Sustainable Living Consultant

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.

Managing Risk as a Business Opportunity

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

The next time you have a moment, try a simple exercise: write down the five biggest risks facing your company, the five biggest opportunities on the immediate horizon, and the five most important pieces of information you are lacking that could have a huge impact to future success. You may be surprised to see business sustainability concepts are all over the page. The ability to connect the dots on the paper requires the right business intelligence resources to capture and leverage the information.

What is on your sheet? In our professional consulting, the most common feedback we receive from business leaders is: there aren’t any business sustainability opportunities on my paper. Why should I pursue action without reward? The answer is simple: managing risk can become a business opportunity. Consider sustainability as a profit center: crazy talk or real possibility?

According to an Aberdeen Group study, The ROI of Sustainability: Making the Business Case, top performing organizations view sustainability as a "must have" strategy for long term business viability and success.

Whether your company is just becoming familiar with the concept of business sustainability or is sustainability leader in your industry, sustainable performance can no longer be viewed as an option. If valued by your stakeholders, sustainability can become a risk or an opportunity. According to BSR, reviewing and reflecting on business sustainability strategies is especially important for companies with investors who care about why and how they expect to create value with their efforts.

Implementing sustainable business strategies in any organization requires a complex mixture of finesse: realistic, achievable and measurable. Finding that magical balance is what is required to make change stick.

• Define Value - each organization identifies value differently - what is it from their perspective?
• Bridge the Gap - Connect the dots from the current status to the vision by helping those to capture their own vision and define a path forward to live into it
• Speak the Business Language - Tie Business objectives to sustainability. What gets measured gets managed. Hence, identify key metrics and tie to the bottom line.
• Bridge Up - what existing programs wrap up to an overarching sustainability plan?
• Who's at the table? Invite all stakeholders to the table to include buy in from all.

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.

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.

Twitter Tools for #EcoMonday

Monday, January 30, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

If you have an interest in green, business sustainability, nature, sustainable lifestyle, corporate social responsibility, or topics similar AND you are on twitter, then #ecomonday is your day! What exactly is #Ecomonday? It's the exclusive channel for monitoring the #EcoMonday Twitter stream in real time. This is where the Green Tweeps are referred and followed. Ecomonday has evolved not only to recommend people to follow, but also recommending specific web-pages and blogs, as well as recommending eco-businesses.

We wrote last week about Who are the Tweeps Tweeting for A Better Green Brand? and while that list and those mentioned in #ecomonday twitter stream are great finds to follow for information, resources, and engaged dialogue, keeping up with twitter can be a daunting task. What are some of the tools used to maximize time and effectiveness with social media engagement? As sustainability consultants specializing in social media for green businesses, in this video we explore three tools: SocialOomph.com, FriendOrFollow.com, and FollowFridayHelper.com, to help our green friends identify who your most engaged followers are so you can powerfully build your green twitter community.

The biggest contribution anyone can make in the sustainability space is to share, communicate, and inspire others by living the example of how sustainability works in your life or business.
If you liked this power tip, you'll love our 8-week, self-guided Social Media for Sustainability Professionals program, offered by Strategic Sustainability Consulting and Taiga Company.

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.

Business Blogging for a Sustainable Purpose

Thursday, January 19, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

How does the old adage go? Two aspirin a day keeps the doctor away? Well, we subscribe to the idea that blogging 2 posts a day, inspires eco action each day. Truth be told, as sustainability consultants, we like to lead by example.

Within our business sustainability consulting practice, it's not uncommon to encounter those executives that say sustainability is too hard, too resource intensive, or that it's a passing trend. With big aspirations, 3 years ago Taiga Company set out with the intention of writing 2 blog post each day to dispel the myth that sustainability and living a sustainable lifestyle is hard. Blogging is sort of like writing an essay. Imagine writing 2 essays, every week day, in addition to your regular workload, the requirements of your personal life, sick or not sick, holiday or not holiday, vacation or no vacation…you get the picture.

There are ups and downs in life and there are easy days and harder days. While it's easy to be green or execute sustainable business strategies when things are good, most fall short when the challenges increase. The intention of writing 2 blog post each weekday is a living example that you do the best you can with what you've got. Some post are great. Others, not so great. But, the posts demonstrate the commitment to sustainability regardless of the ebbs and flows of life. And, it demonstrates that sustainability isn't all or nothing. Short story: we all can take eco action daily and we don't have to be perfect about how we do it.

So what about blogging for a sustainable purpose? To have an impact in communicating the sustainability business strategies of your business or consulting firm, it's not required that you blog as frequently. However, there are benefits to blogging. Blogging on sustainability related topics offers a host of benefits: insights to new, fresh perspectives of sustainability; a resource for tools, services, white papers; and more importantly, how your business is leading in the sustainability space.

If you are new to blogging you may not realize there are ways to spread the great green news that you are writing about in your blog posts.

Consider building your community of linking your blog post to LinkedIn and Facebook updates.
Engage with stakeholders on Twitter to promote relationships.
Collaborate and participate in conversation on LInkedIn groups specific to sustainability concepts of water, energy, and carbon.

The biggest contribution anyone can make in the sustainability space is to share, communicate, and inspire others by living the example of how sustainability works in your life or business. Blogging as a sustainable purpose is a vehicle that offers a communication channel so others can learn from your eco actions and discover the value of sustainability for themselves.

If this blog entry whetted your appetite for more information about how sustainability professionals can use blogging to grow their business, you may be interested in our 8-week, self-guided, online course called Social Media for Sustainability Professionals. It includes an entire section devoted to blogging (with additional sections focused on websites, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and more!)—including how to use categories to properly tag and organize your blog entries, how to come up with blog content, and how to properly manage your time on the blog.

Taiga's Favorite Sustainability Post for 2011

Wednesday, December 28, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

2011 has been a wonderful year for Taiga Company. Not only have we reached over 25,000 twitter followers but our blog reach has exploded beyond expectations. Extending deep gratitude to all who have helped promote, share, and "pollinated" green goodness in our world, we thank you.

If you've been reading for some time, you are familiar with our sustainability consulting views: thoughts create our world. Sustainable leadership paves the way for others to follow and by living an inspiring life demonstrating eco awareness, you invite and empower others to find the value in a sustainable lifestyle for themselves. In that spirit, we offer our favorite Taiga posts of 2011. While they were some of the top sustainability posts on our blog this year, we hope they will be a platform of green inspiration in the year to come.

If you've enjoyed these post, please consider subscribing to our blog or newsletter. We welcome you to join the sustainability conversation on Twitter and Facebook too! Happy 2012!

Permission: A Guiding Force in Greening Your 2012

Monday, December 26, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

Today, escalating conversations on topics such as climate change, carbon legislation, energy independence, and growing consumer eco awareness generate forward eco movement for some but simultaneously create confusion and skepticism for others. While many New Year's resolutions were made to address these issues, many find that those resolutions are too big of a chunk to bite off. So what are meaningful ways to create and keep green New Year's Resolutions?

At Taiga Company, we use a softened approach in our sustainability consulting practice to assist clients to ease the transition from "eco curious” to "eco living". Permission is one key to dissolving resistance, confusion, and stagnation in moving forward in a sustainable lifestyle. Allowing yourself to have permission to NOT do something gives you the freedom to explore what it is you WANT to do. Consider giving permission in these ways to promote eco action:

It's okay to focus eco action in particular areas of interest or inspiration.

It's okay to address less interesting areas of eco awareness later.
A sustainable lifestyle is not an all or nothing approach.
Living a sustainable lifestyle is not a single cookie cutter solution that applies uniformly to everyone. Each individual finds the value in it for themselves.
Each eco action you take on behalf of the environment does make a difference.
Aim to incorporate sustainable actions that easily fit into your current lifestyle.
There are shades to green living. There will always be room for improvement.
Celebrate your successes and continually approach life seeking eco awareness in your choices and your habits.

Just thinking about sustainability or even a sustainable lifestyle can be daunting subject to anyone when viewed in its entirety. By making changes that are inspiring and manageable relative your current lifestyle, the process of incorporating sustainability becomes much easier - and easier to keep those green New Year's resolutions.

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.

3 Green Stocking Stuffers for your Inbox

Monday, December 5, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

For many, this year has marked a desire to expand personal growth in eco awareness and a desire for personal improvement. Now, as the year closes and we find ourselves uniting with friends and family for the holiday season, it's a time to share and reflect with our loved ones. Many will share personal stories of how eco awareness has shaped their lives. Hopefully, some of those stories will be inspiring to others.

The fact is, the more informed we all are, the better choices we can make to support our lives, protect natural resources, and positively contribute to our communities and the world around us. When you think about it, each day we are presented with opportunities to expand eco awareness and make informed choices. By making changes that are inspiring and manageable relative our current lives, the process of incorporating sustainability becomes much easier.

How can we spread eco awareness and holiday cheer this season? One suggestion made in our eco friendly training is subscribe to a favorite green newsletter. Somewhat of a virtual stocking stuffer for your inbox. It's like getting little presents throughout the year offering tidbits of useful information that can spark creativity, new ideas, and a fun fresh way of integrating eco awareness into your day. Enjoy!

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.

10 Sustainable Business Trends Worth Knowing for 2012

Tuesday, November 22, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

What can the World’s Most Ethical (WME) companies teach us about business success? Well, on average, companies that go beyond simple ‘ethical’ claims out-perform their peers. In fact, this year’s WME honorees generated 30% greater returns than the S&P 500, demonstrating a strong correlation between responsible actions and business success.

2012 business planning is well underway. How is your business embracing sustainability? Are you aware of the growing sustainability trends and how they might impact your business? Here's what our sustainability consulting practice sees on the horizon for sustainable business trends in 2012:

Big and small firms continue to join forces. Continued B2B collaboration.
Continuation of private/ public NGO forces uniting for greater good
Continued focus on biodiversity from a business perspective (see, Dow Asks, What's the Business Case for Protecting Nature?)
Water: access to water, water management, water in the supply chain
Transparency and reporting - especially integrated reporting of financial and sustainability reports. A growth in the number of organizations reporting as noted by the Carbon Disclosure Project.
Green Supply Chain - elevating sustainable supply chain management as a strategic business sustainability function
Local and organic food gains more momentum
Emerging markets and their impact
Wider adaptation of social media for stakeholder engagement
The role of boards: oversight and inclusion of business sustainability mandates

While some argue that sustainability is a passing trend, profitable businesses are not. Sustainable business strategies are designed to bring eco awareness and sustainability concepts to employees, customers, and suppliers which brings value to the organization and also broaden and expand sustainability concepts into the communities and lives of the individuals. How does your business plan to embrace these sustainability trends in 2012?

The Key to Business Growth is a Sustainable Core

Monday, November 21, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

When one reviews a company, the distinguishing factors that often and most obviously jump out are the products and services the organization provides. Drilling down further, one might find that the true defining characteristics are the competencies that went into the producing them. These competencies are based on the strength of the company’s talent and the core values of the business. Thus, our sustainability consulting believes the definition and development of a company's core is critical to business sustainability.

In our professional consulting practice, we find that many companies live and die by the quality and effectiveness of core business processes. However, building and strengthening the company’s core in today’s environment takes more than management or the actions of any one person. Many companies are looking to sustainability as a means to engage the organization and build on core competencies.

Reviewing the Inc.com post, 4 Steps to Super-size Your Growth , we find support for our business sustainability theory. As he article explains in a defined process, “You need not look further than your core business to unlock your company's growth potential”.

• Define and understand your core

• Lower the waterline by restructuring high-cost operations

• Pare back your least profitable, non-core customers and products

• Focus your growth efforts on your profitable core

Our sustainability consulting practice works with businesses to understand the value of a sustainable business core. By leveraging sustainability as a fundamental business goal, we have already observed the successes of highly effective companies who are creating business sustainability cultures with engaged and focused resources. Is it time for your business to some work on its core?

Business Sustainability as a Transformative Process

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

In contrast to the current economic forces, business sustainability is creating a bright spot of opportunity for new and evolving business. Specifically, leading organizations are finding ways to address today’s challenges and transform economic roadblocks into business sustainability opportunities. Currently there are several trends continuing to create business and individual opportunity. Our sustainability consulting practice keeps a watchful eye on the leading-edge of this pursuit, as we now explore business transformation.

In an Industry Week article, Achieving Transformative Success Requires Convergence, the author discusses the need to adapt to the dynamics of today’s business environment. Reviewing some historic business missteps and the business sustainability challenges of today, Industry Week searches for answers in the convergence of organizational structures, processes, and information flows.

“We are living in a transformative age, and no industry is immune to waves of change. The business landscape has never been more littered with the remains of companies that rose to great heights only to have their fortunes plummet because they were unable to transform themselves as times changed. Now more than ever we need to question and rethink each thing we do -- leaving no stone unturned, and asking what's working, what isn't, and why?”

As the guidance offered in the post goes on to explain, sustainable business transformation is a necessity in order to respond to the challenges today. Thus, the author offers what is refered to as "The Transformation Triangle". This three pronged approach includes:

• Business Agility -- the ability to sense changes in economic conditions and competitive landscape, and proactively implement a response.

• Sustained Innovation -- the ability to develop new products, services, and methodologies that advance beyond the competition through repeatable processes.

• Operational Excellence -- the ability to consistently deliver cost-effective services at defined performance levels to internal and external customers.

With the changing landscape of business and greater evidence now pointing to sustainability as critical component to future business success, the companies that are ready to get started today can make some quick progress. Leveraging internal knowledge and enthusiasm for sustainable business programs is a great way to engage the entire organization and an easy place to start. Whether your company leverages the insight above or inspiration from some other source, the pursuit of business sustainability transformation has become a true best practice.

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?

Sustainable Workforce Planning – It’s About More than Just the Green

Tuesday, November 8, 2011 by Julie Urlaub

Much of today’s popular literature, respected research, and professional consulting advice agree that best-in-class talent management companies can generate as much as 7% greater revenue and profit performance over their less talent-focused peers. However, these same resources also report that 80% of business executives are under-committed or ineffective at talent management. This leaves our sustainability consulting with one basic question: how should today’s business leaders become talent champions and boost the sustainable performance of their organization?

"Company after company just puts a toe in the water on this. They very gingerly move incentives from one unit to the next. It should be a managed, corporate-level strategy, not just a one-off in a local unit." -Gerry Ledford, Ledford Consulting Network

Our sustainability consulting turns its attention to the Corporate Executive Board, where each quarter they offer guidance relevant to the pressing issues of the time. In a recent release, the board focused its insight on Becoming a Talent Champion. The Executive Guidance for 2011 directs business leaders to refocus on five talent activities, beyond traditional compensation structures.

• Identify and engage your high-potential staff based on traditional and non-traditional knowledge and skill sets.

• Link strategic business sustainability planning and talent planning.

• Spend less time on lower-value, day-to-day talent management activities.

• Create and hold green teams accountable for talent engagement and development.

• Enable your HR team beyond routine interactions to develop and manage sustainable talent.

Once a company identifies and attracts the right employee, building and motivating the organization becomes the real challenge. We have seen many companies live and die by the quality and effectiveness of their staff. Thus, the highly effective organizations of today are creating business sustainability cultures to create new and more relevant incentives.

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