Milk before solid food

Lael Adams wrote a good article about Sustainability on the Front Lines – literally about projects in areas affected by war. It is a fresh perspective on what works and what does not work. In extreme situations the obvious can become more clear. In this case the idea that dumping a sustainability project in an outside-in approach is very likely to fail. Why? A community, organization or area is not ready for “solid” food. We have to build up the abilities and weave the project into the “DNA” of a group if it is going to be sustainable itself. The key element to the success to any sustainability project is the people. Start with milk.


Find Lael’s complete article at:

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/an-aid-worker-writes-how-sustainability-works-or-doesnt-in-afghanistan/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Why should a company bother with sustainability?

15% - Stock prices of 99 companies identified as sustainable outperformed industry averages by 15% (source AT Kearney)


$64 - Trillion dollars of institutional investment that places a premium on companies with a high sustainability index (source: CDP)

93% - of CEO’s believe sustainability issues will be CRITICAL to the future success of their business (source: McKinsey)

91% - of CEO’s report that their companies will employee new technologies to address sustainability issues in the next 5 yrs (source: McKinsey)

2456 - # of entities that disclosed their GHG to the carbon disclosure project in 2009 (source: CDP)

Miss the mark - try again, again - again....

In reading David Suzuki’s blog today I was reminded that our collective sustainability practice is also a generational issue.  He shared the response to his daughters speech to the Earth Summit – when she was 12 years old.  To paraphrase  - this young and wise girl rebukes the comment that the current generation has messed it up but the new generation will lead the way.  Wow, let’s just pause and think about that…..While it is a compliment of sorts it’s also immensely terrible – hey kids don’t do as I do?   Some of what we have lost has happened due to vernacular.  There is this word – Sin – and really what it means is that you just miss the mark.  We miss the mark in many ways.  What do we do about it?  No matter what your age, it is your primary responsibility to strive to hit the mark.  Well, the mark of sustainability is getting clearer. Will you miss it – are you missing it?  What are you going to do about that?  You find someone who can hit the mark and take guidance.   That is the conversation and the charge that must continue and should be everyone’s practice – to better yourself is to better the planet.  See the mark – miss it – try again – again, again.  Even if you never hit the mark the very least you did on your journey here is set yourself as an exemplar – that is your redemption to failure.  Again – Again.

Sustainability Maturity

Yesterday we touched on how organizations with a sustainability practice can focus on “actual” information on their reports.  Once the benchmarks are set goals can be adjusted and performance can be quantitatively measured.  The next step is to state the value of the achieved goals.  The question is – will excel be enough to really have confidence in the statements?  This is where sustainability information becomes much like financial information – and you wouldn’t take your receipts and scribbles in a shoe box to the accountants office!  Excel is great but it is a personal productivity tool and that is why most enterprise organizations use some form of software to manage their financial information.  So why would the sustainability practice of an organization do any different.  Fortunately there are leading companies out there that offer excellence in this area.  Seek and you will find

Actuals

On the rise among many forward looking organizations is a focus on sustainability “actual”.  This refers to the actually measuring the statements made in corporate sustainability reports.  It is a natural progression for any organization if they want to maintain their credibility.  In other words, if they don’t start showing the tracking and trending of their statements they can be viewed as just “green washing”.  If an organization does not want to show upward or downward arrows around their key performance indicators then an assurance stamp from a reputable agency like PWC – Deloitte or others, gives the credibility needed for the report ready to have confidence.   What’s after dealing with “actual” and getting the stamp of approval?  Tune in tomorrow to find out 

Green Spring Clean Up

It is fast approaching that time of year when many of us get that itch to spring clean. The origins of spring cleaning came up out of the fact that there were no washer and dryers and beds were made of straw – see more at Wikipedia. Hence, dryer, nicer weather was key. The tradition continues so why not be a purest about it – well – maybe not around using straw but at lead using the dryer. How about hang your items if you can. I know most of us live in cities now so here are 5 ways to drive a “green” spring clean.


1) Organize an e-waste drive at work. There are many organizations out there that will pick up a bulk e-waste bundle. This gives people a place to clean out their e-waste without using the landfill.

2) It’ a good time of year to make the switch to green cleaning supplies. If you have kids get them involved by researching products together. What’s that phrase?... a family that shops together stays together….ok maybe not, but you get the drift.

3) Meet the neighbors. Even if you live in a tower there may be a place where neighbors can gather to swap or sell stuff. Wait.. there some other phrase about: .. one persons garbage is another treasure? – yes I think I got that one right.

4) Got a yard or outdoor pots? Why not turn a space over and just see what grows? A controlled weed garden can be cathartic – maybe play John Lennon’s “let it be” song – you’ll find that at the neighborhood swap. Now, that’s an easy and thrifty spring cleaning project

5) Water will do! – why not dust with a damp cloth? Not good enough for you? Maybe look at the stress in your life and rethink if any of your high maintenance clothing and furniture is really worth it -Just saying.