Eco-Catalyst: Drive to Survive, Strive to Thrive

I'm somewhat of a newcomer to the term thrivability, but I understand it is beginning to replace sustainability in some circles. I heard it at a recent meet-up event focused on social responsibility, so I decided to give it some thought. It appears to be a question of degrees and/or extent of progress.

Sustainability is about survival. It’s about equalizing what is now very clearly an off-balance relationship between availability of resources and their rate of consumption. To reach sustainability, we must reduce consumption and waste while increasing the rate of renewal to the point where they are equal.

Thrivability goes beyond that to create a world where the scale is tilted in the opposite direction and we are renewing more than we are consuming. In a thriving society, there is no such thing as waste. Not only will the act of consumption always produce new resources, but we will also have offset the damage of our previous consumption habits.

As I see it, if we can't at least reach sustainability, then thrivability will also be out of reach. So, taking the approach of setting repeatable and attainable goals of sustainability - Drive to Survive - while still pursuing the aspiration of thrivability - Strive to Thrive - seems to be a good course of action.

These concepts aren’t new, but they are emerging in new ways and on new frontiers. Perhaps if we use the Stockdale Paradox as quoted in Good to Great as our guide, we will achieve sustainability and evolve into a thrivable society.

- Tanya Lehmann, The Eco-Catalyst

Thinking Out Loud: VP of Sustainability and Public Relations?

I've seen this now in more than one company - one executive responsible for both Sustainability AND Public Relations.  One of the companies is a Fortune 100 company. 

Frankly, I don't get it.  I'm sure it's possible to make this work.  But isn't it oxymoronic that just having the two roles combined reeks of greenwashing - and thus bad PR?!

Eco-Pragmatist: 5 Steps to Getting Started with Corporate Sustainability Reporting

Companies of many different sizes, in many different industries, are engaging in Corporate Sustainability Reporting.  The level of reporting runs the gamut from a single web page outlining sustainable business practices, to formal G3 Application Level A+ GRI Reports.  For many companies, there is a fundamental question that is tripping them up: "Where do we start?".

If your company is stuck at "Where do we start?", here's your answer: "Start ANYWHERE!"

While certainly valuable, it's not even necessary to have a clearly articulated Sustainability Strategy - you can work on that either along with your initial CSR Reporting effort - or use your CSR Reporting initiative as 'pre-work' for developing your Sustainability Strategy.

Here's a list of five steps to get you started on 'starting anywhere':

1. Ideally, engage the right stakeholders from across the company.   Who are the 'right stakeholders'?  Start with the ENTIRE executive level team - ALL areas of your business are part of this.  If for some reason you're unable to accomplish this - you've clearly got some education and awareness building to work on, but don't let that stop you.  Proceed with the stakeholders you are able to bring to the table.  It's not uncommon for a company's initial reporting to come from just one or two functions - most typically Environment, Health & Safety and/or Facilities.  Again, while it's the 'getting started' that's most important - it's equally important to continue to work on engaging any lagging stakeholders.
   
2. While there are specific reporting guidelines available from more than one source, it doesn't really matter - you can literally spend less than an hour brainstorming the areas of your business and relevant items to include in your initial reporting.  If even that sounds intimidating - here's an accelerator: What are your different sources of energy usage?
3. It's OK that you don't have all the answers - here are some considerations for handling 'not having the answers':
• It's acceptable to state in your reporting that you don't have the answers,
• You can state that the goal for your next report is to work toward finding the answers, 
• Start working to identify the various sources of data you require,
• Compile your data and structure your report in a way that makes sense to your organization (you can utilize frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative to help)
4. Publish your initial findings online - they will serve as a launching point for your continuing focus.  Publish a single web page if that's all the content you have.  You don't need to build out an entire 'subsite' devoted to your CSR Reporting (although many larger companies are doing just that).  You can also compile a more formal 'printable' report and provide it as a PDF download on your company website.  Whatever you do, DON'T publish a printed version of your CSR Report (it's very poor CSR etiquette).
5. Go back to Step 1 and repeat.  Now you'll have a baseline to drive the stakeholder discussions.

Now schedule that initial stakeholder meeting and get the ball rolling!

- Randy Hale, The Eco-Pragmatist

It's all about YOU.

If you haven't noticed, sustainability is all about YOU. If you aren't getting engaged, motivated, or inspired, you're not paying attention. The messages are out there. They can be confusing at times, but sometimes they're pretty simple. For example, one company’s latest fair trade coffee advertising is pretty good. A simple message printed on some of their cups promoting the effect that YOU, their consumer, is having on their goal to purchase 100% fair trade coffee. They're giving you credit for making it happen. That type of messaging creates awareness and has the potential to generate an emotional response to drive behavioral change.

It's showing up in business too. YOU as part of the collective that makes a difference in the workplace and is a company's most important asset, can influence sustainability. Beyond individual workplace initiatives (which can be very effective), businesses - as consumers - are demanding more of their suppliers to ensure that they are receiving sustainable goods and services. It's not just about feeling better that we're doing something for the environment or our fellow man, it's also about ensuring that these goods and services will continue to be available and cost effective – i.e. can be sustained/renewed over time.

The choices YOU make on a daily basis are some of the most powerful influences on the road to sustainability. We must strive to relay that message and its benefits to everyone, every day.

Eco-Catalyst: What's in a Name?

In my research on how companies are changing their annual reports to encompass more than just the economic aspects of corporate sustainability, I've encountered several different names: Sustainability Report, Responsibility Report, and Stewardship Report. With an increasing emphasis and desire within businesses to demonstrate their awareness and participation in activities that are environmentally, socially, and economically conscious, many struggle to get their heads around what that means and how best to label it. Myself, I prefer action words and since sustainability easily returns back to its verb form of to sustain, I'll stick with that one.

Whether you call it sustainability, responsibility or stewardship, the principles are generally the same. They center on the premise that we have not inherited the earth from our parents, but rather borrowed it from our children. (Quote often attributed to Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the author of The Little Prince and other works.) The use of the word "borrow" implies that we shall return what we've borrowed in an uncompromised state for future generations to enjoy. The emphasis on the future, rather than the past, means we need to envision new ideas and practices based on our aspirations rather than our accomplishments.

It begins with seeing sustainability not as a burden but as opportunity for new innovation that will make your company stronger and better fit for future growth. This may mean extending your value chain to include suppliers, consumers, and competitors and adopting new business models.

It continues with the incorporation of a sustainable mindset into all parts of the organization. Every product, every service, every role and position will play a part and have an impact on the sustainability of the organization. This will mean actively engaging stakeholders across the value chain and evaluating progress incrementally to promote continuous adaptation without losing sight of the aspiration that inspired you.

It never ends. It is a perpetual cycle that will evolve intentional green activities into instinctual sustainable behavior.

A good source of further information on sustainability and what it can mean for your organization is Harvard Business Review's Why Sustainability Is Now the Key Driver of Innovation.


So, regardless of what name or label you apply, the important thing is to practice sustainability every day.

~ by Tanya Lehmann, the Eco-Catalyst

Reaction: Time Magazine "Eco-Buyer Beware" article

I take exception with one of the statements that Bryan Walsh makes in the new Time magazine article: Eco-Buyer Beware: Green Can Be Deceiving

I emailed the following comment to Bryan regarding his description of the new Greenwashing Index site:

I don't believe a '1' is a 'little green lie' - according to the site a '1' is 'authentic'. By calling it a 'little green lie' you're implying that NONE of the claims can ever be completely accurate!

It's disappointing that the Time site does not support comments or discussion for articles!

Intelligent Business and Carbon Footprint Reduction

For me, it's not about the politics, or even really about climate change. It's about the fundamental economics. Non-renewable energy sources are a scarce resource subject to the basic laws of supply and demand. The more reliant a business is on a scarce resource, the more risk to the business when price fluctuations hit. The price of oil was really putting the hurt on businesses when the recession hit. The recession then caused a drop in demand which dropped the price of oil back to more 'acceptable' levels.  It also caused a drop in supply as production decreased. When the recovery revs up to full strength, we're going to see the price of oil spike again and businesses that didn't take the steps to mitigate that risk are going to have a tough time surviving 'Round Two'.

The Eco-Pragmatist: 5 Steps to Promote and Leverage Grassroot Efforts

In the drive toward developing more sustainable business practices, many companies are leveraging internal, grassroot efforts.  However, many MORE companies are not - and they are missing out on a major opportunity.  The desire and energy is there.  Today.  Inside your company.  So how do you harness it?  Here are five steps to take:

1. Leverage an existing venue, such as an Employee Council Meeting - OR create a new venue, such as a brown bag lunch session.
2. Promote the initiative with open, transparent communication from Senior Leadership on why it's happening - part of the why SHOULD be to help develop more sustainable business practices.  This communication should touch on a definition of sustainable business practices to make sure the general context is set.
3. Build awareness in more depth around sustainable business practices and why they are important from the organizational to the individual level.
4. Brainstorm.  Provide a framework for the brainstorming - or don't.  There are no wrong answers in brainstorming, and for these grassroot sessions there's really not a wrong way of facilitating it.  Ideally, when brainstorming is complete, the group should attempt to map the various options against two scales: 1) How tightly does it align with organizational strategic goals, and 2) How 'individually actionable' is it.  The items ranking high on both dimensions are your 'low hanging fruit'.
5. Incent the right behaviors.  Intrinsic rewards are going to be most effective here - it's all about recognition: company newsletter, email from leadership, and/or a personal 'nice job' from the CEO.

- by Randy Hale, The Eco-Pragmatist

How Basic Is It?

So, this morning I challenged myself to think about how my previous post on reducing consumption, waste and impact goes "beyond the basics" as our tagline suggests. Here's what I came up with...

At its core, the act of reducing consumption and waste is pretty basic. And yet, as scientific research suggests, it takes up to 10000 repetitions to make a behavior 2nd nature to us. Blue box recycling containers were first introduced in the 1980s - I still remember getting ours. (I remember getting - and using - our first CFL coupons in the same general timeframe.) And yet, decades later we are still struggling to provide adequate services and opportunities to enable recycling as an everyday and anytime/everywhere practice.

A recent article in the Washington Post (http://loudounextra.washingtonpost.com/news/2009/mar/14/trashed-economy-foretold/) cites evidence at local landfills that indicate we are, in fact, significantly reducing waste by limiting new purchases and finding ways to reuse existing products. It also suggests that the primary motivator is the economic downturn. Our job is to ensure that these behavior patterns are not simply a temporary reaction to an outside influence, such as a harsh economy, but rather a natural response that is sustainable far into the future. I don't claim to have all the answers, but I'm asking questions and am inspired by the actions of so many, individuals and businesses alike, who are "going beyond the basics" to make a true and lasting difference.