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This category covers a broad range of aspects including compliance with laws, employee awareness and education, marketing, branding, newsletters, Internet resources, organization, charter, business partners, associations involved in greening, industry recognition.
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International Coastal Cleanup DaySeptember 1, 2010September 25 is International Coastal Cleanup Day. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the day that is dedicated to picking up trash and debris from coastlines and waterways all over the world. Last year, hundreds of thousands of volunteers picked up over a million plastic bags and enough picnic items to host 100,000 people. Last year, our Green Committee in Sacramento partnered with the California Arts Council to draw special attention to the occasion and host an art contest for our employees’ children. It was so successful, that we are doing it again this year. The Ocean Conservancy leads the international effort. Government agencies and non-profit organizations participate by identifying opportunities for volunteers to spend a day cleaning up beaches, lakes, riverbeds, and waterways. In California, our state Coastal Commission has information about events planned around the state and how to join the effort. This is a wonderful opportunity to draw attention to your greening efforts and involve employees in active participating to improve the environment in their communities. The art contest we host gives notice to everyone about the upcoming day and helps teach youth K-12 about the importance of protecting and preserving our natural resources. The art contest theme this year is “Oceans and Wetlands”. In our announcement released the middle of August, we provided a list of websites for parents and older contestants from which to obtain information and inspiration for their artistic creations. We specifically included resources about the Gulf oil spill and environmental clean-up efforts underway: http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/ http://www.teachablemoment.org/elementary/oilspill.html http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home The art will be on display in our building’s cafeteria for a month and an awards ceremony with prizes for the winning entries by age group will be held October 1, in conjunction with California Arts Day. We contacted restaurants and businesses to request meal coupons or gift cards to present as prizes. Last year, we were able to give all contestants a souvenir award for their effort and the winners a classroom pizza party.
Internal greening efforts benefit from frequent opportunities to make employees aware of the threats to our natural resources and the many opportunities throughout the year to take action and make a difference. Visible and positive changes from those efforts spur enthusiasm and confidence to undertake bolder steps in our workplaces to adopt sustainable business practices, knowing they, too, promote sound use of our limited resources and reduce our environmental impact.
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For FedEx "Everything is Connected"August 25, 2010At FedEx, we recognize that our impact is greater than the services we provide. We are committed to being a great place to work, a thoughtful steward of the environment and a caring citizen in the communities where we live and work. We are passionate about sustainably connecting people and places and improving the quality of life around the world. This is how FedEx® introduces itself on the company’s website. This week’s blog began with a conversation I had with Bill Brown, Senior Counsel for FedEx. I met Bill at the 2010 annual meeting of the Conference of Western Attorneys General. I introduced myself as the author of GreenWorksGov and asked him if FedEx had made many changes in their business processes to lower their carbon footprint. I learned that FedEx has taken many significant measures in the last decade to transform its system of services and delivery to fulfill its commitment to be a “thoughtful steward of the environment.” I’m pleased to write about FedEx this week because they are a global force for sustainability around the world, and GreenWorksGov readers hail from nearly every continent.
Bill referred me to Mitch Jackson, Staff Vice-President for Environmental Affairs and Sustainability. Mitch leads FedEx’s sustainability initiatives, which touch on every aspect of the company’s operations. You can read up on their activities by clicking here. FedEx’s website is all you’d expect from a global company plus more. FedEx strives for transparency and its website offers up easy-to-find information on the company’s demonstrated commitment to sustainable business practices. One reason that the information is so easy to find is because sustainability is integral to the mission, values, and performance standards adhered to by FedEx and its employees.
I think it’s important to pay attention to FedEx for at least three reasons. First, they are a company with which most of us do some business; their green practices help us to achieve our goals with respect to factoring the carbon footprint of the materials, packaging, and transportation elements of our operations. FedEx started its sustainability program back in the early part of this decade, now called EarthSmart, a commitment to minimize the company’s impact on the environment. Today, for example, half of FedEx's pickup and delivery vehicles used in the London, U.K. area are electric or alternative fuel vehicles. And in general, FedEx has the industry’s largest fleet of hybrid electric package-delivery trucks. They’re still expanding that fleet, but not just by buying new hybrids. They’ve also learned how to expand the useful lives of some conventional diesel trucks by retrofitting them with hybrid electric drive trains. FedEx collaborated with the Environmental Defense Fund to help engineer the first hybrid commercial trucks in 2005. From the first 18 trucks in the fleet, FedEx now has 329 and there are 1,416 more throughout the US. Company-wide, FedEx has realized a 14% savings in fuel efficiency since 2005.
Second, we can borrow some of their ideas and apply them in our greening practices and educational institution outreach efforts. FedEx has targeted the paper services it provides and increased the percent of Forest Stewardship Council certified paper that the company buys. FedEx has a vision of their potential and their corporate responsibility to lead their industry and beyond into sustainability. On the global front, FedEx is collaborating with the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy on a study due out later this year on the success and risk factors for nations who strive to achieve both environmental sustainability and economic sustainability and the links between them.
Last, we can draw inspiration to reach into our communities by learning what FedEx is doing in service to others and in support of environmental protection. For example, FedEx joined the efforts to protect sea turtle nests and eggs from potential impacts of the Gulf oil spill by donating resources to transport hundreds of nests containing thousands of eggs to Florida’s Atlantic Coast for temporary protection during the hatching season. I think it serves to underscore the commitment to green internal operations when a business supports and encourages its employees to engage in “external” actions to protect the environment and our natural resources. “Everything is Connected”, is an apt title for FedEx’s 2009 annual Global Citizenship Update.
I recommend spending some time learning more about FedEx and studying its successful example. The takeaway for me is that sustainability is elevated to the mission of the company, aligned with its business goals across the enterprise, and viewed as a necessary condition for the company’s success. The message is clear and consistent. FedEx has earned its industry leader ranking. I think the sea turtles are in very good hands.
For its efforts and accomplishments, FedEx is the recipient of numerous awards in 2009 and 2010:
Dow Jones Sustainability Index North America
Boston College-Reputation Institute 2009 CSR Index Top 10 Ranking
Newsweek Greenest Companies Ranking Top 100
EPA Green Power Partnership Printer’s List No. 1 Ranking
Green Grades Office Supply Report Card’s Top Ranking
Flight Safety Foundation’s Honeywell Bendix Trophy for Aviation Safety
2009 W3 Awards’ Gold Award in the business category for its Citizenship Blog at blog.fedex.com
FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For”
And, so far in 2010
The Lindbergh Foundation Corporate Award for Balance 2010 (joining past years’ winners: Patagonia, Google, The Jacoby Group)
The International Charter’s Committed to the Environment Award 2010 (the first transportation company to receive this award)
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Cultivate Green Employees and Plant the Seeds EarlyAugust 18, 2010New employees are prime sources for recruiting support and participation in your greening endeavors. Our department isn’t exactly staffing up these days, nor are most government agencies. But some hires are being made and a lull in scheduled orientation sessions is a good time to include or update your green program info. Information about our green program and how to join the effort is on our Intranet. It simplifies what information needs to be provided to new employees and minimizes the paper handouts when you can direct them to the Intranet. We provide basic information as part of a general slide presentation to let them know that the office has an active effort underway to green our business practices. It’s a great opportunity to go over key policies and priorities from environmentally preferable purchasing, to two-sided printing, recycling, and energy conservation tips. If you have an annual report or newsletter, let them know where to find them on the Intranet or Internet. We invite employees to join a local committee or start one. By getting involved in the greening effort and activities, it helps them become acquainted with co-workers outside of their organizational unit. This has the added benefit of fostering their ability to work effectively in their new office by making connections across work units.
If someone representing the green team can be present for this portion of the orientation, so much the better. Provide attendees with a one-page handout that references the policies, highlights your accomplishments, and lists a point of contact in their office. This will help new employees get off to a good, green start. I think it’s a super way to make employees feel welcome.
Recently, we came up with an idea for promoting our sales of re-usable nylon bags. We have sold these bags for two years. Many employees have bought one or more for themselves or family members, and still we have a stash of unsold bags. We are considering inviting staff to “sponsor” a new employee and buy a re-usable bag that will be presented to the employee at orientation or on their first day. We would attach a card to the bag to indicate the giver (or if the giver wishes to remain anonymous) and to tell the employee how they can learn more about our green office program. It’s a small, but significant gesture, and it’s bound to please.
In an earlier blog, I wrote about the link we have on our Internet’s Careers page to our Green Office-DOJ Internet page. It’s an added inducement to prospective job applicants that the employer has a green program and/or is located in a green building. Make a point to do something similar on your website, and you’re more likely to hire employees who come with a supportive and interested attitude toward your greening efforts.
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The First 39 BlogsAugust 11, 2010I think it’s time for a report to the stockholders, which in the case of GreenWorksGov, means you, dear readers. We’ve posted 39 blogs on the site including this one. Readership has grown every month and last week hit a peak of 630 visits to the site. Most of you are in the United States. I’m pleased to report that we have readers in 23 other countries. So, hello, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, India, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, Russia, Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Mongolia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Bhutan, Israel, Zambia, Mexico, and Ukraine. Because of you, we’ve added Google's Translate tool to the site. Thank you, all, for reading GreenWorksGov.
As you know, after a blog publishes on Wednesday, it is the most recent blog for a week. Then it goes to join previous blogs, or articles, under the category tab to which it relates. Many blogs reside under more than one category because the topics in it overlap into two or more categories. You can access any blog by its publication date, a category, or by doing a keyword search. I'm happy to report that we've recently added a feature service by listing the most recent blogs on the home page and on each category page to make it easier for readers to stay current.
On occasion, I review the previous blogs, because I want to be sure we have a good distribution of topics across the categories. Here’s a thumb nail sketch of the various themes so far:
November 11 to December 9. The first 5 blogs are all about organizing a greening program. More ideas that I loosely label “Admin Stuff” are the focus of the blogs dated December 30, January 6 and 27, February 24, March 10 and 13, and May 19. The topics include how to use the Intranet and Internet, branding or marketing, documenting your efforts, leveraging IT, and how green can save your department money.
Pollution prevention is the main point of the blogs dated January 13, May 5 and 12, and June 23. These are about green meetings, business travel, videoconferences, and office plants.
Recycling has center stage on December 16 and 23, June 30 and July 28.
What to do about paper is addressed on April 28, June 16 (guest blog from Washington state AG's Office), and July 21.
Green buildings and LEED certification are discussed on June 2 and July 14.
Interspersed from January to last week are 12 blogs about what others are doing, including other states, law firms, business partners, educational institutions and associations. Oftentimes, they have wonderful resources on their websites for more information, so I provide links to the pages.
Along the way in March and April, I wrote to welcome you to GreenWorksGov and invite your participation.
These are generally how the blogs fall out according to themes, but you’ll find me writing on January 27, about desktop power management software in the same blog as I write about paper and print management because following green practices generates dollar savings, too.
About 1/3 of the blogs are tied to organizing and executing green projects, 1/3 are about who’s doing what, and the remainder are on particular green issues such as energy conservation, recycling, buying green, or building green. I hadn’t planned on this balance, and I’m happy it’s worked out this way.
In closing, I am extending an invitation to you to sign onto the network. It takes but a minute, you’ll never receive a pop-up, and you can use your connections to contact your colleagues if you have a question. If you have a comment or question for me, click on the Comment tab at the end of this blog or click on the Contact tab at the bottom of the page. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for all you do in your offices to promote and support green business practices and a better environment for us and future generations. Until next week,
LB
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Sustainable Partnerships Go Beyond the WallsAugust 4, 2010In April, I wrote about the potential value there exists in working with our business partners to advance greening efforts. In that blog, I used LexisNexis® as an example of a company that has taken steps to green its operation. LexisNexis is a company that is committed to community service, also, through its LexisNexis Cares program. Last week, I attended the annual meeting of the Conference of Western Attorneys General (CWAG) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Attendees often are joined by family members who can participate in local activities. LexisNexis, a sponsor, teamed up with WildEarth Guardians, an organization with a mission to protect and restore wildlife, wild rivers, and wild places in the American West, and CWAG to sponsor a morning of tree planting along the Santa Fe River.
About 15 of us, including several youngsters who came along to help and do some prairie dog watching, planted willows and cottonwoods along a stretch of the river bed. The effort contributed to the greening of the riverbanks which will provide much needed stability and shade and helps to restore the habitat. Carol Norton, Associate Director of Wild Earth Guardians reports that , “During the 2010 planting season, we planted on five rivers in New Mexico 6,000 cottonwoods, 2,500 gooding willow, 500 pacific willow, 100,000+ coyote willow, 100 boxelder maple, and 600 riparian forage species (chokecherry, golden currant, netleaf hackberry, New Mexico olive (stretchberry), skunkbush sumac, bluestem willow, false indigo bush, and american plum). Also, 300 lbs. of native grass seed were dispersed and raked into the project areas.”
In one morning, we planted 34 trees and saw an equal number of prairie dogs scurrying along the parkway by the river. The big take away for me from this project was the knowledge that through our network of work relationships, we can reach beyond the walls of our offices and apply our energies together to improve the environment. There are numerous opportunities in our neighborhoods and communities during the year that we can take to mobilize volunteers from our offices and business partners to help environmental groups and organizations like WildEarth Guardians. By doing so, it fosters increased interest and enthusiasm for our internal greening efforts and builds our working relationships with our business partners, too. Kudos to LexisNexis, WildEarth Guardians and the volunteers who took up shovels and post-hole diggers to make a difference.
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