their job brings out their most creative ideas against only 3% for disengaged employees.

Employees are often argued to be the greatest resource of a company. When employee’s values resonate with those of the corporation, they are more productive, loyal, and their work is meaningful. Aside from the positive impact these programs deliver to the bottom line, today’s employees are looking for more than just the ‘green’ in their paycheck.

Employees Want Growth Opportunities: Young people have always wanted to start on career paths with growth opportunities, and the opportunities related to ‘Green Jobs’ are growing exponentially.

Employees Want to Make a Difference: A MonsterTRACK study states that 80 percent of "young professionals" are interested in a career that makes a positive impact on the environment, and 92 percent prefer to work for a company that is ‘green’, environmentally friendly, or has some general eco awareness.

Employees Seek Energy-Conscious Employers: According to a poll by Mortgage Lenders Network USA (MLN), 94 percent of Americans prefer to work in a building that is designed to be energy efficient and ecologically sound, recognizing LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council as a common standard.

Employees Prefer Employers that offer Telecommuting: The necessity to physically change locations in order to accomplish a task has recently been challenged by employee value for energy conservation, environment impacts, family values, and other issues.

Employees Want Employers to Walk the Talk: In Portland, Oregon, your company isn’t really green unless you’ve got a bike cage in the parking structure, a compost bin in the lunchroom, fume-free paint on the walls, and have recycled glass on the lobby front desk.

Employees Gravitate towards a Common Sustainable Goals: Organizations that are creating business sustainability through an elevated sense of teamwork and establishing an emotional tie between the employee and the organization direction are attracting top talent.

Linking sustainability to employee engagement pairs corporate sustainability initiatives with the day to day activities of employees. It makes CSR more personable to an employee and helps employees to identify their role in corporate responsibility. The result? Happier, productive employees, strong business, and healthy planet.

How to Build Green Awareness in Your Business

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

In addition to executive management playing a critical role in the success of a company, business sustainability requires leadership across the entire organization. While management may ultimately carry the responsibility of sustainable business results, employees have a part to play in the definition and implementation of the company’s business sustainability programs.

As sustainability consultants, we are frequently asked, What are ways to build eco awareness in a business?   The quick answer: In building eco awareness into your business, we promote building of a comprehensive business sustainability program. However, we realize that sometimes starting small can lead to bigger gains. So, while a corporate sustainability plan may be our suggested path, there are other steps you can take as well.

"Green Teams", a formal or informal group of people in a company who are passionate about environmental issues, are gathering in offices across America to brainstorm solutions and promote ways in which their company's practices can become more environmentally sustainable. As explained in our sustainability consulting, a green team can reduce paper use, increase recycling, promote energy conservation, and more, making a huge difference within a department or building. Green teams also offer employee engagement opportunities.

Link eco awareness programs to existing company offerings, as in wellness programs.   Wellness programs have been uses as instruments to address weight reduction, reduced stress levels, improved physical fitness, health, and well being. They may include fitness, recreation, social activities and programs to enhance intellectual and spiritual development. Providing employees with wellness programs not only provides them a way to improve their health, but it also demonstrates corporate social responsibility.

Create individual employee sustainability programs: The basic premise of a personal sustainability program is to reduce your carbon footprint, lighten the load on the planet as well as reap the benefits of living a more sustainable lifestyle. Eco actions taken in a personal sustainability plan can be anything from riding a bike to work or eating organic healthy meals or recycling. It can also be about achieving a personal goal, sustaining it, and building from that platform.

Educate: Offer ongoing workshops, training, lunch and learns, and educational activities to educate workers on the environmental issues (energy, water, waste, and others) and the associated actions causing the problems. Identify new behavior and eco actions that individually workers can take to create new patterns of behavior and choices that support environmental solutions and are aligned with the company's overarching sustainability plan.   We've learned in our eco friendly training classes, the first part is educating; the harder part is changing the behavior. Ongoing education helps create lasting change.

Create a sustainable work environment: The benefits of a sustainable work environment include a healthier more sustainable workforce; a more productive workforce; attracts quality employees and reduces turnover. It also reduces lost work time related to health issues.

These efforts enable proactive businesses leaders to capture the benefits of sustainable business: reduce business costs, improve business reputation, and attract and maintain top job candidates.

Stakeholder Engagement Tips for Business Sustainability Leaders

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

Reviewing a recent Environmental Leader post, How to Engage in Sustainability with Higher Purpose, the author describes how most executives want to establish organizations and businesses that are sustainable for the long-run. To do so, these leaders understand that they must effectively engage with their stakeholders, especially their employees . But what is the most effective way?

The article offers its own personal insight into the characteristics of an effective stakeholder engagement program.

Engagement Is Not a Program: Leaders must provide mechanisms for involvement and ownership that are integrated into the culture and the work systems.

Leaders Must Follow Through: Effective engagement results from dedication and commitment. It cannot be viewed as merely a way to cut costs, or as a public relations initiative to impress the public.

Engagement Is Not a Tool: Engagement should not be viewed as transactional and impersonal. Build near-unbreakable bonds of trust and loyalty with your stakeholders, as well as a passion for excellence and advocacy.

Emotional Connections Come with a Higher Purpose: When a company communicates a vision of how it will contribute value not only to its shareholders but also to the world, employees can connect emotionally and get engaged.

Recognizing there is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach, we remain open to what others have achieved through both traditional and open culture approaches. The above recommendations offer some good guidelines to consider in the creation of your own program for increasing employee engagement.

Visit us at Taiga Company to lean more. Our sustainability consulting works with clients to implement stakeholder and social media engagement strategies as part of an overall business sustainability plan.

Exploring Sustainable Business Innovation Structures

Thursday, January 12, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

“The wave of creative destruction looming over companies like Eastman Kodak Co., Blockbuster Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc. and the record labels has been focusing the minds of American executives on two questions: Are large companies able to innovate quickly enough in an age of rapid disruption? And if they can, how do they do it?”

This lead-in to the Wall Street Journal post, Avoiding Innovation’s Toll, which describes the potential fate for many organizations lacking in creative and sustainable business models. In contrast, the article explains how companies that do manage to survive are ruthless about change.

An accelerated and comprehensive approach to traditional internal R&D programs is to allow the external world into the creative process. Our sustainability consulting firmly supports an open innovation approach to business sustainability. This offers stakeholders the opportunity to become engaged in the future of a business. It also recognizes that all key stakeholders have a vested interest in the success of the company and creates openness to new ideas that promote business success. The key is effectively engaging resources at all levels of the value chain.

Include sustainability concepts in your employee personal development plans.
Engage financial stakeholders in the sustainability conversation.
Set direction for business sustainability alignment within the supply chain.
Recognize the ‘innovative customer’ as a key contributor for new product development.

From our sustainability consulting experience, it is clear that innovation is essential for small businesses to thrive and survive over the next decade. However, the article above demonstrates how even the most stable of organizations can fall prey to stagnate business models. Taiga Company encourages every organization to leverage the creative powers of their stakeholder networks.

Exploring Stakeholder Engagement Strategies for 2012

Wednesday, January 4, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

A commonly held belief is that employees with a vested interest in the success of the company become much more aligned with the goals of the organization. Following along with this premise, our sustainability consulting asks: How should a company link stakeholder interests to sustainability concepts to business success? What are the most effective strategies?

Providing us with some insight, a recent GreenBiz article, 5 Companies, 5 Different Takes on Employee Engagement, discusses the many faces and complexities of a stakeholder engagement strategy. Specific to employee engagement, the post cites are a number of motivating factors which drive today’s companies. Some of the noted examples in the article include:

Encourage a Public Commitment: Motivate personal sustainability practices in support of a business sustainability pledge.

Define a Shared Vision: Encourage specific business sustainability action.

Provide Personalized Data: Help employees understand their individual sustainability opportunities through personalize participatory information.

Expand a Corporate Initiative: Foster personal development opportunities through specific business sustainability programs.

Nurture a New Method: Create energy and enthusiasm in the workplace.

As our sustainability has frequently discussed, business sustainability presents the unique opportunity to increase profitability, gain and maintain a competitive advantage over the competition, and create meaningful work in the process. This belief is supported by the above stakeholder engagement strategies which find a common thread in value alignment. By leveraging the expanding eco awareness and passions already present within your own group settings, your organization can promote daily engagement and facilitate meaningful team building.

Personal Sustainability – Challenge Yourself in 2012

Friday, December 23, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

“We pass through this life on the receiving end of a steady signal of partially reliable information that we only occasionally, and under duress, evaluate thoroughly. It’s unsettling to know that your judgment can be so heavily influenced by some random number and disturbing to realize it is probably happening all the time.”.

A quote taken from recent post, Why Our Minds Swap Out Hard Questions For Easy Ones, which explores the inspiration of personal action. Challenged by this perspective, our sustainability consulting revisits the personal sustainability conversation and its many drivers.

As the article suggests, we are constantly challenged by the expansion of our own awareness. In fact, we are all faced with an endless number of choices every day that can lead us in one direction or another. The true question: Is sustainability part of your decision making process and where will it lead you? Our sustainability consulting challenges you to integrate sustainability concepts into your daily thought processes and actions in 2012.

Make Sustainability Work for you in 2012

Tuesday, December 20, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

What is green living? Is it living off the grid? Living in a green house? Working at a green job? What exactly does it mean to be green?

A good portion of our sustainability consulting is really about helping executives and employees discover what sustainability means to them. In many ways, it is about transformation and discovery. Basically a process by discovering hidden treasures in daily habits that unite conscious habits and routines with eco awareness and eco actions to take. Most of us recognize that change can be unsettling. It can be scary, and too often it is just easier to slip back into a traditional and comfortable way of doing things. However, implementing effective sustainable change does not have to be a laboring process. How can we make sustainability work for us in 2012?

Create a plan - Personal sustainability programs are about making and sustaining a change in your life that you can be inspired and passionate about. Although a sustainability plan originates as a comprehensive one, your actions are the expression of that plan in daily life. Eco actions can be anything from riding a bike to work or using eco-friendly office supplies to eating organic healthy meals or recycling. It can also be about achieving a personal goal, sustaining it, and building from that platform. Ultimately, it's about making choices that feel good to you and generate an expectation of more and better to come in your life and the environment.

The basic premise of a personal sustainability program is to reduce your carbon footprint; lighten the load on the planet as well as be good to yourself, others, and your community.

Do the green thing via subcategory or importance. Categorizing gives awareness to the habit change as it relates to the sustainability concept. For instance, energy consumption and turning off a light as you leave a room, or replacing bulbs, or using an energy strip. Another perspective is to prioritize the habit as it relates to environmental impact. If your carbon footprint is large due to travel, then explore ways to reduce your travel. Suggestions made in our eco friendly consulting include: telework, virtual conferences, and green travel options.

Schedule time. If the habit requires a new way of doing things, then schedule time to learn the new habit, integrate it into your routine, and make adjustments as you learn. Bike commuting would be an excellent example of embracing a new habit, reducing your carbon footprint, yet, requiring time to learn and develop a new routine.

Reward and Review. The process of linking sustainable living with new opportunities for development creates a personal incentive that further promotes the process. Sustainable actions are reinforced daily by positive feedback from realizing your personal goals.

Each of us has a role to play. What is it that you specifically care about? Is it the natural beauty in your neighborhood? The campsite you visit each year? Spotting wildlife? Maybe it's that first breath of fresh air as you step outside to go to work each day. Connect with that, and take eco action to support that. Explore the habits and areas of your life that you can take eco action to support the environment that you love. Your actions are a green beacon of light to others calling them forth to find the value, the eco actions for them to support the environment that they love. Inspiring eco awareness in others makes sustainability work for us all.

Going Car-Free Can Make You a Millionaire!

Friday, December 2, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

We are paying more for our cars than we realize.

Motor vehicle emissions represent 31 percent of total carbon dioxide, 81 percent of carbon monoxide, and 49 percent of nitrogen oxides released in the U.S. (The Green Commuter, a publication of the Clean Air Council).

According to the Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, 25 percent of all trips are made within a mile of the home, 40 percent of all trips are within two miles of the home, and 50 percent of the working population commutes five miles or less to work. Yet more than 82 percent of trips five miles or less are made by personal motor vehicle. 60 percent of the pollution created by automobile emissions happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively. Since "cold starts" create high levels of emissions, shorter car trips are more polluting on a per-mile basis than longer trips.

The solution? Go car free.

As mentioned in our eco friendly consulting practice, cycling as alternative transportation helps the environment by keeping CO2 out of the air and bikes require far less materials, energy and waste in their production than even the ‘greenest’ car.

More so, the University of Wisconsin researchers found that bicycling could answer many of their environmental and health problems. According to the report published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives, if Mid-westerners replaced half of their short trips with bicycle trips during the warmest six months of the year, they would save about $3.8 billion per year from avoided mortality and reduced health care costs for conditions like obesity and heart disease. The report calculated that these measures would save an estimated $7 billion, including 1,100 lives each year from improved air quality and increased physical fitness. The lengths of trips in the study were 2.5 miles one way and less than 25-minutes by bike.

As it is, bike commuting not only helps the environment and improves well being, but it also saves money. A few bike parking vs. car parking statistics:

Number of bikes that can be parked in one car parking space in a paved lot: 6 – 20.
Number of racks for bicycle parking in Seattle: 1,900.
Estimated cost of constructing one parking space in a paved lot: $2,200.
Estimated cost of constructing one parking space in a garage: $12,500. (for more information click here).

Play with the idea: a typical American who goes car-free for 35 years can save over a million dollars. How so? Check out the Owning a Car vs. Not Owning a Car Calculator.

Within our sustainability consulting practice, we consider bike commuting as a win-win for both businesses and individuals looking to reduce costs, embrace eco awareness, and adhere to business and personal sustainability programs.

Personal Sustainability Plan for 2012: What's Yours?

Thursday, December 1, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

The web is full of information and advice on personal sustainability, sometimes to the point that it can put one into information overload. However if you are looking for a ‘how-to’ path to personal sustainability, you are more likely to discover a variety of definitions, perspectives, and approaches to applying general sustainability concepts. While general concepts can be used to describe the broad topic of ‘sustainability’, our personal consulting experience has led us to understand that each individual has a unique and personal story in the pursuit of a sustainable lifestyle.

In a recent post, Finding the ‘You’ in Your Personal Sustainability Plan, we discuss how what works for one may not be the right fit for another. Personal sustainability truly is about defining what works for you. So, how do you create a personal sustainability plan that will work for you in 2012?

We mention several options in our eco friendly training:

Take the 90 Day Better Life Challenge
Create A Personal 20-20-20 Plan
Use the The 7 Day Green Power Pledge to jump start living green.

While you may be jump starting your 2012 with green ambitions, it's important to recognize that personal sustainability is a continuous improvement process that challenges an individual to constantly expand personal eco awareness. This may seem obvious but it is so true. There isn’t any one single defined path to sustainable living: there isn’t a beginning and there isn’t an end. Personal sustainability is your journey of discovery.

Embark on the green living journey in 2012 and see where it takes you!

Your Low Waste Diet for 2011 Holiday Season

Thursday, November 24, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

According to the EPA, household waste jumps an astounding 25 percent between Thanksgiving and the New Year. For those living a sustainable lifestyle, the trick to a successful holiday season is knowing how to enjoy the holidays while also minimizing waste.

As a green living consultant, I'm often asked, “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.

To help you enjoy the holidays and trim your waste, following are eco actions we suggest in our eco friendly consultling programs:

As mentioned in our business sustainability programs , each day we are presented with opportunities to expand our eco awareness and make informed choices. By making changes that are inspiring and manageable relative your current life, the process of minimizing waste becomes much easier. Each of us evolves on our personal sustainability path and collectively, we advance us all forward to a brighter future.

Consumer Energy Awareness Grows - How Are You Plugging In?

Monday, November 21, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

The first step in getting people to change the way they consume energy is making them aware that change is afoot. When it comes to lighting technologies, in particular, it seems that consumer awareness is growing. According to the NY Times post, Americans Waking Up to Light Bulb Changeover, for the first time, a majority of Americans now know that federal legislation will eliminate “most traditional incandescent lighting by 2014. A new survey conducted by the lighting manufacturer Osram Sylvania found that 55 percent of respondents were aware of that fact, up from 36 percent in 2010 and 26 percent in 2009.

Taking it to a more personal level, are you aware of your habits related to energy? Have you explored ideas as to how you could be more efficient? Conscious awareness is key to sparking the eco awareness in a personal sustainability program. Following are eco- tips to get you started on being the energy superstar that you are!

• Replace dead light bulbs with CFLs and watch your energy savings increase.

• Buy a programmable thermostat. By setting your thermostat on a timer you’ll save energy but still enjoy heating and cooling when you need it most.

• Lower the temperature on your water heater by a few degrees to save gas and/or electricity.

• As old appliances fail, purchase new appliances with the Energy Star rating.

• Reduce unnecessary electrical consumption: unplug seldom used devices (think cell phones and iPods). Only 5% of the power drawn by a cell phone charger is used to charge the phone. The other 95% is wasted when it is left plugged into the wall.

• Utilize power strips for commonly used devices. Choices include Watt stopper and Bits limited.

• Close the fireplace damper tight when the heating season is over.

• Wash full loads when using the washing machine or clothes dryer.

• Using less hot water around the house saves energy too. Launder clothes in cold or warm water and take a shower instead of a bath.

• Plant shrubs and trees around the air conditioning condenser to improve its operating efficiency. The shade makes it work less to cool the refrigerant circulating from the inside air handler. In fact, the Arbor Day Foundation offers ten free shade trees when you purchase an annual membership.

• For help on buying energy saving appliances, check out Natural Resource Defense Council

• Explore your options for tax credits for installing energy efficient appliances.

• Learn more ways to save energy at EnergySavers.

Small efforts such as these executed in a personal sustainability program consistently over time, contribute to improved energy efficiency and cost savings for your home- making you an energy efficient superstar.

How Much Are We Recycling America? Today is America Recycles Day

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

Why does the recycling symbol have three chasing arrows?

Each arrow represents one step in the three step process that completes the recycling loop. The first arrow is the collection step. The second arrow is the manufacturing process in which recyclable materials are converted into new products and the third arrow represents the step where consumers purchase products made with recycled content.

Today is America Recycles Day and consumers and businesses alike are taking eco action on the first step in the recycling symbol. Today is a day of enhanced eco awareness regarding the importance of recycling, educating on the” how and what” to recycle as well as inspiring others to take eco action and commit to recycling for the next year and beyond.

Recycling is part of a corporate or personal sustainability plan and offers several benefits aside from the obvious environmental attributes. Businesses can lower cost for waste removal, capture tax credits for recycling market development, and link a corporate sustainability plan to an employee's daily activity through recycling programs.

We've found in our eco friendly training, that most people living a sustainable lifestyle help the recycling effort by putting materials in their recycling bin but fail to realize the importance of completing the recycling loop by purchasing recycled products and reusing items.

Also, a common question asked in our eco friendly training is how to reduce consuming in the first place? That addresses the sustainability concept of reuse from a different angle - that is, if you need to buy one item for a single use, how can you avoid purchasing it? You can do your party by taking eco action to consume sustainably. Next time you are ready to buy, educate yourself with eco awareness. We state in our sustainability consulting practice, recycling resources are plentiful! Get in on the action and take eco action today - Recycle!

• Earth911

• E-Waste: Responsible Disposal Options

• I Recycle links and resources

• Take the pledge

Infographic - A Throw Away Culture: How Much do We Really Recycle?

Thanksgiving and a New World of Sustainability

Monday, November 14, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

Thanksgiving: Days to eat turkey, watch football, and give personal thanks for the fortunes of the year. It is also an opportunity to reflect and give thanks for the eco accomplishments and the improved personal sustainability accomplishment gained in our life.

When the Pilgrims came to the ‘New World’, they quickly learned that survival would not be based on “Old World” thinking or the way of life they left behind. They would have to engage with the native people and embrace a whole new set of sustainable skills.

Like these settlers experiencing a new frontier, today’s “New World” still emerging before us requires the same expansion in thought and understanding. Each year, our sustainability consulting practice reflects on the lessons learned by the settlers in the story of the first Thanksgiving and compares our own expanded social and eco awareness over the past year.

• How do we interact with the environment to in a way that provides what we need but does not compromise our future?

• How do we interact with increasing global society of varying cultures?

• How do we incorporate the knowledge gained from both to improve our current state?

• How do we maintain this knowledge and action to ensure personal sustainability?

The story of Thanksgiving is a celebration of expanded eco awareness and the bounty that resulted from applied knowledge. Our own story, not yet written, is a journey of not only survival but boundless growth. Similar to the Pilgrims coming to the ‘New World’, it requires an openness to trade traditional thinking for new ideas and sustainability concepts.

What do Executives Need to Know About Employee Engagement?

Monday, November 7, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

While today’s executives are presented with the unique opportunity to increase profitability through greater eco awareness and the pursuit of sustainable business practices, our sustainability consulting firm believes the engaged employee has a definable path to rise. What do executives need to know about employee engagement? That it matters.

What exactly is the value of engagement at work?

Evidence for engagement - grow profit

The Corporate Leadership Council reports that engaged organizations grew profits as much as three times faster than their competitors. They found that highly engaged organizations have 87% less staff turnover and 20% better performance than average.
A global survey by Tower Perrins-ISR, involving more than 664,000 employees in 50 companies, found that the operating income of companies with engaged employees improved by 19% in one year, while it declined by 33% for companies with low levels of employee engagement.
Fully engaged employees are 2.5 times more likely to exceed performance expectations than their disengaged colleagues.
59% of engaged employees say their job brings out their most creative ideas against only 3% for disengaged employees.

How can sustainability help with employee engagement?

Evidence for engagement - corporate social responsibility

While many factors – such as leadership, integrity, immediate management and fair treatment – influence employee engagement, increasing evidence shows that performance on sustainable development also plays part. For example, a survey by Ipsos Mori10 found that:
70% of employees with a favorable perception of their company’s community engagement plan to stay for the next 2 years vs. 50% of those with a less favorable perception.
75% would recommend their company if they feel it is environmentally responsible vs. fewer than 50% if it is not.
47% of jobseekers are more likely to join/stay with a company that addresses social issues.
75% of employees who consider their employers to pay enough attention to environmental protection and sustainable development exhibit higher levels of commitment.

What are the some sustainable business strategies to engage employees?

Tying corporate sustainability initiatives to day to day processes makes CSR more personable to an employee and helps employees to identify their role in corporate responsibility. Sustainable business strategies to consider for employee engagement include:

Energy efficiency: Employee engagement is an effective, but possibly underutilized strategy for improving energy efficiency . In fact, energy efficiency can be a gateway to wider business innovation and engage stakeholders in broader process evaluations.
Corporate volunteering: Engaging employees in corporately supported volunteering is an essential piece of all credible CSR programs that translates CSR values to action.
Green teams are formal or informal groups of people in a company organized around environmental issues and tasked with ways to promote sustainable business practices. Green teams are excellent in spearheading eco efficiency programs: paper reduction, recycling programs, promote energy conservation, and more, making a huge difference within a department. Great for team building too.
Create individual employee sustainability programs. The basic premise of a personal sustainability program is to reduce the carbon footprint, lighten the load on the planet as well as reap the benefits of living a more sustainable lifestyle. Eco actions taken in a personal sustainability plan can be anything from riding a bike to work or eating organic healthy meals or recycling.
Educate: Offer ongoing workshops, training, lunch and learns, and educational activities to educate workers on the environmental issues (energy, water, waste, and others) and the associated actions causing the problems. Identify new behavior and eco actions that individually workers can take to create new patterns of behavior and choices that support environmental solutions and are aligned with the company's overarching sustainability plan.

The Karma of Personal Sustainability

Friday, November 4, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

What is Karma? Karma is a Sanskrit word that means "action." Karma has commonly been considered a punishment for past bad actions, but karma is neither judge nor jury. Rather, it is simply the universal law of cause and effect that says every thought, word and act carries energy into the world and affects our present reality.

From sustainability viewpoint, how does karma apply? Consider the qualities of kindness, generosity and willingness related to our planet, its resources, and communities which we live:

• Kindness in a sustainable lifestyle is not only being kind to our planet, but kind to each other. Compassion for where each of us is in relation to the green path.

• Generosity in green living is not only sharing eco awareness and eco resources, but also going above and beyond to inspire, promote, and encourage others on the green path.

• Willingness in green living is demonstrating your values through eco action and generating results.

As noted in our eco friendly consulting, green living evolves. For those well versed in sustainability concepts, a sustainable lifestyle may be very different compared to someone just beginning to make sustainable life changes. Keeping the karma in balance, there are eco actions that can be categorized in different areas of our lives.

• Protect natural resources: start by rethinking consumption patterns for energy and water needs and identify ways to curb unnecessary consumption.

• Limit waste: start by eliminating food waste. Pre plan your meals, buy in bulk, and prepare what you need. Compost and turn your old food into healthy soil.

• The post, Green living: How to Shop Green, illustrates how to purchase items with the eco awareness in mind.

• Inspire others: adopt a green attitude. The post, The Benefits to Living a Green Lifestyle, offers inspiration to begin taking eco action.

• Measure your results! SAP's Carbon Exploration: Your Personal Green Scorecard for Green Living highlights areas for improvements in living green.

While eco awareness is important, demonstrating sustainability values through eco action is key. "Like a beautiful flower that is colorful but has no fragrance, even well spoken words bear no fruit in one who does not put them into practice." ~ Dhammapada, Sayings of the Buddha, Pali Cannon

How Your Job Can Be Titled, "Head of Sustainability"

Thursday, November 3, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

Just recently, Unilever Australia launched a new employee engagement campaign that aims to increase ownership and understanding of the company’s new Sustainable Living Plan. In a nutshell, the campaign is designed so that every Unilever employee in Australia and New Zealand receives a personalized ‘Head of Sustainability’ business card, along with a ‘job manual’ outlining Unilever’s business case for sustainability and why each employee has been given the new title.

While US organizations and businesses may be lagging in the adoption of sustainability titles there are opportunities for self directed green programs. Sure, well meaning executives may have good intentions toward starting the recycling center or monitoring and measuring energy use, but leadership alone is not responsible for leading eco action. We all are!

As mentioned in the post, Sustainability: Two Sides of the Same Coin, shaping our future takes both sides of the sustainability coin- business and personal. Whether led by a sustainability executive or traditional management, your role in a sustainable organization can have an impact. You can create your own self titled green job by embracing sustainability concepts at work regardless of your current position. Here's how:

Consider your approach to your current position. No one knows your job better than you. You have a better chance of discovering ways to improve processes and integrate sustainability concepts than anyone. Perform your job from the perspective of how can I do my job in a more eco friendly manner.

• Take eco action in your daily activities: recycle, commit to paperless, share with others what you are doing and why you are doing it and get them involved.

• Engage management by incorporating sustainability concepts in your personal development plan.

• Take on new sustainability roles and projects in the organization: start a recycling program, lead a paper free initiative, host a lunch and learn providing local and organic foods

• Become the “go-to” person for all things green

• Expand your corporate green network: engage in internal business activities, networking events, internal and external training, professional organizations, and business communities. An easy option to engage in your company’s community outreach programs.

Now, see how this applies to different roles within the organization:

• Supply Chain Professionals: these roles interface with the company’s supply chain and can implement new sources of supply or work with current suppliers to incorporate sustainability concepts that improve operations. Procurement play a role in coordinating sustainable purchasing practices across various departments within the organization.

• Environmental, Health, and Safety Professionals: these roles interface with the company’s operations and establish and implement the company’s sustainability policies. They can also function as a communication vehicle to the organization.

• Sales and Marketing Professionals: these key roles interface with the company’s customers represent the face of business sustainability and communicate the organizations values and commitment to sustainability. Sales and Marketing link consumer preferences for sustainable products with the offerings of the company.

• Human Resource Professionals: these key roles interface have a key role to play to help a company achieve its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives. HR professionals are encouraged to check out the new book, CSR for HR by Elaine Cohen for sustainable impact within the organization.

With an official title Head of Sustainability or not, you have the opportunity to transform your current job towards a sustainable one. At its essence, the work of a Head of Sustainability is work that transforms our environment and gives back in a meaningful way. It is the reward of expanding eco awareness through deliberate eco action that generates shifts in business and personal lives.

Community Building- A Fundamental to Business Success

Thursday, October 27, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

Most companies today recognize, at least at a high-level, the consequences and negative impacts of their choices on the communities in which they conduct their day-to-day business. Some also employ outreach programs designed to make a positive impact in the local community. However, the evolving face of business sustainability is requiring companies to take it a step further.

Business sustainability is noted as providing solutions to complex problems; specifically in business and community development, it can create solutions sparked by unusual pairings. What are the means in which to grow your business through community building? Match your company values with partnering organizations in the community. Focus on:

• Shared interest

• Creating a win/win outcome

• Meeting commitments to the local community

• Delivering on social business targets

• Building local trust

• Improving stakeholder relations

• Developing a skilled local supplier base

Noting key relationship to leverage is important. Uniting or partnering with suppliers, customers, and employees to collectively contribute to the local community for a common cause allows sustainability plans to synergize in a way neither organization can achieve on its own and also powerfully contribute on a local level. These kinds of partnerships lead to beneficial back scratching -to affect change and get a better grounding for the corporate social responsibility programs and business sustainability strategies.

Another option? Corporate volunteering. Engaging employees in corporate volunteer programs transforms the corporate vision into tangible, qualified action. By tying corporate sustainability initiatives to day to day processes, it makes a corporate sustainability plan more personable to an employee and helps employees to identify their role in corporate responsibility. The vision is experienced differently with an emotional link formed between the employee, the organization, and community.

From a business sustainability perspective, no one company can stand alone. Business exists in a matrix of business and community stakeholder interactions. These value adding relationships include the interests of employees, supporting organizations, and the community as a whole bridging traditional business to better business for us all.

Are You an Uber Greenie?

Monday, October 17, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

Uber: The ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than.

Do you practice eco excellence? Bring your best self to work? Are you a green gardener of inspiration? As Albert Einstein said, "It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it."

From a sustainability perspective, that can take many forms. As in, caring for the Earth's resources from a physical and material perspective, but also in how our individual thoughts and behavior shapes that caring. A question to ponder: How are we as individuals contributing back to the world through our attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors?

Spot an Uber greenie and you are bound to know! They are the eco friendly people connecting the dots between good intentions and eco action. What exactly does this look like? Uber greenies take the opportunity to engage others in sustainability conversation. How so? They spice up the discussion with some personal topics of eco awareness. You can be an Uber greenie too. Any one typical conversation can be a segway into an exploration of sustainability concepts, how you've embraced personal sustainability and inspire others to do the same.

• Talk about the weather- Grow that typical conversation about local weather patterns into an expanding discussion about climate change. Take the lead and solicit opinions about global warming, pollution, emissions, or a host of other environmental issues and opportunities related to the weather.

• Talk about work- Turn that uninspiring workplace problem into an exploration of business sustainability solutions. Leverage those issues into a discussion of business innovation, operational efficiencies, or exciting new technologies.

• Talk about family and children- Explore conversations about green living, eco travel, or fun green activities for the kids.

• Talk about projects around the house? There are a number of topics to choose from, either though personal experience or thoughts of doing in the future. As a starter, energy efficiency is always a conversation starter for home improvement projects and appliance upgrades.

Have fun with it, see where the conversation goes, and applaud yourself for being an uber greenie spreading green goodness and sharing eco awareness with others!