KIND: PHYSICAL |
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Green Consulting |
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Project: Green Marketing with Blue Tent
Role: Consultant
Transforming a company into a “green” player requires consistent attention to changing numerous small activities while articulating progress without “green washing.” I approached Blue Tent Marketing, a digital marketing firm specializing in the luxury resort vertical, with the idea of expanding their client base by winning companies that required green vendors to service their account.
The goal was three fold: turn the company “green” and provide verification; develop a suite of green marketing services; and finally, obtain select green clients.
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The first step was to examine all the areas where ENERGY was used and determine if it could be done more efficiently. Fortunately, this isn’t a plastics company. They were only pushing pixels around. The focus became the computers, the servers and anything related with the production of their product. The next step was to address the physical space. This is were the greatest amount of energy loss occurs. An energy audit was conducted by the local utility and we started making changes. Once completed, the ultimate investigation was into the production and delivery of the energy source. First, could we create our own using solar photovoltaic? If not, could we buy solar from the grid? If we purchased alternative energy, how could we verify its source? As I looked down the rabbit hole of carbon offsets it became murky. Transportation was another area of inquiry. How did employees arrive and leave work? Could we create a program to encourage alternative transportation: bikes, public transportation or carpooling? Additionally, what travel was done for the business? Could we manage client travel better and inform clients of a set schedule when they came through the door? No stone was left unturned. |
The second step was to examine the WASTE trail. At what point in an activity did people print documents? Could that be avoided using PDFs for electronic records? What happened to the printer toner cartridges at the end of the life cycle? Where did the physical trash go? What activities produced the most trash? Could the plastic lunch containers from neighborhood restaurants and grocery stores be minimized when people ate at their desks? Let’s have the company supply re-usable grocery bags for food runs. Waste… its everywhere. Finally, it was became important to look at community giving. How could the company assist with improving the area where it was physically located? What value would such a service have? It made sense to become a local resource for recycling. The company’s business depends on using technology, so we determined that recycling computers, peripheral hardware and CD/DVDs was inline with the company’s image. |
Conclusion: The process has been a fascinating one and continues today. I have completed the energy and waste audit. I am now setting up a series of short and long term goals to address those two areas. The recycling program is being implemented and third party verification has been initiated to provide prospective clients with confidence in our claims. Lastly, the green marketing services are under review and almost ready to be rolled out. They include various levels of social and environmental actions associated with each service package.
Interestingly, this consulting project not only serves my curiosity about the reality of being sustainable- the “how” to make it happen- but it is also aligned with my interest in how people interface with their environment. I am insatiably curious about how people use their tools… and then dispense with them. How can the product life cycle be improved. How can we implement cradle-to-cradle thinking into every action. For me, this ties directly into information design and the investigation into the graphics and interactive elements of an interface. It’s all intriguing and, most importantly, it’s happening.
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