Green has gone mainstream, and it's about time. As a nation, we've been embarking on this movement for more than 30 years, and it's officially hit its tipping point. After all,
Time, Newsweek, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Glamour, New York Times Magazine and other pop culture bibles of our day have declared their support with recent cover stories on the
environmental doomsday. That makes it official, right?
We all know that that is not necessarily true, but public perception often follows media and celebrity endorsement. Most of us use this phenomenon to our advantage in our
everyday work lives (heck, you may have placed the stories on Wal-Mart's environmentally sensitive practices. Smart tactic to position the world's largest, often most hated
retailer as a green do-gooder). But can we encourage organizations to do what's right for the environment, regardless of publicity opportunities? Maybe. More importantly, we can
leverage what they're doing through our public relations acumen to build the green movement into a new way of life for our country.
It's Our Job
As public relations practitioners, we're already the moral police for our organizations. It's time we became the green police as well. Think beyond what is right ethically for
our companies and offer suggestions for what is right for the environment. How can what you're doing today lessen the footprint on the planet tomorrow? The opportunities are
endless and I argue that if our industry is leading the charge, the world will follow. We're persuasive, we're smart, we're connected, we've earned our seat in the boardroom, and
darn it, people like us. Let's use our collective powers to save the planet. Here are a few thoughts to sustain this movement so that our children's children aren't living in
Gotham City when they grow up.
1. Become the green expert in your company. Establish a green team internally to field information and requests to the executive team. Attend conferences, read Web
sites and blogs and become knowledgeable about what your competition is doing. But don't be afraid of becoming unpopular or even a nuisance among your senior leadership team as
they learn to understand and appreciate their new reality of environmental stewardship.
2. Share with your clients what private and public sector organizations are doing to lessen their impact on the earth. You don't have to dig deep to discover examples
of big and small steps being taken. And the steps you take don't have to draw huge economic resources from your company's budget. In my adopted state of Arizona, the governor
recently declared that all state vehicles will be hybrid or electric, and charged with renewable energy by 2010. The fleet would need to be replenished by then anyway. She's
replacing them in a cost effective, meaningful way.
3. The upside of sustainability going mainstream is that reporters are covering corporate initiatives almost daily. The downside of sustainability going mainstream is
that those same journalists are becoming very cynical to hangers-on. They need proof that what you're saying is true. Demonstrate the impact of your green actions before calling
the media to tout them. Use statistics and show relevance to their publication.
4. Encourage your senior leadership team to lead by example. Walk the walk or you'll be caught. Because media are becoming more savvy and educated about environmental
practices, they're looking now for disconnects. If your CEO drives an Escalade to his private hangar for his next business trip, don't call Newsweek to talk about the
energy efficiency of your latest product. Somewhere in the translation, you'll be unveiled.
5. Take the initiative and develop a "start somewhere" plan that works for your company. Little things add up, and you're the perfect person to champion the cause
internally. Place recycle bins in the copy room, encourage mass transit and carpooling, establish rewards for biking or walking to work, start a telecommuting program if you don't
have one already.
6. Ask questions. No different than your current role, you need to know where the skeletons are buried before you begin an environmental awareness program. Were
supplies shipped in from China? What are your company's business practices abroad?
7. Reduce, reuse, recycle. We're an excessive society and excessive consumption is responsible for the rapid depletion of natural resources and the acceleration of
global warming (the U.S. has 5% of the world's population and nearly 30% of its CO2 emissions). Do you need to throw opulent events when a more subdued approach might
achieve the objective? Do you need to commute to the coast weekly or is there a more efficient way to accomplish your goals? Think about it.
8. Go carbon neutral by planting a tree or shrub for every person driving to your next big event. Announce the effort at the event and publicize the gesture locally.
The rationale: Plant matter absorbs the carbon dioxide created by your guests cars. Take your outreach full circle by making a media event out of the tree planting.
9. Put old needs into 21st century technologies. Print with soy ink on recycled paper (doesn't everyone do that by now?). Incorporate electronic delivery whenever
possible and plan ahead for the inevitable system crash.
10. Support companies (suppliers, partners, etc.) that demonstrate their commitment to the environment. Buy locally whenever possible to cut down on fuel costs. It
sounds trite and we've heard it before, but think globally, act locally.
And the list goes on.
CONTACT:
Michelle Olson is president of Olson Communications, Inc. and chair-elect of PRSA's Counselors Academy. She can be reached at [email protected].