In the September 24, 2007 issue of Business Week, a column entitled "Telling Little Green Lies" suggests that a recent survey of consumers showed that 56% stated that living in an ecologically irresponsible manner was a societal taboo -- which is why that a staggering 90% of those surveyed said that they had lied to friends a neighbors about living in an environmentally friendly way.So what about corporations?
If you ask any of their suppliers if they are engaged in eco-friendly process within their corporations, I highly doubt if any would say no. However, when your suppliers say yes, be
assured that most have their fingers crossed behind their back and hope that you don't delve further into the issue.Most corporations have engaged in energy efficiency (turn off the lights), recycling paper, toners and other sundry items. Some may even have telecommuting programs which they will proudly state is part of their program to minimize the carbon footprint.
Don't get me wrong -- these are good things -- but they hardly make you eco-friendly.
Many companies are long on promises and short on commitment. The reality is that you can't turn around years of "bad" environmental behaviour around overnight! A stepped process is required and an understanding that to become environmentally "neutral" can take years.
Even if your company has eliminated many of its own irresponsible practices, you are still buying from companies who may be investigating options and alternatives to their own environmental dilemma. Nobody can turn on a dime -- but what you can request from your suppliers is an audited annual progress report which shows their efforts to minimize their carbon footprint and their plans and targets for future years.
And if you have been anointed as the Green Hornet of your organization -- make sure you are not out there on your own -- create an internal and external advisory group which can act as a think tank for your environmental pursuits.You should also look at getting buy-in from the corporation to do something symbolic -- like getting rid of bottled water. Let's go back to ice water in pitchers for meetings. This symbolic gesture would get the attention of all levels of the organization, because it would impact them all, behaviourly, but let's not forget, it would actually reduce costs.
So let's stop with trying to pretend we can go from pastel green to evergreen overnight. It is a noble thought, but unachievable.
And let's stop the lies. A current advertisement for a printer from a major corporation states "Using our Printer Helps the Environment". Oh Please! If you believe that I have some swampland for you in Florida (which actually may become an increasingly scarce commodity)
1 comment:
"You should also look at getting buy-in from the corporation to do something symbolic -- like getting rid of bottled water. Let's go back to ice water in pitchers for meetings. This symbolic gesture would get the attention of all levels of the organization, because it would impact them all, behaviourally, but let's not forget, it would actually reduce costs."
Let me get this straight from a Purchasing point of view.
We have two corporations and their exclusive interest is to make an increasing amount of profit for their shareholders.
Corporation 'A' has determined that by appearing to be 'green', they can make more profit from their victims (oops, I guess I mean their customers).
For some reason, totally unrelated to their primary purpose of existence, Corporation 'A' is going to force Corporation 'B' to be at least as green as Corporation 'A' or even greener?
How, pray tell, does Corporation 'A' make more money for their stockholders by forcing Corporation 'B' to be greener? How does Corporation 'B' make more money for their stockholders by convincing everyone, including Corporation 'A', they actually care more about the environment than they do about their prime directive?
On a very small scale, I know you've pre-answered my question in the above quote. Somehow or other, corporate insiders are going to have to convince the powers-that-be they really can make a lot of money by being green, instead of just pretending to be green and in the current climate, that might actually be true. There may be a small window of opportunity.
The only problem I envision is corporate entities discovering they can make just as much money - at a lower seed cost - by simply pretending to be green, making a few meaningless gestures and spending a few bucks on PR.
This is pretty much what governments have been doing during my entire life and I can't ever see corporations being more responsible than governments.
Don't get me wrong now. I surely do hope corporations can make a lot more money being green than pretending to be green, I hope they realize it and I hope they act on it.
Unfortunately, I'm just teensy bit pessimistic because the guys running the corporations are the exact same guys who run our government and they don't have much in the way of a positive track record.
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