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Exciting things are in the air here at Strategic Sustainability Consulting. Not only are we working with exciting clients, traveling to exotic locations (I'm typing this to you from Anchorage, Alaska), and developing new services for the coming year, we're also getting noticed!
Today SSC was featured in a special "green business" section in the Washington Post (the 6th largest paper in the US). I was interviewed for more than an hour, and got to share my excitement about opportunities for companies to improve their environmental footprint in a way that adds to their profitability and their employee satisfaction. You can read the whole article here:
Sustainability Consultant Takes Her Expertise to Market
by Anita Huslin, Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, November 26, 2007; D05
Aside from being thrilled to share this news with you, I also want to take a minute to reflect on the larger picture. It is now clear that 'going green' is a trend that is here to stay. If you've been a silent onlooker, now is the time to get involved.
I encourage you to take action today to make the world a greener place. If you want to make your company more eco-friendly, contact us today about starting an SSC Green Office Audit or getting a Carbon Footprint Analysis. If you are thinking about becoming a sustainability consultant, sign up for our Sustainability Consulting 101 webinar (offered next on December 12).
As I note in the article, "You can be dragged kicking and screaming, or you can take the lead." I hope you choose the latter.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
PEOPLE: Spring Communications Internship at Strategic Sustainability Consulting
Strategic Sustainability Consulting (SSC) is a Washington, DC-based company that provides organizations with the tools and expertise needed to actively manage their social and environmental impacts. We specialize in helping under-resourced organizations implement sustainable solutions usually reserved for large, multinational companies. Please visit our website at www.sustainabilityconsulting.com for more information about our products and services.
We're looking for a communications intern to help on a variety of sustainability topics. If you believe you might be a good fit with our objectives (see below), please send your CV and a cover letter to denise@sustainabilityconsulting.com, indicating the position for which you'd like to be considered. We will accept inquiries through December 7th, with initial interviews on a rolling basis. Please be prepared to provide two writing samples and a list of references. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.
We're looking for an enthusiastic, creative, and sensible Communications Intern to assist with a range of communications projects. This is a position ideally suited to a graduate student (or mid-career changer) with a degree in communications, public relations, marketing, or related fields. Advanced undergraduate students are also encouraged to apply. Depending on skills and interests, intern projects may include:
- Assistance with media outreach and press relations
- Supporting the production and dissemination of SSC press materials, company statements and positions, and core messages
- Identification and development of news opportunities for positioning SSC
- Helping to retain business relationships
- Writing and editing reports and white papers
These internships are for 15-25 hours/week for January 14 – May 16, and may be conducted remotely (although DC-based interns are preferred). A small stipend may be offered, along with a performance-based bonus. This is a great opportunity for individuals with an interest in getting into the sustainability consulting field, but who can't make a full-time commitment.
We're looking for a communications intern to help on a variety of sustainability topics. If you believe you might be a good fit with our objectives (see below), please send your CV and a cover letter to denise@sustainabilityconsulting.com, indicating the position for which you'd like to be considered. We will accept inquiries through December 7th, with initial interviews on a rolling basis. Please be prepared to provide two writing samples and a list of references. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.
We're looking for an enthusiastic, creative, and sensible Communications Intern to assist with a range of communications projects. This is a position ideally suited to a graduate student (or mid-career changer) with a degree in communications, public relations, marketing, or related fields. Advanced undergraduate students are also encouraged to apply. Depending on skills and interests, intern projects may include:
- Assistance with media outreach and press relations
- Supporting the production and dissemination of SSC press materials, company statements and positions, and core messages
- Identification and development of news opportunities for positioning SSC
- Helping to retain business relationships
- Writing and editing reports and white papers
These internships are for 15-25 hours/week for January 14 – May 16, and may be conducted remotely (although DC-based interns are preferred). A small stipend may be offered, along with a performance-based bonus. This is a great opportunity for individuals with an interest in getting into the sustainability consulting field, but who can't make a full-time commitment.
PEOPLE: Spring Research Internships at Strategic Sustainability Consulting
Strategic Sustainability Consulting (SSC) is a Washington, DC-based company that provides organizations with the tools and expertise needed to actively manage their social and environmental impacts. We specialize in helping under-resourced organizations implement sustainable solutions usually reserved for large, multinational companies. Please visit our website at www.sustainabilityconsulting.com for more information about our products and services.
We're looking for 4-6 research interns to help on a variety of sustainability topics. If you believe you might be a good fit with our objectives (see below), please send your CV and a cover letter to denise@sustainabilityconsulting.com, indicating the position for which you'd like to be considered. We will accept inquiries through December 7th, with initial interviews on a rolling basis. Please be prepared to provide two writing samples and a list of references. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.
The SSC Research Interns will work closely with lead consultants to provide background material for ongoing consulting projects. Past assignments have included working on client "Green Office Audit" projects, researching stakeholder engagement in the mining industry, creating case studies on "green" supply chains, and developing surveys for employee satisfaction. If you have strong research and analysis skills, and can quickly gather and summarize data into its salient points, this is a great opportunity to dabble in a variety of sustainability topics.
These internships are for 15-25 hours/week for January 14 – May 16, and may be conducted remotely (although DC-based interns are preferred). A small stipend may be offered, along with a performance-based bonus. This is a great opportunity for individuals with an interest in getting into the sustainability consulting field, but who can't make a full-time commitment.
We're looking for 4-6 research interns to help on a variety of sustainability topics. If you believe you might be a good fit with our objectives (see below), please send your CV and a cover letter to denise@sustainabilityconsulting.com, indicating the position for which you'd like to be considered. We will accept inquiries through December 7th, with initial interviews on a rolling basis. Please be prepared to provide two writing samples and a list of references. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE.
The SSC Research Interns will work closely with lead consultants to provide background material for ongoing consulting projects. Past assignments have included working on client "Green Office Audit" projects, researching stakeholder engagement in the mining industry, creating case studies on "green" supply chains, and developing surveys for employee satisfaction. If you have strong research and analysis skills, and can quickly gather and summarize data into its salient points, this is a great opportunity to dabble in a variety of sustainability topics.
These internships are for 15-25 hours/week for January 14 – May 16, and may be conducted remotely (although DC-based interns are preferred). A small stipend may be offered, along with a performance-based bonus. This is a great opportunity for individuals with an interest in getting into the sustainability consulting field, but who can't make a full-time commitment.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
BOOK REVIEW: Values-Driven Business
Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money and Have Fun
Authors: Ben Cohen and Mal Warwick
What is the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)? Ask 5 people and you will likely get 5 different answers. Mal Warwick and Ben Cohen’s book does not offer us a specific definition, but openly describes the unlimited options that businesses have to incorporate the various CSR values each finds uniquely important.
Perhaps your business would like to make a priority of giving back to the community or working on creating a supply chain that has minimal negative social and environmental effects, but you do not know how to get started. Maybe you are a business owner that desires to generously reward your employees, but fears it could affect your “bottom line.” Values-Driven Business inspires and encourages companies to pursue their own individual choices for CSR by sharing a number of stories from existing successful companies.
For instance, Juniper Communities, an assisted living company, built a 95-unit facility following nationally recognized building standards, resulting in a LEED certified building and revealing its commitment to a lighter footprint. Immaculate Baking not only buys the rights for the art used on its packaging for its organic goods, but was inspired to create a foundation that supports many of these artists that were more than just “struggling”, but barely surviving. Eileen Fisher, a women’s clothing company, offers a generous benefits package to its employees that includes profit sharing and $1000 per year, per employee for wellness classes and treatments.
Just as important as its stories, this book becomes an invaluable resource providing suggestions and tools a business can use to take the first step in implementing values unique to the goals of each enterprise. The authors decide to use the term Value-Driven Business in their book rather than CSR, but as explained in the preface it is a personal preference and along with a number of other common terms, can be used interchangeably.
The authors focus on the Small and Medium Based Businesses out there that are either curious about this concept or are ready to jump head first into this emerging and exciting facet of business. Whatever the goal of the reader, this book takes a step-by- step approach to encouraging enterprises to make decisions based on social, environmental and economic principles. It asks the reader critical questions such as “why are you in business?”, “are you ready to take the plunge?” and “can you make money in a values-based business?” The authors provide the guidance and tools for each individual business to answer the questions for itself.
Authors: Ben Cohen and Mal Warwick
What is the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)? Ask 5 people and you will likely get 5 different answers. Mal Warwick and Ben Cohen’s book does not offer us a specific definition, but openly describes the unlimited options that businesses have to incorporate the various CSR values each finds uniquely important.
Perhaps your business would like to make a priority of giving back to the community or working on creating a supply chain that has minimal negative social and environmental effects, but you do not know how to get started. Maybe you are a business owner that desires to generously reward your employees, but fears it could affect your “bottom line.” Values-Driven Business inspires and encourages companies to pursue their own individual choices for CSR by sharing a number of stories from existing successful companies.
For instance, Juniper Communities, an assisted living company, built a 95-unit facility following nationally recognized building standards, resulting in a LEED certified building and revealing its commitment to a lighter footprint. Immaculate Baking not only buys the rights for the art used on its packaging for its organic goods, but was inspired to create a foundation that supports many of these artists that were more than just “struggling”, but barely surviving. Eileen Fisher, a women’s clothing company, offers a generous benefits package to its employees that includes profit sharing and $1000 per year, per employee for wellness classes and treatments.
Just as important as its stories, this book becomes an invaluable resource providing suggestions and tools a business can use to take the first step in implementing values unique to the goals of each enterprise. The authors decide to use the term Value-Driven Business in their book rather than CSR, but as explained in the preface it is a personal preference and along with a number of other common terms, can be used interchangeably.
The authors focus on the Small and Medium Based Businesses out there that are either curious about this concept or are ready to jump head first into this emerging and exciting facet of business. Whatever the goal of the reader, this book takes a step-by- step approach to encouraging enterprises to make decisions based on social, environmental and economic principles. It asks the reader critical questions such as “why are you in business?”, “are you ready to take the plunge?” and “can you make money in a values-based business?” The authors provide the guidance and tools for each individual business to answer the questions for itself.
Monday, October 01, 2007
EVENT: Webinar - Green Purchasing
A Green Purchasing Policy is essential for a sustainable workplace: it reduces your ecological footprint, minimizes unnecessary costs, and indicates to stakeholders your organizations’ dedication to people and the planet. This webinar provides the strategic framework and practical tools needed to develop and implement an effective Green Purchasing Policy.
Green Purchasing Webinar
Location: Online, At Your Desktop!
Cost: $50
Sign-Up: Here
Topics to be covered include:
-- Why It Is Important to Buy Environmentally Preferable Products
-- Definitions of Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
-- The Identification of Desired Environmental Attributes
-- Balancing Environmental Considerations with Performance, Availability, and Cost Requirements
-- How to Empower a Green Purchasing Team
-- Identification of Initial Priorities
-- Assigning Responsibilities and Establishing Deadlines
-- The Use of Existing Environmental Labeling and Certification Programs
-- Creation of a Communications Plan
-- Developing Measurable Goals and Reporting Requirements
-- Regular Policy Reveiw
This webinar is co-hosted by Alex Szabo of TheGreenOffice.com, a company dedicated to accelerating the transition to sustainability in the workplace. Through the online sale of green office products, expert sustainability consulting, and strategic carbon offsetting, TheGreenOffice.com works to make office greening easy and cost effective.
Green Purchasing Webinar
Location: Online, At Your Desktop!
Cost: $50
Sign-Up: Here
Topics to be covered include:
-- Why It Is Important to Buy Environmentally Preferable Products
-- Definitions of Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
-- The Identification of Desired Environmental Attributes
-- Balancing Environmental Considerations with Performance, Availability, and Cost Requirements
-- How to Empower a Green Purchasing Team
-- Identification of Initial Priorities
-- Assigning Responsibilities and Establishing Deadlines
-- The Use of Existing Environmental Labeling and Certification Programs
-- Creation of a Communications Plan
-- Developing Measurable Goals and Reporting Requirements
-- Regular Policy Reveiw
This webinar is co-hosted by Alex Szabo of TheGreenOffice.com, a company dedicated to accelerating the transition to sustainability in the workplace. Through the online sale of green office products, expert sustainability consulting, and strategic carbon offsetting, TheGreenOffice.com works to make office greening easy and cost effective.
EVENT: Webinar - Understanding Carbon Offsets
Today, Americans introduce roughly 6 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere annually – over 25% of the 20 billion tons released worldwide – exacerbating the effects of global warming. Government initiatives such as the Kyoto Protocol attempt to curtail the impacts, but these initiatives are still years away from reaching full fruition. In the absence of effective government regulation, public demand for action has put a value on projects that reduce emissions, which in turn generate emission reduction credits. These credits are then used in carbon offsetting efforts.
Carbon offsetting is a relatively new concept for most people and, as such, has generated a good amount of debate. While simple at first glance, the market mechanisms supporting the generation and sale of offsets, as well as the way in which this activity results in actual emission reductions, are somewhat complicated. That's why we are pleased to offer:
Understanding Carbon Offsets, An Online Webinar
Location: Online, At Your Desktop
Cost: $50
Sign Up: Here
In this webinar we will explore how emission reduction credits are generated, tracked, and “retired”. At the end of this webinar, you will:
-- Have a clear understanding of the voluntary carbon offset market;
-- Understand how carbon credits are generated, traded, and “retired;”
-- Know how to accurately quantify an organization’s carbon footprint;
-- Be able to identify key criteria for procurement of high quality, unassailable carbon offsets;
-- Possess the ability to take an organization carbon neutral.
This webinar is co-hosted by Alex Szabo of TheGreenOffice.com, a company dedicated to accelerating the transition to sustainability in the workplace. Through the online sale of green office products, expert sustainability consulting, and strategic carbon offsetting, TheGreenOffice.com works to make office greening easy and cost effective.
Carbon offsetting is a relatively new concept for most people and, as such, has generated a good amount of debate. While simple at first glance, the market mechanisms supporting the generation and sale of offsets, as well as the way in which this activity results in actual emission reductions, are somewhat complicated. That's why we are pleased to offer:
Understanding Carbon Offsets, An Online Webinar
Location: Online, At Your Desktop
Cost: $50
Sign Up: Here
In this webinar we will explore how emission reduction credits are generated, tracked, and “retired”. At the end of this webinar, you will:
-- Have a clear understanding of the voluntary carbon offset market;
-- Understand how carbon credits are generated, traded, and “retired;”
-- Know how to accurately quantify an organization’s carbon footprint;
-- Be able to identify key criteria for procurement of high quality, unassailable carbon offsets;
-- Possess the ability to take an organization carbon neutral.
This webinar is co-hosted by Alex Szabo of TheGreenOffice.com, a company dedicated to accelerating the transition to sustainability in the workplace. Through the online sale of green office products, expert sustainability consulting, and strategic carbon offsetting, TheGreenOffice.com works to make office greening easy and cost effective.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
VIEWS: When Tech Support Doesn't Understand Energy Efficiency Questions
Note: The following missive comes from Scott Kleiman, one of SSC's Summer Interns. We thought it was a great story about how frustrating the pursuit of basic environmental information can be...and how important it is for companies to educate their employees about their corporate CSR issues...enjoy!
Strategic Sustainability Consulting publishes an annual Sustainability Report that reviews how effective we've been as a company in minimizing our firm's environmental impact as we work. As part of this effort, Jennifer asked each of the summer interns to track and calculate our own ecological footprints associated with our internships over the past several months.
Neil from Dell Responds (in record time!):
Strategic Sustainability Consulting publishes an annual Sustainability Report that reviews how effective we've been as a company in minimizing our firm's environmental impact as we work. As part of this effort, Jennifer asked each of the summer interns to track and calculate our own ecological footprints associated with our internships over the past several months.
Most of us work remotely, communicating primarily through conference calls, online "meetings," and email. Our efforts largely go towards supporting SSC's senior consultants' client-work, through researching company and industry information, brainstorming solutions, and helping write reports. We also contribute to SSC's ongoing knowledge base of solutions, case studies, webinars, and white papers. Consequently, the majority of our time is spent on computers. Indeed, as I put together my own footprint data, my largest impact was the electricity used by my 5+ year-old Dell laptop.
Having spent the summer reading and writing about specific strategies and steps for businesses to incorporate sustainability into their operations, and being familiar with Dell’s new energy efficient computing campaign, I expected determining the energy used by my computer to be a relatively straightforward process: multiply the watts used (a rate) by the number of hours I spent working at my computer for SSC, and I'd get a rough estimate of my total related energy usage for the summer (in Kilowatt-hours). How I was mistaken...
I purchased my computer before my freshman year of college, at that point of my life having little conception of energy efficiency, so I never thought to ask about my computer's energy footprint when initially configuring it. As I began looking for energy usage information, my first thought was that it would, of course, be noted among the maze of notations printed on the bottom of my laptop or its power transformer cube. Voltage requirements, as well as some other certification gibberish were there, but nothing specific about energy consumption.
Perhaps it was on the "Spec Sheet" Dell had included when it shipped my computer? Being the packrat that I am, I knew I had it stashed away in the front part of the second right-hand drawer of my desk at home, and I ran upstairs to check. Nope – it just showed me that I needed to clean my room.
“It’s the age of the Internet,” I thought. The information I didn't have myself should certainly be just a click away on the Dell website. After 15 minutes of navigating through endless attempts to convince me about the fantastic characteristics of Dell's many new computers that it sells, I concluded that my search terminology must have been wrong and decided to call Dell customer support.
The 20-minute call, which included 8 long minutes of listening to Dell's ubiquitous muzak, concluded with me trying to convince a supervisor that, "No, there's not a problem with my system. I just want to know its energy consumption. In watts. Please....". This was followed up by an email detailing instructions detailing how I should return my defective part to Dell, succeeded 2 weeks later by an express mailed Windows System Restore CD directing me to resinstall my operating system to fix my problem.
Realizing the phone call was fruitless, I returned to the Dell website and booted up their online chat for customer support. Maybe typing out my problems would overcome the language and/or culture barrier that seemed to be preventing the very nice customer support agent from understanding my question over the phone. I excerpt from the instant message conversation below:
My struggle illustrates one of the many challenges that remain as both consumers and companies look for ways to become more sustainable. (To read how this same issue manifests for many corporate IT managers, check out Andrew Binstock's article "How Many Watts Does that PC Consume Exactly, and Why?" from GreenerComputing News.)
Scott: "I'd like to know about the energy usage of my Dell computer" Scott: "Dell Inspiron 8200" Agent: "I do understand that you are wanting to know the energy usage and I will do my best to assist you. Agent: "For references - The warranty expired on the system on 07.30.2005. Is this your first contact with Dell regarding the energy usage?" Scott: "I'm not sure --" Scott: "I'm not having a problem with my system" Scott: "I only need information about its energy usage" Agent: "Scott, allow me 3-6 minutes to research this information." Agent: "Thank you for holding. I do apologize for the delay. The power information that I have is that the system uses a 8 cell battery and a 65 Watt Adapter." Agent: "Scott, it has been a great pleasure working with you today. I'm going to send you some important information for your records. I apologize for its lengthiness. Let me know if you have any questions about it."
In many cases, the enthusiasm and marketing efforts voiced by high-level executives are not consistently matched by the products and employees that support them. As Dell aims to be a leader among computer manufacturers in selling environmentally responsible systems, it must ensure that relevant environmental impact information about its products is both easily available for consumers online, and that its customer support staff understands corporate priorities in being able to communicate that data.
Even if new, environmentally innovative product lines are slower to evolve than the processes to publicize those accomplishments, developing corporate habits of transparency and openness towards customers can go a long way to helping companies of all sizes and sectors attract the attention of the new green consumer audience.
Neil from Dell Responds (in record time!):
I’m at Dell Headquarters in Austin, Texas and I just read the post on your blog but comments were disabled. I’ve worked in support here at Dell for a long time on the phones, in chat queues, and now in the blogosphere and can honestly say that I’ve never heard that question so I had to do a bit of looking around. What I found was a site; dell.com/energy, that has energy calculators and other info that you were seeking, only not for the system Scott has. I was only able to find it for later model servers, workstations, and the Optiplex and Latitude lines of desktop and notebook computers.
I realize this isn’t ideal for consumers with Inspirons and would imagine that as more consumers begin to seriously factor that sort of thing into their purchase, it will become available. I haven’t been a part of this site so I don’t speak from experience on this, but I would guess that the reason only the newer models of business machines were featured is that it is only a consideration for companies going forward and other factors will still dictate when the current systems are to be phased out either way. I can inquire about a specific system if you’d like but I think the general rule of thumb with the newer, dual-core machines is to enable the power saving features, kill unnecessary visuals, and not leave it on unnecessarily. If there’s any info you’d like me to find, I’d be glad to try and help track it down.
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