Search

By Andrew Heikkila

As millennials age and begin to represent a larger portion of the market pie, it’s become obvious that their interests must be accounted for if leading business wish to remain viable in the modern world. As such, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a hot topic for enterprise-level organizations the world over.

Startups and SMBs, on the other hand, may find dedicating time and resources to corporate social responsibility harder to justify. It’s not like they have as much capital to throw around, and may end up putting it on the back burner, or worse, forgoing CSR initiatives altogether.

The millennials are changing everything

If you ask Tiffany Apczynski, VP of public policy and social impact for Zendesk, shirking CSR is not only inadvisable, but could be disastrous for startups. She claims that more than 90 percent of consumers around the world today will move toward brands associated with a good cause, and she’s not alone.

As Adweek reports, millennials represented $2.45 trillion in spending power at the dawn of 2016. And Omnicom Group’s Cone Communications show that 70 percent will choose to buy from brands supporting causes that they care about.

The rise of consumer awareness can be attributed to the information age and the increasing accessibility of the Internet: The more visible global and social issues are, the more likely those paying attention will make decisions based on them. The next generations just happen to be, generally, more plugged in and informed than their predecessors.

Working out the kinks with CSR

The good news is that the power of consumer spending is actually creating positive change, diplomatically forcing organizations to adopt purpose beyond profit. The problem as it stands is that businesses are still working out the kinks with CSR. According to global marketing firm BrandStar, 65 percent of consumers are unable to make sense of businesses’ and brands’ social responsibility programs.

Engaging in CSR is the right thing to do regardless, but you’re missing out on huge opportunities if you’re not advertising your efforts properly. Not only is market share a scarce commodity that is on the way to rule-by-CSR-visibility, but so are great employees.

"The next generation of employees is seeking out employers that are focused on the triple bottom line: people, planet and revenue," Susan Cooney, founder of crowdfunding philanthropy platform Givelocity, told Business News Daily.

It’s easy to forget that millennials represent not only the lion’s share of consumers, but also the bulk of new talent in the job market. Indeed, studies have shown that more ethical leaders have employees who are more engaged at work and less emotionally exhausted.

What’s a startup to do?

If a startup or SMB has the opportunity to base the majority of their business around a socially responsible model, more power to them. However, it’s important to remember that CSR doesn’t have to be the lynchpin of your business operations, even if CSR visibility is becoming essential for the modern business’s success.

Even global businesses such as ERP solutions provider Unit 4 can bring life to seemingly simplistic ideas like an international kids sports day. So, who’s to say that a smaller company can’t compete with that? Any Startup or SMB that can organize a similar initiative in their own localized area is essentially doing as much as a global organization might, even if players and locations are different.

The point is that even’ small’ causes are worth investing in. Kelly Reddington, for example, donates a meal to an American in need every time his company, Altered Seasons, sells one of its eco-friendly candles. Rebecca Peragine uses recycled materials and eco-friendly inks to sell cards and posters promoting environmental education for kids, and donates sales of a specific poster to Future Fortified. Jessica Ekstrom donates a dollar from each made-in-U.S. Headbands of Hope sale to cancer research via St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

There are plenty of other examples of socially responsible businesses that are making relatively modest contributions. If there’s a cause you believe in--or, better yet, that your customer base is passionate--there’s almost definitely a way that you can support that cause. Where there’s a will there’s a way. If you’re having a hard time coming up with one of your own, ask a couple of friends about local charities you can support, or consider surveying your target market.

When all is said and done, your customers not only want their dollar and your organization to support and better the world that we all live in, but they demand it. The customer is always right, as the old adage goes--but perhaps that saying is adopting new meaning, distancing itself from the entitlement mindset that permeates business and marketplace culture, and inching closer toward a brighter, more sustainable world view. Whatever the case, startups, SMBs, and enterprise-level organizations without social responsibility programs will soon cease to exist--and I’m beginning to think that’s not such a bad thing.

Image credit: Pexels

Andy O. is a writer, musician, and small-business owner from Boise, ID. He’s a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino films, habanero pizza, craft beer, and watching Rick and Morty on repeat. Get schwifty with Andy on Twitter @AndyO_TheHammer.

This article is part of a series of interviews with companies supporting the Rock the Green sustainability festival. Follow along here.

Welcome to the fourth of our interviews with companies and organizations that are supporting the upcoming Rock the Green sustainability festival in Milwaukee on Sept. 17.  We’re asking companies to talk about their own sustainability stories, as well as to explain why they’re supporting the event — one of the most sustainable festivals around.

This week we're talking to The Water Council, which describes itself as "a globally connected epicenter for freshwater research, innovation, education and business development".  In a nutshell The Water Council is part incubator, part research facility and part educator on water-related issues. We took a few minutes to talk to The Water Council about how their work fits in with the larger concepts of sustainability.

3p: What's your definition of sustainability, and why is it important to you?

The Water Council: We subscribe to the “triple bottom-line” definition of sustainability: people, planet and businesses should profit from our actions. Since water is in our name, we have to consider the implications of our actions and programs on the sustainability of our freshwater resources.

3p: What are the most important sustainability issues you deal with?

TWC: Our focus is on ensuring the long-term sustainability of our freshwater resources and ensuring water users can look to The Water Council for solutions to their water-related challenges. We also want to ensure our water technology solution providers can deliver state-of-the-art solutions that respect the triple bottom-line approach.

3p: Sustainable thinking is no longer just a "nice to have", it's increasingly seen as a competitive advantage. Tell us how sustainable thinking is helping move you forward?

TWC: When our environment is improved, our economic development benefits. The Water Council has been part of a movement in Milwaukee to focus on our freshwater resources and historical advantages those resources have conveyed to our manufacturers. As a result, we’ve witnessed unprecedented growth in the region around our water technology cluster which has translated into growth in the community as well. Quite simply, our competitive advantage is this region and the water technology cluster headquartered at The Global Water Center.

3p: Rock the Green, the concert, is all about going for zero waste. How have you reduced waste across your operations? Has it paid off for you financially?

TWC: The Water Council is proud to call the Global Water Center home which is a LEED certified building. The Global Water Center is also the first commercial building on the planet to go for certification under the Alliance for Water Stewardship’s (AWS) International Water Stewardship Standard. What we learned through LEED Certification and engagement with AWS will help us continue to conserve water and other resources, reduce waste, and operate our facility in a way that benefits employees and the surrounding community.

3p: Surveys show that employees are happier and more productive when they're engaged with a company's sustainability strategies. How do you engage your staff to implement your sustainability plans?

TWC: Because we are a relatively small operation, our employees are engaged in all aspects of our business operations, from strategic planning, to event planning, to addressing any sustainability issues that employees bring forth.

3p: In a nutshell, how will you be "rocking the green" in the coming 5 years?

TWC: The Water Council will continue to develop new stewardship and sustainability programs for our members and water users in general. Ultimately, this will help improve our nation’s freshwater resources.

(image source: The Water Council)

By Fiona Pelham

The theme of sustainability was central to Rio's 2016 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony. This is something the global event industry should take note of and here are five reasons why:

1) As a theme sustainability is challenging, it isn't a feel good factor. Rio faces criticism for the quality of the Guanabara waterways which will be used by athletes yet it still bought the world's attention to the need for us all to take more action on climate change.

The message here is you don't need to have your own issues perfectly sorted to inspire others into action, in fact please don't wait until you have everything perfect because we don't have time. As the opening ceremony so clearly communicated our climate is changing fast and if we don't want many of our global cities underwater we need to act fast. This should inspire many destinations, event suppliers and major events who worry that supporting campaigns to create a positive environmental change will result in them being criticised for not having found solutions to their own recycling, carbon or food waste challenges. This is a game changer and the message it sends is that everytime the attention of the world is focused on something it should be focused on the one thing we all have in common, our shared planet. As Clare Balding a BBC commentator noted "(people will look back at this and say) this is the day I realised we had to look after our planet'

2) The business case for sustainability is clear.

Over the last ten years the most commonly asked question I hear is 'What is the business case for sustainability, tell me how much money I can save'. It hasn't been that simple though and partly because the industry has not been prepared to save money at every opportunity. For the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games opening ceremony a key theme was reuse. From the stage sets to the significantly lower budget compared to London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games this opening ceremony demonstrated that it is more responsible to be creative on a lower budget than spending to impress. Suppliers who deliver events for brands who value sustainability should take note.

3) Sustainability is an inclusive theme.

The exact definition of sustainability is something most people couldn't tell you but everyone knows it is about looking after our future and what better way to present that visually than asking every athlete entering the stadium to plant a seed. Making this activity part of the ceremony was much more impactful than planting 12,000 trees of 208 varieties in the athletes village post event. Who knows how much this may inspire the athletes to become green fingered sustainability advocates.

4) Sustainability means inclusivity

Sustainability means ensuring something can last over time, this means maintaining relevance and for a sporting event which involves the world it is vital that the world's athletes are included.
As the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said at the opening ceremony ''In the Olympic world we are all equal..... In a world where selfishness is gaining ground .... With the greatest respect we welcome the refugee Olympic team'

The inclusion of the refugee team made the games relevant to the situation in the world today. The global support and interest in this community demonstrates how right the IOC were to innovate to be inclusive.

5) The Olympic flame is the symbol of the Olympics and past host cities around the world still proudly display their flames.

Rio 2016's Olympic and Paralympic Games flame is low carbon emission and wind powered so Rio's symbol for their games is also a symbol of their commitment to sustainability.

Image: Pixabay

As social-media sites and engagement tools explode, pinpointing the right avenue for engaging any demographic remains a moving target. No group is more challenging to reach than youth -- so-called Generation Z. Like every generation that came before, this group chooses communications platforms precisely because the grownups are nowhere to be found. And they aren't afraid to move on if the platform du jour gets infiltrated by olds (I'm looking at you, Facebook!). That makes it hard to sustain interest and engagement.

Nevertheless, activist organizations will continue to chase, as young people are also known for their passion. Catch someone at the right time, and you could gain a lifetime supporter!

Over the last 15 years, Do Something emerged as one of the largest organizations in the world for young people who are interested in social change. With over 5.3 million members in 130 countries, Do Something tackles volunteer campaigns that impact every cause from poverty to discrimination and the environment. Their mission is to make the world suck less. Their approach to meeting young people where they are is a lesson any group can learn from. Here are some great examples of how they keep teens and young people coming back for more.

1. Connect young people to the causes they care about

This mission is accomplished through a series of fun, interactive and engaging campaigns which connect young people to the causes they care about the most. “We work directly with young people to find out what they really care about” said Calvin Stowell, Do Something’s chief growth officer.

“Most people think that young people apathetic, lazy or they don’t care, but they actually care about a lot of things. One person might care about discrimination another one might care about bullying. We make cause spaces accessible to everyone,” Stowell said.

2. Focus on impact

Every Do Something campaign has an action. “We incorporate awareness into every campaign, but our real focus is on impact,” Stowell told TriplePundit. For example, when it came to addressing issues that most affected homeless teens, the Do Something team reached out to shelters to talk to them directly.

Through these conversations they learned that the one thing teens requested most was a pair of jeans. So, the organization launched Teens for Jeans and collected 172,030 pairs of jeans from New York to California, Puerto Rico to Hawaii and everywhere in between.

This was the largest youth led clothing drive in history. “We knew our members cared about homelessness so we married what they cared about to what the homeless youth needed. Bringing these two things together is what makes the biggest impact,” he explained.

“We ask ourselves what is the big issue and then how can we make a significant impact around that issue. How can we get the largest amount of young people to do the most good possible?”

3. Keep the user in mind

“With everything we do, build or market we’re always thinking from the user perspective. What do they want to do? And, how can we remove the barriers to make it easier for them?” Stowell asked. “This is always at the front of our minds when we are creating anything. What’s at the top of their minds? What are their biggest fears and what makes them happiest? This allows us to design the best possible campaign.”

Do Something’s audience of 13- to 25-year-olds fits snuggly between the millennial and Gen Z generations (depending on who is counting). This group are ambitious, goal-oriented and aspirational. They want to make a difference in the world. They want to connect with important causes. By keeping their goals and ambitions in mind, the Do Something team is able to build highly effective campaigns and engagement opportunities.

4. Meet them where they are

When it comes to leveraging social media, Do Something’s number one rule is to meet youth where they are. “If a platform is popular to young people it’s our job to figure out how we can integrate ourselves into it” said Stowell.

“Social media is incredible because it lets people have their own narrative. We see so many young activists create impact around causes. For example, Black Lives Matter is such an important part of this election. Social media gives people who are marginalized the power of their own voice. For us, it’s so important to build out strategies to be in all those places.”

From posting weekly stories on Snapchat to engaging with an audience of over 3 million Facebook and Twitter followers, Do Something is all about meeting users where they are, listening to them and amplifying their voices. “For us, it’s all about how can use social media to go on this journey with them. No other organization does what Do Something does the way that Do Something does it.”

As communication shifts, this forward-looking organization is sure to follow along, keeping engagement at top of mind.

Image credit: Pexels

Another stock bubble is emerging within the capital markets, largely fueled by the Silicon Valley “unicorns” that have scored sky-high valuations in recent years. The company that started by offering air mattresses in San Francisco, Airbnb, has been valued as high as $30 billion. Even more shocking is the suggestion that the ridesharing service Uber could be valued as $66 billion. Contrast Uber’s valuation with that of BMW ($60.4 billion) and and GM ($49.6 billion), companies that own assets across the globe, own copious amounts of technology and at a fundamental level, actually manufacture real things.

The continued growth of these companies has led several analysts to suggest that the markets could be subjected to a massive “short,” akin to what happened with the credit default swaps that helped destabilized global financial markets in 2008. As dramatized in last year’s hit movie, The Big Short, the collateralized debt obligations that repackaged portfolios of sub-prime mortgages led to the demise of a wide range of financial institutions, from Lehman Brothers to Washington Mutual. Those few who bet against these portfolios made out big.

But to put things in perspective, the tech market is financed and structured in a way vastly different from the tech boom of the 1990s. Back then, countless internet companies went public in the belief that online advertising would pay for everything and that the way goods and services were bought and sold would be revolutionized. The latter certainly proved true. The problem was that internet advertising was more of a dribble of revenue than a wave, and companies such as Amazon really did not come part and parcel of consumer culture until well after the tech crash of the early 2000s. Spooked by that history, along with financial reforms such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, many companies within this new generation of companies have stayed private, unless they have developed a robust business model like Facebook's. When a company remains private, employee stock options are usually illiquid. "Option" being the option to purchase stock at a set price if the company ever goes public.

But some see a possibility with the changes in which stock options are rewarded and rewritten. Stock options have been a lure in signing and retaining employees for years, but they are useless unless a company is acquired or sells it shares publicly. When a big company stays private indefinitely, employees start to have a problem with these golden carrots. The New York Times has reported that stock option plans at privately held companies, including Airbnb, are being redrawn in order to let employees sell limited amounts of shares to in certain markets. One firm that has benefited from this trend is NASDAQ Private Market, which manages transactions involving privately-held shares so that these companies can manage their liquidity while allowing employees to cash out some stocks with the aim to keep them motivated and inspired enough to stay with the same company.

As the Financial Times has noted, there are at least 100 privately held companies in the U.S. that have attained a valuation of at least $1 billion. Despite new ways in which the stock options of private companies are written, this is still a tough market to enter: only the well-connected and those who own or manage large numbers of assets can usually play in this market. Nevertheless, investors are still salivating over the opportunity to manipulate the securities of the likes of Airbnb and Uber. After all, those who underwrite the shares of publicly held companies are required to follow far more rules, are held to far more scrutiny and have values far more sensitive to both trends and externalities in the marketplace. That, in turn, creates an illusion that these privately owned unicorn shares are even more valuable, adding to the ongoing bubble we see.

So is it still possible for investors to wreak havoc by shorting these companies? Possibly, but via indirect tactics. Erin Griffiths of Forbes, for example, has suggested going after the firms selling goods and services to these companies, especially within the financial sector. Another option, Griffith explains, is going long against the companies supposedly being disrupted, whether they are the conventional hotel chains competing with Airbnb, or the automakers and taxi medallion lenders that are vying for supremacy with Uber and Lyft.

But as Quartz writer Steve LeVine points out, such tactics are also complicated. Despite all the naysaying and hopes for Schadenfreude, the unicorns like Uber are still taking in the lion’s share of venture capital, delaying their need to go public, thereby making such a scenario close to impossible. And in any event, while the transportation sector will probably not revolve around ridesharing firms anytime soon (as in how automakers redefined transportation after World War II), they are becoming more integrated. The world’s automobile companies know ridesharing in any form is here to stay, which is why GM has invested in Lyft and Volkswagen has plunked $300 million in Gett. And everyone is buying into the future of autonomous cars, from stodgy Ford to futuristic Tesla. If you are going to short the Ubers, you may need to short the auto manufacturers, too.

Finally, despite fears to the contrary, Uber most likely will not rule the world: its defeat to Chinese rival Didi Chuxing in that country, and the rise of domestic competitors in other markets such as Russia and India, means that we are seeing a market that is not consolidating, but will still be remarkably fragmented. If Uber and its ilk become desperate and decide that they will go public and become vassals of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the chances are high that investors captivated by the opportunity to short those shares will be few and far between.

Image credit: Aaron Parecki/Wiki Commons

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton pledged that half a billion solar panels will be installed by the end of her first term if she wins the Oval Office this fall. That number may seem daunting, but industry insiders say it's well within the realm of possibility. Even if you don't have all the inside numbers at your fingertips, you can look to the U.S. military -- yes, the military -- to see how quickly clean power is mainstreaming into communities all across the country.

How many solar panels did you say?

Last summer Clinton announced the panel goal within a comprehensive 10-year renewable energy plan. As described on her campaign website, the plan includes a pledge to generate "... enough renewable energy to power every home in America, with half a billion solar panels installed by the end of Hillary’s first term."

Assuming a Clinton victory this fall, that would mean half a billion panels by the end of January 2021. That pledge appears to fold the nation's existing -- and rapidly growing -- stock of solar installations into the total, which helps to make the goal of 500 million panels look more do-able.

Later on the campaign trail, Clinton upped the ante and began articulating the goal of adding half a billion more panels to the nation's existing stock during her first term in office. Here she is at a campaign appearance in Iowa, cited by CNS News:

“Let’s deploy a half a billion more solar panels by the end of my first term and enough clean energy to power every home by the end of my second term,” Clinton said. “We can do this.”

That's quite a bit more ambitious. Assuming a Clinton victory this fall, the half-billion clock would not start ticking until January 2017.

[Note: In common usage one billion refers to 1,000 million (in some quarters it used to mean one million million), so half a billion works out to 500 million.]

18,000 panels for Maryland and Colorado

To get a handle on the possibilities, consider what industry leader SolarCity, the real-estate services firm Balfour Beatty and the U.S. military have already accomplished through SolarStrong, SolarCity's years-long project to install rooftop panels at housing on military bases.

The partnership began in 2012 at Fort Bliss with the goal of installing enough solar panels to power more than 120,000 housing units. According to SolarCity, the program has already reached 37 military facilities.

In the latest round, last week the partners announced that a new round of 18,000 rooftop panels has just been completed. The panels were distributed among 1,200 units of military housing at Fort Detrick in Maryland and Fort Carson in Colorado, with a combined capacity of 4.7 megawatts.

Residential rooftop solar is just one part of the military's solar initiatives. In 2011, the U.S. Army established a team of experienced solar planners to help streamline the adoption of utility scale solar installations at military facilities. The so-named Energy Initiatives Task Force was so successful that it was transitioned into a permanent Office of Energy Initiatives.

As of the beginning of 2016, the agency had a portfolio of 14 projects in various stages of development that add up to 350 megawatts of clean energy. At Fort Detrick, for example, the rooftop installation is supplemented by a ground mounted, 15-megawatt solar array of almost 60,000 solar panels.

Other branches of the armed services have also been moving forward with utility scale  projects. Another notable example is the U.S. Air Force, which has adopted a strategic energy plan that emphasizes renewables.

The Defense Department is also a significant funding force behind research projects that are introducing powerful but inexpensive new materials into the market and helping to push down the cost of solar power.

Why count panels?

For that matter, the total of half a billion solar panels may significantly underestimate the amount of solar energy that the U.S. is capable of adding between January 2017 and January 2011.

Flat, rigid solar panels are now a familiar sight, but they are only one way to harvest energy from the sun. Rooftop water heating systems, for example, are beginning to come into widespread use.

Another important trend consists of integrating photovolatic materials into building elements, for example in window glass or roofing materials.

Auto manufacturers are also beginning to look into integrating photovoltaic materials in cars.

For this reason, some market watchers advise that a more accurate way to set goals is to count total wattage, not conventional panels.

Take a closer look at Clinton's renewable energy proposals, and you'll see just that. The plan adds the half-billion panel goal to other solar initiatives to come up with this goal:

...Expand the amount of installed solar capacity to 140 gigawatts by the end of 2020, a 700% increase from current levels. That is the equivalent of having rooftop solar systems on over 25 million homes.

With all of its emphasis on ramping up clean power manufacturing and construction, the Clinton plan is as much a jobs plan as it is an energy plan. If the former Secretary of State takes office next January, look for a new flurry of action on that score, too.

Image credit: Ground mounted solar array at Fort Detrick by C. Todd Lopez.

Save

Save

Save

Save

The U.N. World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) named 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. It's a hallmark that not only recognizes the growing importance that ecologically sound business practices will play in the future, but also the successes that have already made in building more sustainable practices into the tourism sector.

One global hotel chain is working hard to ensure that its franchises maintain good environmental practices: the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG),  a global network of more than 5,000 hotels spanning 100 different countries. Affiliated brands include Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts and Candlewood Suites, among others.  IHG's recent accomplishments reflect the challenges that global hotel firms often face when it comes to implementing or upgrading sustainable standards into a hotel chain that has already been in place for years. In IHG's case, it meant devising guidelines that their independently-owned franchises would accept and willingly implement.

Paul Snyder, IHG's vice president of corporate sustainability said that the first step was establishing a global standard that all hotels would be able to meet across the world, and implementing online tools that were easy to use and interpret in any language and any region of the world.

"All hotels have access to the platform through our company intranet," Snyder told TriplePundit. "The [online] tool measures each hotel’s energy, carbon, water and waste use and uses actual data to provide customized recommendations." The platform, called the Green Engage Program, gradually introduces the franchise owner to environmental and sustainable steps that he or she can take to meet the corporation's benchmarks for sustainability. There are more than 200 tips, or 'Green Solutions' that the franchise can impliment, like developing a non-smoking policy on the premises (to benefit air quality), installing low-flow toilets and cutting down energy usage by installing motion detector sensors to switch on lights in areas that aren't used regularly, like stairwells. Owners can decide which environmentally friendly option would best suit the establishment and the expectations of the hotels' clientele.

In order to demonstrate compliance with the Green Engage Program, each franchise is required to obtain certification in at least one of four categories. They do so by completing ten individual steps. The hotel's progress is then reviewed by an outside, independent reviewer. Snyder added that even though franchises are only required to meet one of the four certifications, "we’ve found that more than 70 percent of our properties have gone beyond Level 1."

And that's significant, Snyder pointed out. Building engagement takes more than regulations or guidelines. It takes seeing the results in their bottom line.

"We like to say that the '11th Solution' is a proof point of hotel engagement in the program, that the properties are seeing the operational savings, revenue driving benefits and employee engagement and completing more than just the required 10 solutions."

A great example of a hotel reaching beyond the minimum required certification, is InterContinental's Miami hotel, which uses an organic refuse conversion machine, affectionately called Dino, to convert waste to water that can be easily and safely discharged into the city's sewer system. In its first year of use, 55 metric tons of waste was diverted from the landfill.

But the hotel isn't the only one that sees the impact of innovative changes like this. The head corporation benefits from them, too. "In the last two years, the program has resulted in more than $200 million in avoided costs in IHG’s managed properties," said Snyder, who added that in order for the standards to be implemented, they had to be approved by the IHG Owners' Association.

The Green Engage Program was launched as a trial program in 2009, and has steadily grown in popularity. It was implemented as a gold standard for all hotels in 2015. While guest can't access the tools or metrics themselves, the are able to look up the certification of individual franchises.

"When our hotels are working with groups and meetings, many organizers require very specific metrics related to a hotel’s carbon footprint and water usage," said Snyder. "The tool has a carbon calculator, for example, that allows us to calculate a carbon footprint for a meeting, so meeting planners can stay within their goals."

Recent studies indicate that many consumers actively seek out destinations that adhere to green practices. A 2012 survey by TripAdvisor found that more than 60 percent of respondents said their accommodation choices are often affected by whether a business has taken steps to consider the environment into their business practices. While the majority (92 percent) of respondents admitted that they don't always take an active role in confirming a hotel's sustainable business policies, 64 percent said they would like to be informed more when a chain they frequent or plan to visit takes such steps.

In 2013 InterContinental Hotels Group set five-year targets for its Green Engage Program to help the corporation measure its impact, both at the regional and global level. The results suggested that setting benchmarks that are universal, easy to interpret and encourages engagement works, said Snyder.

"We set a target of a 12 percent reduction in both carbon footprint per occupied room and water use per occupied room in water-stressed areas." At the end of 2015, the corporation took a look to see how franchises were fairing under the new trial program. "[We] have achieved a 3.9 percent reduction in carbon footprint per occupied room and 4.8 percent reduction in water use per occupied room in water-stressed areas." said Snyder. Setting benchmarks that translate into savings and engage both businesses and consumers can make an environmental difference.

Images courtesy of InterContinental Hotels Group

One tragedy of this year’s presidential election is that instead of a meaningful discussion of the issues affecting the U.S., the vast majority of voters will vote for their candidate based on fears over policy. One could argue this has long been true of American elections. But this year in particular has brought out the must volatile and infuriated reactions from voters. Hence lost in the buzz of Donald Trump’s ongoing comments was that last week his campaign announced the inclusion of childcare within the Trump economic plan.

Trump’s childcare plan appears to have been influenced by his daughter, Ivanka Trump. Ms. Trump’s management of her father’s campaign, as well as her demeanor, have won her kudos to the point that she was rumored to be in the running as The Donald’s vice-presidential pick. At last month’s Republican National Convention, she delivered a speech that, while largely personal, also brought up policy issues that traditionally are more aligned with the Democrats than the GOP. When crunching the numbers, however, Trump’s childcare plan appears as one that would benefit higher-income workers who already have the means to afford this service, instead of lower-earning workers who struggle to find decent daycare for their children.

Advocates for subsidized or fully-funded childcare insist that such options would groom a more talented workforce, enhance the country’s economic security, add to a child’s quality of life and develop confident future leaders. Critics of such plans usually point to the notion of individual responsibility and what they say is the exorbitant cost of these programs. Trump’s plan would allow these costs to be fully tax-deductible. Logically, such a deduction makes sense, as most employment expenses that a company does not reimburse can generally be written off when it comes time to file federal taxes.

But analysts say such a deduction would benefit the likes of Ivanka Trump and her peers far more than parents earning middle- and working-class incomes. As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, the costs of daycare in some states is meeting, and even exceeding, the price of college tuition. Edward J. McCaffery, a University of Southern California law professor, suggested on CNN that a couple with $30,000 in annual childcare expenses would save $10,000 on their federal taxes. Most working mothers, however, would receive nothing. Many lower-wage earners would not pay federal taxes under Trump’s economic plan. But these same workers would still struggle with sales and payroll taxes, while still having difficulty trying to find affordable childcare if they work full-time.

Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, and the current presidential administration have offered proposals that do not mollify advocates for fully-funded childcare but would still have a positive financial impact on many Americans. Last year, the Obama administration suggested several childcare proposals, including tripling the current childcare tax credit and expanding childcare access to more families that have a child aged 4 or younger – clearly a non-starter considering the Republicans run both the House and Senate. Clinton announced a plan that would cap childcare costs to no more than a tenth of a family’s income.

The Ivanka Trump childcare plan has the veneer of a proposal that will help out working families. It also reflects much of Trump’s economic plan that has flummoxed many Republicans as it goes against a half-century of Republican orthodoxy. Unfortunately, any careful examination of his proposals has been overshadowed by the string of reckless comments that have dominated the newswires since the GOP convention in Cleveland. But when evaluating the Trump’s commitment to childcare, one has to consider the source.

Donald Trump has suggested that companies could provide childcare services for their employees at little cost. But he also appeared clueless when asked if his company offered any sort of childcare program at all. To that end, an Associated Press investigation revealed that the on-site childcare services Trump has touted during his campaign were not for his companies’ employees. In fact, programs such as “Trump Kids” and “Trumpeteers” were for guests and patrons of his hotels and golf clubs, not employees. One example of his questionable commitment to this issue came at a campaign rally last December, when his response to a question on childcare was a condescending, “It’s a big subject, darling.”

Ivanka Trump isn't putting her money when her mouth is either when it comes to offering benefits for new and current parents. Workers for the company that designs clothing for the Ivanka Trump brand told the Washington Post that there are no parental benefits reaching beyond the federally-mandated unpaid maternity leave. Childcare benefits of any kind are non-existent. So, while anyone in a demographic similar to Ivanka Trump could score financially from a Trump childcare plan, Vox writer Libby Nelson sums up how the plan works for everyone else: “Women whose work requires a fast-food uniform rather than an Ivanka Trump dress and heels, meanwhile, are mostly shut out.”

Image credit: Michael Vadon

Those wetsuits surfers wear are usually made from a synthetic rubber called neoprene that is far from environmentally friendly. Outdoor gear manufacturer Patagonia has been looking for a way to ditch the material since 2008. This year, the company released a line of wetsuits for fall that are 100 percent neoprene-free. First released this spring in Australia, the new wetsuit line recently made its debut in North America, Europe and Japan.

As a substitute for neoprene, Patagonia now uses natural rubber from hevea trees in the highlands of Guatemala, in the volcanic soils of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas Range. The hevea trees are grown on reclaimed farmland. Hevea trees are a time-honored rubber source, and its material goes into things like cars and airplane tires. But some of the world’s hevea trees are grown in rainforest zones that have been clearcut. Patagonia didn’t want to contribute to deforestation in tropical zones, so the company didn’t use rubber from hevea trees until it could find a more sustainable source.

In 2014, Patagonia released several Yulex wetsuits made from natural rubber. Yulex is a company that manufactures natural rubber-based materials. The new line is made up of 21 full-length Yulex wetsuits for men, women and kids. The Yulex wetsuits “perform as well or better than conventional neoprene wetsuits,” the company said in a press release. A small amount of chlorine-free synthetic rubber is added to the natural rubber to increase ozone and UV resistance and to increase durability and strength.

The use of natural rubber reduces carbon emissions by up to 80 percent compared to neoprene. The line of wetsuits is the “first and only” line to utilize natural rubber from sources that are Forest Stewardship Council certified. The Rainforest Alliance conducts audits to ensure that the plantation the natural rubber is sourced from adheres to FSC’s standards and is managed in a way that doesn’t contribute to deforestation.

“Surfers and wetsuit manufacturers — including Patagonia — have relied on neoprene for years, despite the fact that it’s a nonrenewable, petroleum-based material with an energy-intensive manufacturing process,” Hub Hubbard, Patagonia’s wetsuit development manager, said in a statement. “Neoprene is nasty stuff, but for a long time we had no alternative. Through our partnership with Yulex we’ve invested in a plant-based game-changer and built it into our entire fullsuit line.”

Back in 2008, when Patagonia first started making wetsuits, the company wrote in a blog post about the environmental damage from neoprene. The synthetic rubber can be manufactured from petroleum or limestone. While the environmental effects of petroleum are widely known, the harm limestone can do to the environment isn’t common knowledge. Limestone rock is a non-renewable resource extracted from the ground, just like oil. It is mined from mountains. Cranes, backhoes and gigantic dump trucks are all needed to mine limestone rock, and that equipment is powered by diesel. It takes an energy-intensive process to heat the crushed limestone in a furnace. Patagonia uses limestone-based neoprene for most of its products containing the material.

On the flipside, Patagonia uses a slew of other environmentally-friendly materials in its products. One of those is recycled polyester. The aforementioned Yulex wetsuits contain a recycled nylon lining. Polyester is made from petroleum, so Patagonia started making recycled polyester from plastic soda bottles back in 1993. The first outdoor clothing company to manufacture materials from trash, Patagonia now makes recycled polyester from used soda bottles plus worn-out garments and unusable manufacturing waste.

Nylon fiber, like neoprene, is derived from petroleum. Patagonia started using recycled nylon in its products five years ago. Some of the recycled nylon the company uses is sourced from post-industrial waste fiber, yarn from a spinning factory and waste from weaving mills. Patagonia is now experimenting with turning discarded industrial fishing nets into recycled nylon.

Image credit: Patagonia

By Fielder Hiss

For many businesses, buying energy has been simplified into a regular routine. When your current agreement nears its expiration date, you sign a new contract and agree to the terms and price obtained by your energy broker.

But that 'set-it-and-forget-it' mindset could cost your company money.

All organizations are under pressure to reduce costs wherever possible. But few are equipped to fully maximize the cost-saving potential in energy procurement. The need to reduce costs is especially acute in today’s environment, where energy costs often represent a multi-million dollar line item for most companies. When the executive team starts asking about your strategy to reduce energy costs, you’ll need to be able to show that you’ve done everything you can to get the best price.

Despite their best efforts, some businesses still succumb to several common pitfalls that cause them to spend much more on energy than they need to. Here are three costly mistakes to look out for when buying energy, and what you can do to avoid them.

1. Only buying when the contract runs up

If your business is only buying energy when it’s time to renew your supply contract, you’re likely spending more than you need to.

Energy prices are constantly fluctuating, and you can buy energy far in advance of your next contract. That means businesses that set up their energy supply agreement on a fixed price model can capitalize when energy prices are low and secure long-term savings proactively.

Here’s an example. Let’s say your business is still under its energy contract for another 36 months, but you happen to notice that electricity prices are at historic lows. Your business can buy the energy at that low price and set those rates to kick in when the next agreement starts, 36 months later. Regardless of how high electricity prices climb over the course of your next agreement, you’ll still pay for your energy at the low prices you secured earlier.

Conversely, businesses that buy energy only when their current agreement is expiring are at the whims of the market at that point in time. If electricity prices happen to be particularly high when you renew your contract, you could be paying above-market prices over the course of your agreement.

This is why so many businesses choose an energy procurement partner that provides both the tools and services to ensure your process takes the market into account, year-round. You’ve established a routine energy buying process for a reason—you have other goals and priorities to worry about, and you don’t have time to stay glued to the energy markets. An energy procurement partner provides regular market intelligence updates and can work with your business to ensure you don’t miss an opportunity.

2. Not knowing when to buy

In an effort to leverage low energy prices, some businesses go to market in the spring and fall seasons. Prices typically peak in the winter and summer seasons, due to the increased demand for heating and air conditioning on the available supply of natural gas. Since natural gas is used to generate electricity, low supply means higher prices for natural gas, which reverberates with higher electricity prices for customers.

So you can see why so many businesses would assume the spring and fall seasons are the best time to buy energy. If presumably moderate temperatures during these seasons relieve demand for (and prices of) natural gas, electricity prices will fall as a result.

However, this isn’t always how the market shakes out. For example, electricity prices reached a lower point in February 2016 than at any point in the previous fall. These kinds of opportunities are impossible to predict ahead of time without the right tools.

3. Not knowing who’s bidding on your energy

The market price for energy only dictates part of the final price on your utility bill. The supplier sets the final rate at which your costs are calculated, which will determine the price your business pays each month.

When seeking a new energy contract, your broker (or other procurement partner) will reach out to several suppliers to see what final price they will offer before signing an agreement. That’s how they obtain the price and terms they offer you with when it’s time to sign your next contract.

However, brokers rarely offer visibility into the auction process. Anyone can say they solicited offers from multiple bidders, but how do you know that your procurement partner actually got the best possible price and terms for your agreement? Do you know which suppliers made which bids? How many suppliers bid on your business?

But technology to the rescue. Today, there are technology-enabled procurement platforms like the one offered by my company, EnerNOC, that provides access to hundreds of suppliers and allows you to watch them bid for your business in real-time. You’ll be able to see exactly who shows up to bid on your contract, watch suppliers out-bid each other to drive the price lower, and go deeper to see which suppliers made which offers. So if your boss asks you, “How do you know you got the best price?”— you can actually show them the details from the auction.

It’s never been easier to reduce costs through smarter, technology-enabled energy procurement practices. With the right tools and market intelligence to help you leverage energy markets, your business can take a more strategic approach to the buying process to ensure you got the best possible price for your energy.

Image credit: Pixabay

Fielder Hiss is Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at the energy intelligence software company EnerNOC. www.enernoc.com.