Stand by your cause

July 29th, 2010 by BGM

With the Deep Water Horizon oil spill about to be permanently and finally killed, there will be a whole new opportunity to weigh in on the lessons learned and how we create a major shift in the way we view our energy consumption, its consequences on our world, and how to radically increase green behavior from corporations.

Here’s a great post by Jacquie Ottman on how one brand, Dawn Dishwashing Liquid, became a somewhat unwitting leader in the cleanup effort in the Gulf and a standard bearer for the cause. http://www.greenmarketing.com/blog/comments/stand-by-your-cause/

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When green means good

April 22nd, 2010 by BGM

Green products have reached a point of credibility and so many are so readily available that they no longer have to promote themselves just for their feel-good “eco” benefits. We equate brands like Whole Foods, Patagonia and Aveda with high-end and quality, regardless of how they contribute to a sustainable world.

The good news is this maturity in the marketplace is certain to reduce the opportunities for companies to greenwash their products, since they’ll have to stand on their own quality anyway. And green products are able to promote themselves as just plain better than their “brown” counterparts.

Here’s a great post on the subject from Jacquie Ottman, the godmother of Green Marketing http://www.greenmarketing.com/articles/complete/beyond-green/

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Because climate change is just too hard to think about…

March 14th, 2010 by BGM

There’s a lot of discussion around lately about why and how the momentum to curb climate change is losing favor with the public. Some cite the economy and a lowering of priority for long term headaches like global warming. Others blame Climategate and the success of deniers to capitalize with their message against isolated data stumbles of this kind. Yet others cite the general public’s confusion between weather and climate and the horrible, wet, cold winter much of the US population experienced this year.

But the complex reasons for this probably also include the simple fact that the effort is so herculean, the consequences so daunting and the amount of energy and science and media focused on climate change and what to do about it over the past few years has just worn people down. When we’re all worrying about banks failing and keeping our jobs, we need a break from thinking about the end of the world.

Our guess is that after a brief break and once employment figures improve and the economy is more secure, the message about reducing CO2 and waste and finding new renewable energy resources will resonate with the vast majority once again. But we can’t stop fighting to make that happen, and perhaps a few good news stories about breakthroughs in clean technology here and there will help.

Here’s a link to the FT’s take on this and the Gallup poll released last week http://blogs.ft.com/energy-source/2010/03/12/why-is-the-public-cooling-on-climate-change/

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Your staff wins with green ideas

March 8th, 2010 by BGM

Just like product and process innovation, some of the best greening ideas come from the fine folks on your team. Many/most, depending on the industry you’re in, will be well beyond the company’s efforts for saving energy, conserving water and reducing waste. It’s great to create the Sustainability Manager position in place, but the first thing that person should do is poll everyone for quick hits to improve your organization’s sustainability efforts. So simple, so often overlooked.

You don’t need a committee, but here’s a great post with examples to underscore the idea http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/03/08/what-your-employees-know-about-green-innovation-you-dont

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Vancouver Makes a Case for Green at EVERY Olympics

February 24th, 2010 by BGM

With the natural concern for global warming, it’s probably a given that all Winter Olympics will be competing to beat the previous “squeaky green” effort, and that’s a laudable and prominent PR-able goal.

But what about the summer Games? Just because those games don’t rely on ice and snow to make them possible doesn’t mean the fair weather sports shouldn’t be making an even bigger effort to go green. They are way bigger, way broader, more heavily attended, with all the accompanying cars, crowds, trash, pollution and CO2.

So it’s interesting to see how London is positioning itself, especially in that ultra-urban setting. The official site mostly mentions “green” in the traditional sense as an open park or common area. Hmmmm.

Here’s a great post wrapping up the Vancouver success story http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/010989.html

And a blog on the official London 2012 site giving some lip service to sustainability http://www.london2012.com/making-it-happen/sustainability/index.php

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Only a dim bulb ignores lighting costs

January 29th, 2010 by BGM

Most everyone thinks we’ve reached the holy grail with lighting improvements to reduce energy and save money. But truth is there’s still a lot to save, especially in the commercial arena. It’s an important consideration and frankly, an imperative, in this Great Recession.

I remember how amazed and baffled I was the first time I visited a European office building with motion sensors that turned lights on or off depending on whether a human being was using the facility. It’s universal in some countries, and still an rarity in others, and such a simple thing to understand and deploy. Just that sunk cost thing that hangs folks up.

More on the subject and here’s to the standard being adopted everywhere http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2010/01/28/lighting-path-greener-bottom-line

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