FRAM SYSTEMS ^blog

First, the Diatribe

Green. The color of grass, Kermit the Frog and money. With the rising awareness of the impact of human industrial endeavor on the ecology of our planet, awareness is also rising about the impact on the world economy. Let’s face it, we as a species have been takers for far too long. We take coal and oil from the ground and convert them into energy to power our standard of living and spew millions of tons sulfur, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other metals into the air we must breathe. We decimate forest and farms for wood and agriculture to sustain us and kill entire species of plants and animals. We bury our waste products in the land and dump it in our oceans. We over fish those same waters and wonder why our catches are ever smaller and sicker. We’ve been selfish and we’ve been bad and we’ve been ignorant. But we are waking up to the fact that our behavior has consequences and that we must act decisively and soon to avert the crisis that looms in the near future or suffer the consequences of our actions.

To look at it another way, our actions as a species are no different than the actions of one individual. If a person is selfish, ignorant and uncaring he or she may behave in an abhorrent manner and destroy themselves and others: crime, drug abuse and alcoholism and are a few destructive and selfish behaviors. However if a person is selfless, aware and caring they will behave in a manner that that builds builds up others and the community: altruism, volunteerism, philanthropy are such behaviors. Clearly there is a great dichotomy between of forces that act in people and in the human race.

Then the Possibility

So, as awareness of our bad behavior grows, we recognize as well the need to modify our thinking and our actions so that we may grow as people, as corporations, as companies, social groups, nations and a species.

How then does this impact our bottom line, our businesses? We have been seeing evidence of the ‘Green Revolution’ for quite a while. It started with the environmental movement in the 1950′ and 1960′s with the wave crashing ashore on the first Earth Day in 1970. Since that time, bit by bit, we have been presented with clear evidence of the consequences of our lifestyles: depleting ozone layer, global warming, lead poising from fuels, acid rain and extinction of species are all clear clues that the world is changing. Today this evidence is in our faces in all media at all times.

If we want to use this growing awareness to our economic advantage in terms of marketing we certainly can. In the effort we will not only grow awareness, reduce waste and our environmental impact, we will grow our businesses and our bottom line profits.

The Plan

We all know that marketing and advertising are mostly words and images. In the case of green, as in many others like customer service, we can’t just talk the talk, we must walk the walk. Consumers are savvy. They will immediately recognize your ingenuity and pickup on where your actions and your message diverge and inform the world. Make your actions conform to message that will also be noticed and will build your reputation and your business. Don’t be a ‘Greenwasher’. Make green as much a part of you and your business as it is of Kermit the Frog: inescapable.

Let’s look at what other businesses are embracing Green, what it costs and most importantly, what it returns.

Crate and Barrel

Barbara Turf, became CEO of Crate and Barrel in May 2007. One major change Turf, no coincidence that her names is a s green as grass, has made is toward reducing the environmental impact of Crate and Barrel’s operations and it’s product offering. According to the Chicago Tribune, Crate and Barrel’s corporate offices reflect this shift, “Walk through the reception area and you will discover Crate’s interpretation of what is happening in American culture today: a bamboo nightstand, cotton organic towels, eco-friendly upholstered chairs.”

“We have prioritized developing thoughtful new products, manufacturing processes and programs to expand the responsible choices we offer our customers” says Turf. Indeed, Crate and Barrel stopped using Styrofoam packing peanuts and is producing more ‘sustainable furniture’ using soy and corn-based foam for cushions, offering recycled glass items and launching many products made from renewable bamboo.

The really good news here is that no matter the cost and shift in corporate culture and citizenship Crate and Barrel’s sales reportedly rose about 8.5 percent for the fiscal year that ended in January 2007, despite the economic slowdown.

Closer to Home

Of course Crate and Barrel is just one example. Companies such as IBM, UPS and Bank of America have instituted real green systems in their businesses, their product offering and their marketing and advertising all of which are having a positive impact on their bottom lines.

Great, those are all big businesses, Fortune 100 businesses. What can a small business do? Closer to home let’s look at my Landlords and friends at Country Side Inc., builders of homes and offices. They have been taking the green challenge for years in the homes and offices they build making sure each one complies with all the most strident energy efficiency requirements and that all fixture and appliances they install are Energy Star certified.

Recently they invested over $70,000 converting my building to solar power with a shiny new array of solar panels on the roof. With a combination of tax credits, reduced energy costs and revenue provided by the system from surplus power generation, they expect that their invest will be returned in 2 to 3 years. Beyond that, they are fanatical about only using the minimal amount of energy possible by use of computer controlled environmental systems to a culture of turning off unused lights in their offices and homes. It’s obvious that they are serious about saving the environment and their actions speak louder than their words as they don’t market their environmental impact as much as they should.

What can I do?

1. Turn it off! Turn off equipment that’s not in use. Lights, computers, diesel engines, whatever. Just doing this can reduce the energy used by 25 percent or more. Turning off your computers at the end of the day will save even more.

2. Recycle your Fax Machine! I suggest you eliminate your fax machine altogether. Fax wastes paper, electricity and time. The fax machine is obsolete. If you think you must fax, use a fax-modem and software that create a cover sheet. Of course you should also encourage the recipient to use a fax modem, fax server or email as well.

2. Use email! Read email messages onscreen to determine whether it’s necessary to print them. If it’s not, don’t!

4. Buy a duplex printer and use it for everything. Every sheet of paper has two sides, so why print on only one? Cut your paper use in half.

5. Fix that leaky faucet. Always close your taps tightly after use. (One drop wasted per second wastes 10,000 liters per year.)

6. Install a low flush toilet. IF you can’t do that at least install displacement toilet dams in toilet reservoirs. Placing one or two plastic containers filled with stones in a toilet’s reservoir will displace about 4 liters of water per flush. Also check out envirolet (http://www.envirolet.com), an amazing ecologically sound toilet.

7. Buy paper with maximum available recycled content.

8. Look for minimally packaged products. Find suppliers who take back packaging for reuse.

9. Identify suppliers closer to home. The further your supplies or service providers have to travel, the more energy will be used to get them to you.

10. Be choosy. Before making any business purchase have a system in place to evaluate it’s environmental impact. When you make a choice, let others know about it.

When you start to think about it there are thousands of little steps you can take to change how you live, work and do business that aren’t difficult or painful and can be well, just plain profitable.

I encourage you to be good corporate citizens and good community citizens.