News and analysis on sustainability, corporate social responsibility, stakeholder engagement, and Internet and other digital marketing and communications. You'll even get some very practical tips on these topics that you can put to immediate use!
The FTC’s imminent release of its first new “Green Guidelines” since 1998 has gotten lots of recent attention, along with how marketers will be impacted. Some good, but I believe incomplete or even inaccurate pieces have been written about it, as well as related events and trends. I summarize the current environment (no pun intended) and then cover the top four things you need to know about green marketing in the coming months and years to gain more benefit with less risk.
Many mid-size and larger companies are investing increasing levels of both human and financial resources in corporate social responsibility (CSR) / sustainability efforts, despite a struggling economy. Yet, especially in this economy, for a CSR program to be sustainable, it’s important to develop, maintain and tie CSR goals to overarching corporate goals. This usually requires some type of meaningful measurement and reporting, best set up at the beginning of the process.
I read with a combination of dismay and amusement yet another op ed about “the case against CSR,” this time on the Wall Street Journal website. Oddly enough, it came from a professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Business, with one of the stronger CSR-related programs in the country and host of the upcoming 2010 Net Impact Conference.
This piece followed a Washing Post op ed of a similar theme only last month, calling CSR a cult and blaming it for the BP and other disasters – which could more easily be waved off due to the naivety of an author with clearly no knowledge of the field, and confused by the difference between walking and talking CSR.
Water… H2O… Agua… Eau… Acqua… Das Wasser… Voda… There are numerous ways in which one can say ‘water’ but they all describe the same unique substance without which human beings can’t live.
Water is something that Americans take for granted every day. The majority of Americans have the luxury to be able to turn on a faucet and get clean drinking water any time they want, or to purchase water for use. Yet every day more than 4,000 children in developing countries die, simply because they don’t have access to clean drinking water (CSDW.org). Unsafe water or lack or basic sanitation causes 80% of all diseases, more than all forms of violence and war (charitywater.org).
Our friends at Changents.com have created a wonderful campaign, partnering with Proctor & Gamble, called the “Clean Water Blogivation.” By utilizing blogging, individuals will be able to make a difference for hundreds of people by providing them clean, drinkable water.
When someone creates a blog post, like this one, describing the importance of being a clean water ‘Change Agent’, they will be eligible for a chance to join a ‘P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program’ and possibly win $15,000 for a favorite charity that’s working in the front lines of the global water crisis. So, if you have a blog, join us in spreading the word!
Perhaps even more importantly, each time a reader votes for a blog post, P&G will donate a day’s worth of clean drinking water (2L) to a person in need in a developing country. This is an amazing step in the right direction by using the power of online communities to touch lives and give life-sustaining water.
P&G is utilizing their ‘Pur Packets’ to transform bacteria and disease ridden water into clean and safe water in a matter of 30 minutes for thousands of people in the developing world. Check out the ‘Pur Packets’ at work here:
On a more personal note the members of SDialogue are doing our best to conserve water in everyday life. For example, both of SDialogue’s founders have made additions to their homes which cut back on their personal water usage. Perry has a 1,100 gallon rainwater collection system in his home which allows him to conserve water naturally. Beth has an outdoor shower which she uses into the winter months, cutting back on the amount of time she and her family spends showering. You can check out her blog on outdoor showers here.
Please vote for SDialogue’s blog post by using the widget posted near the top of this blog. Remember with every vote (one per visitor per day – so come back everyday), you can help us bring a day’s worth of clean drinking water (2L) to those who desperately need it!
The Obama Administration is putting forward a great effort to improve the health of our nation by getting us outside. Children today spend half as much time outdoors as their parents did, helping to push our country deeper into an epidemic of childhood obesity. Through the First Lady’s “Let’s Move” campaign and President Obama’s “America’s Great Outdoors” campaign, the administration is attempting to reconnect Americans, including our children, to the outdoors. Read the rest of this entry »