It’s hard to believe that a shipping and delivery company such as UPS can be a leader in sustainability. Wouldn’t the world be a greener place if UPS suddenly ceased to exist? Although it would be easy for radical greens to entertain this idea, UPS is already showcasing how a logistics company – so crucial for the business community – can be successful in leading the way towards a more sustainable future.

One of the most famous sustainable initiatives taken by UPS was its ban on left-turns. Through this innovative approach, UPS is saving 3 million gallons of fuel and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 31,000 metric tons just by preventing its delivery trucks to idle when waiting for an opening to turn left.

But that’s not all. As air transport is the most intensive transport mode for package delivery companies, UPS is pursuing a 20% reduction in airline emissions between 2005 and 2020. Parallel to this initiative, the company is also grounding more planes, shifting from air to ground and from ground to rail whenever possible. As rail transportation is four times less energy intensive than truck, UPS was able to prevent in 2008 absolute emissions of 3 million metric tones of CO2 – no small deed for a shipping company.

The first shipping company to join EPA’s Climate Leader’s program, UPS is also improving its fuel efficiency across its fleets. For over 70 years the company has been exploring alternative fuels and advanced technologies, with initiatives such as the debut of its first electric vehicle as early as 1935, a complete fleet powered by propane in the 1970s in Canada and the adoption of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) package car in 1985, the first in the industry. Recent initiatives include the launch of the industry’s first Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) in 2001 and the deployment of the world’s first hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle (HHV) just five years later. Nowadays, UPS operates over 1,900 alternative–fuel and advanced technology vehicles.

Paired to its efforts to improve fuel efficiency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, UPS also offers carbon-neutral shipping options, certified by The CarbonNeutral Company. Although only available in the US, UPS works with certified third-party service providers that adhere to industry standards, such as the Voluntary Carbon Standard, the Gold Standard and the Climate Action Reserve – ensuring the purchase of carbon offsets goes towards the funding of environmental projects.

These initiatives didn’t go unnoticed. In 2008, UPS received the Alternative Vehicle Institute’s Green Fleet Award, and a year later the global shipping company won EPA’s SmartWay Excellence Award, which recognizes freight-industry leaders that have made significant contributions to protecting the environment. In the same year, UPS was also ranked #85 in Newsweek magazine’s Top 500 Greenest Companies in America.

“So, where do we go from here?,” I asked Ed Rogers, Global Strategy Manager at UPS, at this year’s Sustainable Brands conference in Monterey, California. “It seems this year everyone is talking about zero waste,” Ed replies. Watch out for interesting developments in this area at UPS.

Recommended reading:
Positive Partnerships: Coca-Cola and Sustainability
Implementing Cradle To Cradle Strategies For a Cleaner World
The Power of ANDvantage

The questions that came up the most were ones pertaining to the unconference structure itself and what to expect on the day. With this in mind, I want to share a general guide of unconference survival tips and how to make the most of your unconventional day of learning and networking.

Spread The Word (Unofficially, Of Course)

Unconferences thrive on a diverse gathering of people from different backgrounds and experiences. For NetSquared Camp, I representatives from non-profits, social ventures, business associations, students,  entrepreneurs, developers, designers, marketers, and so on. Backgrounds ranged from small, local startups to international organizations. Consequently, session topics ranged from the beginner and general to the specific and geek-worthy. And most of it was due to individuals sharing the information with their spheres of influence: retweeting announcements, writing blog posts, and forwarding emails to friends and colleagues. All of NetSquared Camp’s media sponsors pitched in generously to provide coverage across their networks, and the variety of organizations I got on board ensured that NetSquared was talked about among a wide variety of representatives.

Come Prepared

The loosely organized model of unconferences make them universally appealing and easier to organize than speaker-based events. That being said, however, you will need to do some prep work before attending the big day. Find the event hastag or subscribe for updates from the blog. Bookmark wiki pages and pitch a session topic in advance. Keep an eye out for emails a few days before the event with last-minute details. Come up with a few questions you’d love answered, and define why you’re going to the event and who you want to meet. Unconferences may release an advance list of attendees, so if there’s an important person you’d like to network with, make sure you keep an eye out or, better yet, connect with the individual before the event to ensure the connection is made.

Participation Is Key

Compared to other (un)conferences and networking events in my recent memory, NetSquared Camp attendees stood out by embodying an important unconference rule: participation. Some offered to facilitate sessions without  prior preparation or guidance. Others took notes and shared them on NetSquared’s event wiki, or live-tweeted session highlights for others to follow along virtually. Still more were quick to ask questions and share insights, creating that well-known unconference atmosphere of informal conversation and self-taught learning.

Go Home But Don’t Go Away

So you’ve successfully survived your first unconference. In order to fully capitalize on your hard day’s work of learning, sharing, and making connections, make sure you keep the conversation going online. Use social media and emails to keep in touch with all of the wonderful people you’ve met. Contribute your notes to the wiki and read over the sessions that you could not attend. Write articles, thank the organizers, and consider getting involved next time by volunteering your time and expertise.

So folks, unconferences are all about attendees being responsible for their own learning and the event’s success. The age of passive listening is dead, and friendly, active engagement is in.

Sam and Cecilia had a great time chatting. Check out the interview:

“Hey there Cecilia, thanks for dropping by the Advicetap towers…we weren’t really expecting you, but now that you’re here have a sip of your coffee and give us a run down of who you are and what exactly you do?
Thanks for having me! I guess you didn’t hear me skulking around in the back— I’m a Ninja, after all! More specifically, I’m the Networking Ninja of Kiwano Marketing, a sustainable marketing agency specializing in online marketing strategies and tools to help spread the word for our awesome clients.

Ninja School: Kicking Ass at Social Networking
What are the top do’s and don’ts for using social media networks as a networking tool? How do you portray your non-profit’s personality online and engage your volunteers, stakeholders, and sponsors? When’s the right time for moving the conversation offline? Join the Ninja for a casual, down-to-earth discussion on practical tips about how to get personable online.”

Read the complete interview at AdviceTap.

Recommended reading:
NetSquared Camp Vancouver: Get Your Social Change Geek On!
Ninja Interview! Social Media And Women
How To Deal With Negative Word-Of-Mouth on Social Media

Daniel Goleman, author of Ecological Intelligence: The Hidden Impacts of What We Buy might have the answer. According to Goleman, the low adoption levels of (more) environmentally-responsible products are mainly due to two reasons:

1. The lack of radical transparency
2. The lack of easy-to-read ranking systems at the point of purchase.

What Goleman means by radical transparency is the act of companies, governments and associations to disclose every impact their product or service has on the environment, health and social sphere. While this is already a challenging process, Goleman takes it one step further and suggests companies should implement Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) systems to assess their impact across the whole process, from manufacturing to distribution and product use, including the impacts of the organization’s supply chain. This means that you’d need to take into consideration not only the effects of each single ingredient in your product (and how they ended up in your factory), but as well the packaging and distribution processes.

Personally, while I see radical transparency a process that will take years to implement, I strongly believe this is the direction both companies and governments are moving towards to. We are already seeing some initiatives coming from Wal-Mart and Timberland, and in a matter of years full environmental disclosure will be a legal requirement.

What interests me the most in Goleman’s theory is his stand on ranking systems at the point of purchase. It is true that there are many certifications available nowadays, and one tends to feel lost and overwhelmed with the amount of information available. Questions such “Which is the best certification out there?” or “Should I buy a product that has fewer carbon emissions but is not organic, or is the organic better for me and for the environment?” assault consumers every time they’re walking along the isles of their favourite grocery store. How do you deal with this?

According to Coleman, it’s necessary to implement a ranking system that condenses all the information a consumer is looking for at the point of purchase (and this is the key element: as behavioural studies show, our minds tend to be lazy; we need to have the information in front of us when we are ready to purchase an item, to remind us of what we’re really looking for on that item). These systems can then provide a URL that consumers can use to dig more information about that specific product if they feel the need to do so.

But what kind of information should these ranking systems provide? And how can they be truly useful for consumers, and not just another environmental certification that will confuse them?

Goleman suggests a system that ranks products in three realms:

1. The Geosphere – including soil, air, water and climate;
2. The Biosphere – our bodies, those of other species, and plant life;
3. The Sociosphere – human concerns such as conditions for workers.

Goleman really hit the nail when suggesting a three-fold ranking system. This type of systems provide as much or as little information a consumer is looking for, while letting individuals decide which factors are the most important for them. For instance, a study has shown that moms tend to focus more on the biosphere effects a product might have, while a generation Y individual will look mainly to the geosphere and sociosphere.

It now remains to be seen how successful these ranking systems will be, and how long until they go mainstream.

What criteria do you use when grocery shopping? Please drop me an email or use the comments field below.

Recommended reading:
Implementing Cradle To Cradle Strategies For a Cleaner World
The Emerging Buying Power of Eco-Moms
Motivating Mainstream Consumers to Make Sustainable Choices

All right, I admit it. This Ninja is one huge geek. I love learning about new technology and how it can make life more efficient (or so goes the logic). So when I found out that Net Tuesday Vancouver was about to launch their inaugural unconference this summer, I just had to get involved. (Want to cover NetSquared Vancouver? I’m handling all media inquiries and PR leading up to the event, so get in touch!)

I’m joining a lineup of seasoned local non-profit and technology superstars, including the ever-enthusiastic Eli van der Giessen of the David Suzuki Foundation. I asked him a few questions about what to expect at NetSquared Camp:

What is NetSquared Camp Vancouver?

It’s an unconference bringing together nonprofits, activists and social entrepreneurs with their friends and allies in the world of technology and communications (social media folk, developers, designers, writers, marketers….) NetSquared Camp Vancouver will focus on practical skill development and peer learning, so come with your questions and experiences.

When, Where, Tickets?

Date: Saturday, August 14
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00pm
Location: SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street
Cost: By donation – Get your tickets today, this event will sell out!
Hashtag: #n2camp

Do I have to be a techie/non-profit?

Nope! NetSquared Camp is gathering together the tribe who want to support Vancouver non-profits. That includes marketers, writers, graphic designers, video producers, strategists, fundraisers, and strategists. NetSquared focuses on how technology can be used to deliver these various skills, but there’s no requirement that participants be a techie. (Designers, writers, and marketers produce work that is equally valuable no matter the medium.)

What will I get out of this?

Net Tuesday meetups are over too quickly! I have to cut off fascinating conversations all the time. And what about those times when a presenter shows you something incredible, but you want to have the chance to try it out yourself with a bit of instruction? Sorry, there’s no time! That’s why NetSquared Camp will be an all-day unconference-style event with a focus on hands-on learning from Vancouver’s generous and ridiculously talented non-profit sector and its allies. Come join the community and get the chance to connect with peers who share your skills and values. Feel like you’re a lone voice in the wilderness at your organization? Then join us on August 14th!

How is NetSquared different from all the other events, unconferences, camps out there?

NetSquared Camp is unique from other technology and social media conferences because:
1. It is focused on serving the needs of nonprofits and social entrepreneurs.
2. It is focused on practical skill-building experiences led by peers in the sector.

What is Net Tuesday?

Net Tuesday (or NetSquared Local) are monthly events that take place in cities around the world. NetSquared events serve as a great opportunity to convene local communities to share ideas, learn from each other, and even collaborate on projects for real world impact. These gatherings provide a chance to connect for all those interested in the intersection of social technologies and social change in your local community. Members of local groups represent non-profit organizations and foundations, government agencies and service providers, designers and developers, innovators and social entrepreneurs.

So on Saturday August 14th, mark your calendars, spread the word, and join Kiwano Marketing and a host of talented experts for an incredible day of knowledge, learning, and (of course) networking!

Recommended reading:
Read more about NetSquared Camp by Lauren Bacon (Raised Eyebrow)
Social Media and Non-Profit Organizations
Kiwano Marketing Shares Its Wealth With Charity Village

Local shopping can be good for your health, wallet, time and for the environment.

So, what can you do?

Read the entire post at BuildDirect.com.

Recommended reading:
The Buy-Local Movement Demystified
Get Involved With Your Community
Sustainable Brands Recap: CSR’s 7 Best Practices

A new Harris Interactive poll reveals that in efforts to save money, more Americans are using mass transit and carpooling, cutting back on dry cleaning, using refillable water bottles, cancelling print subscriptions, and more. As a result, are consumers living greener lives?

“Nearly half of Americans (48 percent) are brown-bagging their lunch, up from 45 percent back in February. About one-fifth of poll respondents said that they also have stopped purchasing morning coffee before work (22 percent), and more than one in ten (12 percent) have started using mass transit or carpooling to get to work. Additionally, some Americans have also cancelled print media subscriptions, with nearly one-third (31 percent) having stopped one or more magazine subscriptions, and nearly one-fifth (17 percent) have cancelled newspaper deliveries.

Do these small changes mean that Americans are living greener while they strive to save money?”

Here are some of our insights on this topic:

”These eco- and budget-friendly changes may be happening in other nations as well, says Sofia Ribeiro, founder and co-owner of Canada-based green marketing services provider Kiwano Marketing.

‘Consumers are starting to look for products that will deliver on their promises—[that will] compete with non-green products—but that also last longer,” Ribeiro maintains. “We are also witnessing a rise of environmental-minded moms who will only buy products for their babies that are safe for the earth and for the health of their children.’”

Continue reading this article.

Recommended reading:
Green: The New Status Symbol?
The Emerging Buying Power of Eco-Moms
Motivating Mainstream Consumers to Make Sustainable Choices

Some of our readers might take this the wrong way. “How can you stand for sustainability and then work with the bad guys?” Our stand has always been that, if we truly want to change our ways as a society, we need to engage corporations – the Coca-Colas, Nikes, HPs, UPS’s of the world. These global brands are accountable for much of the impact we have on the environment, and ignoring the pink elephant in the room just won’t do.

I will assume – for now – that you do agree with us (expect a future post on the pros and cons of our attitude).

So, if you work for the not-so-bad guys, how do you help the environment AND leverage your brand’s goodwill?

Last month at Sustainable Brands ‘10, I attended a CSR session presented by Linda Rogers from Coca-Cola, Susan McPherson from PRNewswire and Bpeace, Lea Jepson from Wal-Mart and Maureen Isern from Moped Productions on cause marketing. The session was an eye-opener, and I was particularly interested on what Coca-Cola had to say (especially after the India incident).

Coca-Cola lives its “Live positively” motto across every department within the company, and its CSR initiatives couldn’t be more aligned with it. Coke’s booklet Positive Partnerships: A Guide for Building Brand – Nonprofit Partnerships outlines a simple three-step process to develop a successful nonprofit partnership:

1. Decide on type of partnership.
While most people will immediately think of cause marketing campaigns or employee volunteer programs, there are many forms a brand-nonprofit partnership can take. These include:

- Cause Marketing (link your brand to an issue or cause)
- Sponsorship (sponsor an event by providing financial resources or donating in-kind goods)
- Certification (ideal if your brand or product complies with certain established standards, such as the Fair Trade certification)
- Grant Making (corporate giving program or company-established foundation makes a philanthropic contribution to support a nonprofit)
- Licensing (attach the nonprofit’s name to a product, or use its information/knowledge for a fee)
- Message Promotion (promote a public service announcement)
- Employee Involvement (such as employee volunteer programs, corporate giving programs, employee-driven contribution models, matching gifts and so on)
- Operations / Social Enterprise (work with a nonprofit to improve the company’s core operations).

2. Select an appropriate nonprofit partner.
This is a critical step to ensure authenticity and an emotional response from your clients. With the wide array of nonprofits and various causes, how to you choose an organization that is relevant for your stakeholders and business strategy?

There are several key criteria you should consider when identifying a partner:

- Connection to the brand (is there a natural connection? Shared values? Similar target demographic?)
- Existing Partner (partnerships tend to take time to develop. Sometimes, working with an existing partner saves time, money and frustration)
- Nonprofit Brand Equity (a known nonprofit will go a long way to ensure understanding and appreciation from your clients)
- Implementation Capability (double-check if the nonprofit actually delivers on their promises)
- Administrative / Fiduciary (ascertain if the nonprofit has the systems in place to meet reporting requirements)
- Assets (membership base, marketing materials and access to key influencers are assets that can be leveraged).

3. Identify a specific project.
Once you’ve identified the type of partnership you want to pursue and you’ve selected a partner, you will need to identify a specific project. Similarly when choosing a partner, you will want to support a project that is aligned with your business and fulfills your long-term goals.

Some of the key criteria you will want to consider when selecting a project:

- Identifiable (can the project be easily identified and communicated about?)
- Meaningful (does the project support the issues in an authentic and sustainable way?)
- Reinforce Focus (does it help you drive authentic trust in this work?)
- Linkage to Brand (can it be potentially a branded, iconic and memorable program?)
- Participatory & Inspiring (can your clients, partners and employees participate?)

The Bottom Line
Successful brand-nonprofit partnerships don’t get built overnight. You need to identify your CSR goals and sustainability strategy before engaging a nonprofit. You can follow Coke’s example:

“Live positively is our commitment to redesigning the way we work and live so that sustainability is part of everything we do. Forever.”

Coca-Cola’s commitments will give you an idea on where to start:

”Water Stewardship
Our goal is to return to communities and nature an amount of water equal to what we use in our beverages and their production.

Active Living
Our goal is to help people lead active, healthy lives by offering a wide variety of beverages, our focus on information and education, and our support of physical activity.”

How about you? What are your commitments? Do you have any nonprofit partnership stories you’d like to share?

Recommended reading:
Sustainable Brands Recap: CSR’s 7 Best Practices
Get Involved With Your Community
What Is A Sustainable Brand?

“In today’s competitive market, companies that incorporate social and green policies can leave a lasting impression on the consumer. As Sofia Ribeiro pointed out in her post Using Community Involvement as Part of Your Green Marketing and CSR Strategy, a Cone Inc. survey revealed that 83% of people will trust a company more if it is socially/environmentally responsible. With this in mind, how do companies go about communicating their best initiatives?

Recently, Perry Goldschein took the podium at Sustainable Brands 2010 to talk about the seven best practices of corporate social responsibility (otherwise known as CSR). As the founding partner of SDialogue LLC, a strategic sustainability communications firm, Perry provided insights on how to engage your consumers and stakeholders. Follow this recap with CSR’s 7 Best Practices to learn how to put your organization’s best social and environmental practices in the spotlight.”

Continue reading this article at The Green Economy Post.

Recommended reading:
How To Prevent Greenwashing
Leveraging Your Green Message Through Cause Marketing Programs
The Power of ANDvantage

Recently, Perry Goldschein took the podium at Sustainable Brands 2010 to talk about the seven best practices of corporate social responsibility (otherwise known as CSR). As the founding partner of SDialogue LLC, a strategic sustainability communications firm, Perry provided insights on how to engage your consumers and stakeholders. Follow this recap with CSR’s 7 Best Practices to learn how to put your organization’s best social and environmental practices in the spotlight:

1) Set Measurable Goals:
Return on investment has always been a difficult thing to measure. In order to accomplish this in your CSR policy, Perry suggests implementing small changes close to home, such as improving employee policies that decrease turnover and improve recruitment. Simple steps, like minimizing waste and resource use are changes that can be developed into a memorable story about how sustainability efforts support your company’s overall corporate strategy.

2) Stakeholder Engagement:
Leaving their stakeholders out of the loop is one of the top mistakes companies make when trying to jump on the green/socially responsible bandwagon. In order for your company to articulate its values, missions, strategy, and implementation in the creation of your CSR plan, it is important for everyone to be on the same page. Stakeholders can help by partaking in the regulatory approvals process, improving relationships proactively, or solving CSR roadblocks and potential crises. Include your stakeholders from the start of the consultation process and sidestep moving forward with developments in which they would otherwise have little influence over or information about.

3) Sustainability Issues Mapping:
This approach uses interactive maps to help prioritize and narrow down key issues, saving your company time and money during the initial research stage. For instance, Sir Geoffrey Chandler, founder and chair of Amnesty International UK, praises sustainability issues mapping as “a most stimulating approach. It brings together things which ought to go together, but too frequently don’t.”

4) Sustainability Management Systems (SMS):
Develop a framework to ensure that environmental, social, and economic concerns are considered in tandem throughout your organization’s decision-making processes. Start by identifying and prioritizing sustainability aspects and impacts. Take it one step further by looking at legal requirements related to these impacts and evaluate your company’s current compliance. Collaborating with an environmental consultant can help during this process. Next, outline your company’s goals and objectives. Finally, educate and train your employees on using the SMS, and also periodically run audits to ensure that it’s carried out in the most effective manner possible.

5) Lifecycle Assessment:
Product design is critical. Gone are the days where the immediate product the only thing that matters, without any given thought to its afterlife. A cradle-to-cradle approach exhibits your company’s creativity and innovation and can, consequently, improve your bottom line. Whether it’s re-using your product or designing it in a manner that will keep it out of the landfill, build customer rapport and brand loyalty by taking the pressure off the disposal process for your products.

6) Sustainability/CSR Reporting:
CSR reporting has increased in popularity over the past few years, due to increasing government regulations as well as self-regulation by forward-thinking companies. It’s important that your consumer base has easy access to your latest and greatest efforts, in a way that doesn’t minimize what you’re doing. A simple and environmentally-friendly way to do this is to post your CSR reports on your website, in an easy to download PDF file or other accessible format. This is another area to ask for feedback from your number one fans: your stakeholders.

7) Sustainability Branding:
Transparency is key in sustainability branding. For example, Clorox Green Works, when endorsed by the Sierra Club, was able to capture 42% of the market share in their first year! The market for natural cleaning products has since increased, paving the way for smaller brands like Seventh Generation and Method to reach to a broader customer base.

However, be careful to avoid greenwashing and implement the entire CSR seven best practices I’ve described above. McDonald’s made this mistake when it attempted to change the background of its logo from red to green in order to appeal to European customers. McDonald’s quick leap to the final CSR step was implemented while still relying on a variety of unsustainable practices and suppliers. Transparency builds trust, while greenwashing will alienate your consumer base.

Incorporating social responsibility hand-in-hand with sustainable practices will ensure that your company remains competitive in today’s consumer-savvy market. Don’t wait to get the word out on how your organization is doing its part!

Recommended reading:
Get Involved With Your Community
Implementing Cradle To Cradle Strategies For a Cleaner World
What Is A Sustainable Brand?