Here are some ways to make lean, green initiatives part of your company’s belt-tightening efforts:

Cut Waste
It almost goes without saying, but now is a better time than ever to go after the proverbial low-hanging fruit. Simple waste reduction strategies can free up badly needed cash while generating measurable environmental benefits.

Moving from paper to electronic communications is another tried and true source of savings for the earth and the bottom line. Verizon has not only saved more than $8 million in paper and administrative costs by getting more than 3 million customers to sign up for paperless billing, it also saved another $2.7 million by moving its payroll, training, and HR systems online. You can find more examples of such initiatives here.

Invest in Efficiency
While the financial crisis has led us all to rethink the risk profile of our investments, it is important to remember that energy efficiency projects are still relatively safe ways to deploy capital. Oil prices may have fallen from their highs this summer, but the price is still far above what it was only few years ago (the price was under $30 per barrel in 2003), and the price of electricity is still rising. Even if energy prices remain where they are, many energy efficiency investments will be worthwhile.

The McKinsey Global Institute just published a report stating that economic uncertainty can drive more investment in energy efficiency, particularly in the developed world, because efficiency costs less than meeting demand through new energy supplies.

What’s more, investing in energy efficiency now puts your business in a better position to examine clean energy choices later. Lower energy needs will mean you will need smaller, less capital-intensive renewable energy systems to provide green power.

Tunnel Through the Cost Barrier
Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, and Pawl Hawken introduced this concept in Natural Capitalism. In short, tunneling through the cost barrier means designing highly efficient products and processes so that they require less capital than traditional systems. Rather than waiting for five-, three-, or even one-year paybacks on equipment, you can be in the black on day one. How? By designing whole systems to be so efficient that they require smaller energy sources. For example: A well-insulated building requires a smaller HVAC system. Better-designed piping requires smaller pumps.

Spend Time Rather Than Money
The approaches above shouldn’t be capital-intensive, but they can be information-intensive and communication-intensive; they require plenty of thinking and cooperation to implement effectively. In a white-hot economy, it can be difficult to take the time for this level of planning. But during a slowdown, you may have the luxury to think things through more. One best practice is to convene design charrettes - meetings of designers, builders, and those impacted by design decisions - long before a project gets off the ground. By including participants all along the value chain in the process, you can avoid the hang-ups and do-overs that cause costs to escalate, while creating a greener, better outcome.

Sustainable thinking makes perfect sense in a slowing economy. Whether your priority is efficiency, re-engineering, or deepening trust with customers, employees, and other stakeholders, there’s a lean, green strategy that’s right for you.

Learn more by visiting my website for Harvest Design & Marketing.

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source: Harvard Business Publishing

They discussed how bicycle friendly communities can work to address a myriad of issues for a city. These issues include impacting the obesity epidemic, traffic congestion, pollution, dependence on foreign oil and carbon footprints. Creating bicycle friendly is accomplished through combining good city design and city policy supports with strategically targeted transportation dollars.

I attended the breakfast session, where business and non-profit leaders were introduced to these concepts. John and Andy outlined a number of troubling trends and statistics which they believe should motivate Omaha to rally towards solutions. While they pointed out that there are several solutions to this range of issues, they proposed that the bicycle is the simple solution to several of these complex problems.

John provided 4 examples that prove that bikes can support a metro’s transportation needs. He showed that in the Netherlands 25% of all trips are taken by bike, and in Boulder the number is 21%. He reminded us of London’s congestion reducing strategies, and explained some of the political initiatives that have helped transform Portland.

Omaha was challenged to educate the city’s residents and public servants in order to help develop bicycle infrastructure. The city leaders were challenged to make Omaha a leader in this initiative, and become a model for other cities to follow. They readily agreed that Boulder and Portland have different cultures than Omaha. But they show it can be done. And they believe that Omaha, a city in the heartland, can show that this model can work anywhere in the state.

Kerri Peterson from Activate Omaha (host) opened up by explaining that Omaha has previously applied to be designated by the League of American Bicyclist as a bicycle friendly community. Despite our expansive recreational trail system, the application was denied.

Since then, efforts have been underway to change that outcome. Over $500,000 in private funding has been raised to design and build a 20 mile bicycle loop.  The first bicycle transportation map has been created. The City has instituted a Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee to review and recommend infrastructure improvements. This momentum is just the beginning and we would like you to join us to continue the push to change the physical face of our community.

Kerri also pointed out that the Bicycle Commuter Map was so well received by the city, that the 5000 copies printed were all distributed within 2 months. The supply was intended to last 3 years. They are currently reprinting, and the map is available for download now.

I’d encourage everyone to be involved. Bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, along with a well-developed public transportation system, can change the face of the city in which we live.

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Watch a version of John’s presentation.

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The document contends that our demands on natural resources overreach what the Earth can sustain by almost a third.

The Living Planet Report is the work of WWF, the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network.

It says that more than three quarters of the world’s population lives in countries where consumption levels are outstripping environmental renewal.

This makes them “ecological debtors”, meaning that they are drawing - and often overdrawing - on the agricultural land, forests, seas and resources of other countries to sustain them.

WWF’s David Norman says the world will need two planets by 2030

The report concludes that the reckless consumption of “natural capital” is endangering the world’s future prosperity, with clear economic impacts including high costs for food, water and energy.

Dr Dan Barlow, head of policy at the conservation group’s Scotland arm, added: “While the media headlines continue to be dominated by the economic turmoil, the world is hurtling further into an ecological credit crunch.”

The countries with the biggest impact on the planet are the US and China, together accounting for some 40% of the global footprint.

The report shows the US and United Arab Emirates have the largest ecological footprint per person, while Malawi and Afghanistan have the smallest.

Paul Marerro didn’t consciously try and start an environmentally conscious company. It happened naturally. Working out of a home office in Tampa, Fla., Marerro provides database and application enterprise architecting, report writing and project management services.

As his company grew, he hired a full-time employee in Iowa and added contractors in Cincinnati and Florida. All had worked for Marerro before in traditional offices. But the time for traditional offices has passed, both for Marrero and for a growing number of companies.

“It’s all telecommuting,” Marerro said.If he had more full-time employees, he’d consider a virtual office, which would allow facilities like a conference room and phone-answering service. But for now, he’s happy, he said.

Marerro doesn’t have much waste and while he can’t go totally paperless, waste paper is shredded and recycled. His business cards are made from recycled paper and all invoices are e-mailed. When he visits his largest client in Philadelphia, he walks or takes public transportation around the city.

“The green has worked its way in,” Marerro said. “We consume electricity but nowhere near the amount of an office building. It’s a room in your house.

“Ideally, Marerro said he’d like to grow the business while expanding his green practices to include solar panels for his home and office. “But it’s also nice to have several large clients, stay focused, give quality and there shouldn’t be a lot of waste,” he said.

Real estate executives and facility managers at medium to large companies are sometimes way off when it comes to occupancy rates, says John Anderson. Most think their facilities are being used 80 or 90 percent of the time. Upon tracking the data, they are often surprised to learn that they are using their space less than 50 percent of the time.

Anderson’s PeopleCube office hoteling software allows employees to schedule activities to secure a work space or room or office as needed.

The office and employer of the future invite employee participation and collaboration, which is key, Anderson said.

“You input your own carbon footprint. For example, you don’t own a cubicle so you rent one for a day. You set the air conditioning and lighting as you like, contributing to the carbon offset.”

Facilities represent the second highest expense for large businesses and the No. 1 manufacturer of emissions, according Anderson. Many employers are paying too much to heat and cool conference rooms that are hardly used and to illuminate cubicles too often left empty. Allowing employees to telecommute from home at least part of the week could cut costs significantly.

Traditionally, tracking and analyzing data from workflow patterns involves looking backward. Anderson suggests a mind shift that would require companies to establish baselines before demonstrating and measuring savings going forward.

Using the data more efficiently can help lower carbon footprint by reducing real estate costs and increasing energy efficiency up to 30 percent, he said.”You need to establish what your baselines are before you can demonstrate and measure savings going forward,” Anderson said. “Companies are just starting to do that today.”

John Larson remembers when a U.S. Interstate Highway collapsed three blocks from where he worked in Minneapolis-St Paul in 2007. There was an immediate reaction by politicians and transportation officials who needed to reroute hundreds of thousands of vehicles every day. If these commuters’ companies had put a telecommuting plan in place, that problem could potentially have been solved almost instantly.

Larson is a spokesperson for Results-Only Working Environment, or ROWE, a new way of managing people developed by two women who worked in human resources at Best Buy. The idea of ROWE is to allow flexible schedules, forcing managers to concentrate on outcomes rather than hours.

Best Buy adopted the ROWE plan at its headquarters, staggering arrival times for employees throughout the work day and cutting down on commute times.

“Those 4,000 people in Best Buy — 2,500 to 3,000 still go to work each day but not all at the same time,” Larson said. “People go at all hours so you don’t have a giant crush of cars stalled in traffic.”

Only a handful of companies have adopted the results-only philosophy. “But if ROWE became the status quo, it would have a tremendous impact on the environment,” Larson said.

Anderson’s 65 employees book conference space and cubicles on an as-needed basis, telecommuting when they don’t need to be in the office.

Telecommuting is a huge incentive, PeopleCube’s John Anderson said. It helps employees balance work and home life. Not having to drive an hour or more each way sometimes results in employees spending that saved commute-time working.

“After the salary, the number-one attraction is telecommuting,” he said. “You’re now dealing with millennial kids exiting college and they’re very environmentally conscious. Employees want to know that their company is driving in those directions. It’s a recruiting strategy too.”

Employee participation can sound like a scary proposition for the traditional office scenario.  There are two schools of thought regarding control, according to Anderson: One is that employees aren’t going to help, so bosses have to force them to do what bosses want. The other is that the more employees are included in decision-making, the more they will help.

Educating employees about green office practices is vital, Anderson said.

“You’d be surprised what the employee population is willing to do,” he said. “People are more willing to pitch in if you incent them to participate.”

Incentives include funding transportation if employees leave their cars at home, bringing a homey feel into the office by having living-room type set-ups or having a Starbucks in the building.

Some of the more radical changes in green offices of the future have to do with amenities-based interiors and designs based around increased productivity. Think laundry room at the office so you don’t have to send out.

Some banks, insurance and technology companies are creating positions for sustainability officers dedicated to reducing carbon footprint. Others resist, saying they want to be environmentally conscious but have to have a return on their investment in everything they do. Whether they’re in stocks, paper recycling or can recycling, there’s a prevailing mentality in the executive suite that if you’re not in the office today, you’re not really working.

“Our employees that telecommute are probably more productive than those that come in,” Anderson said. “As long as I’m getting a day’s work out of you I don’t really care. Telecommuting has a high degree of success.”

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Content from Dana Sanchez as posted on Greeenbiz.com.

Oh well…moving on. After breakfast we headed down to Fontenelle Forest for a composting workshop co-hosted by the Green Omaha Coalition. We were shocked by the turnout; there were probably 70 people there.

Topics ranged from ‘Composting for Beginners’ and ‘Composting with Worms’, to ‘What to do with Finished Compost.’

I am very interested in the Vermicomposting. It would be nice to have it as an available option during the winter. From what I learned, we can make a homemade setup for our basement. We should be able to compost all winter with no risk of smell. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

My attention started to drift near the end. I have a hard time sitting still inside on a nice day.

So Corey and I decided to wander around the forest to check out the Eco Huts display. The display includes practical interactive displays sharing information about the environment and our homes. The displays were amazing. I’m so happy to see these learning opportunities available to kids.

A critical question is to whom companies should be most beholden to — shareholders or society.

The question popped into my head last week viewing a short preview of a PBS Frontline documentary “Heat” about the challenges of reversing global warming. Among the film’s most poignant moments was an exchange between the film’s producer and a Chinese energy company executive who was asked if he felt any obligation to reduce CO2 emissions from his company’s fast-growing fleet of new coal plants.

The CEO’s immediate answer was an unequivocal, ‘no.’ “We must create money, not lose the money,” Shenhua Energy CEO Ling Wen said. “It’s my responsibility as a CEO of this company.”

When pressed whether he should make climate change a higher priority, Wen said that he would if his shareholders asked him. But, he added, “I’m afraid maybe all the shareholders, they cannot accept that concept.” In the meantime, China continues to build two new coal-fired power plants every week.

I wasn’t surprised by Wen’s answer, but it was a chilling reminder about the extent to which global capitalism — and the investors and companies that drive the global economy — has lost its way in terms of its overriding purpose.

While I’m all in favor of wealth creation and rewarding success, how we define corporate success is out of whack. Shareholders — an increasingly vague term with the growth of hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds — should not be the preeminent rulers of companies and quarterly earnings should not be the only gauge for measuring CEO performance. We need to broaden our definition of success so that long-term corporate sustainability and long-term global sustainability get the attention they deserve. Failing to do so will mean more global calamities, both financial and environmental, as the grow-at-all-costs global economy races ahead with little regard for social and environmental consequences.

I do not have all the answers on this, but many other smart people have been pondering these issues the past few years since the Enron debacle — and their ideas deserve close attention.

In June 2007, a broad coalition of leading companies, investors, and other stakeholders released the Aspen Principles for Long-Term Value Creation as a call to action to reverse the capital market’s bias toward short-term thinking. Among the key corporate actions it identified:

• Setting long-term metrics that de-emphasize earnings per share and quarterly profits as the metric of choice

• Incentive systems and compensation schemes that reward long-term focus and success

More recently, Corporation 20/20 came out with its own set of policies for fostering corporate long-termism. Among the group’s key principles is that the corporation shall accrue “fair returns for shareholders, but not at the expense of the legitimate interests of other stakeholders,” such as employees, communities, the environment and future generations. One suggestion the group makes for achieving this is reducing the clout of short-term investors (hint: hedge funds) inclined to quick fixes to boost short-term profits. One lever the group suggests is requiring investors to hold shares for a year before before gaining voting rights or increasing capital gains taxes on short-term trades. Similarly, compensation incentives might be changed to modify or even outlaw stock options, or make bonuses contingent on achieving social and environmental performance targets.

While these ideas may seem radical, they are worthy of attention once the dust settles on Wall Street and the focus shifts to addressing the fundamental market drivers that contributed to the collapse.

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Content from Mindy S. Lubber as posted on Harvard Business Publishing.

Corey and I were only able to attend a short portion of the day-long event, but we made sure to join at the portion that was most important to us. We were there for the review of the Omaha Streetscape plan hosted by Omaha By Design’s Connie Spellman.

She gave a concise but informative presentation about Omaha’s initiative to integrate pedestrians, bicyclists, and the environment into our streets. The streets that are now exclusively built for cars. (Did you know that Nebraska doesn’t have a Department of Transportation? Only a Department of Roads. Makes you wonder how we don’t have a better mixed use planning.)

She highlighted the successes in the Benson Ames Alliance master plan. Next year they are beginning the first phase of the streetscape redesign.

Connie made a point to motivate members of the audience to contact their City Council Person and the head of Omaha Public Works to advocate for better bicycle and pedestrian transportation options. She said that these public servants (an underutilized word, but so important in this time of jaded politics) really do want to hear from constituents and act on their behalf.

This summit reinforced the good and the bad for cycling in Omaha. The good is that Omaha isn’t a huge city. It is practical to move around by bike or foot. Also, the bus system has recently added bike racks to the front of busses. And of course, Omaha has over 80 miles of bicycle trails snaking across the city. The challenges are streets that are often poorly designed, crowded with drivers who are impatient and uninformed. And, the topography of our city, make East/West traffic difficult. The hills are challenging, but the bike trails and bike lanes are limited in this direction.

I asked if there is ONE street in particular that we should contact our local representatives about. I wanted to know which East/West street had the greatest chance of being renovated in the near future. She strongly suggested that we advocate for Leavenworth Street. This street is well graded, and is dangerous currently because it carries too much traffic. Redesigning this street can greatly contribute to the quality of life for neighborhood residents as well as cycling commuters.

I’m making my calls this week. I’d encourage you to do the same.

Lugging huge bags of coffee through the unpaved hills of Rwanda to a processing plant was back-breaking work for the Karaba coffee co-op. In this original GOOD video see how a collaboration between Karaba and a Portland, Oregon, coffee roaster has solved that problem, boosted production, and given birth to a new non-profit.

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This is a time when it is important for pay very close attention to what you spend. That doesn’t always mean that spending needs to be frozen, but it does mean that value is a more important consideration than ever.

I have found that the sustainable marketing message is becoming increasingly attractive to my clients. At Harvest we show clients how to reduce resource use, reduce environmental impact, and reduce overall expense. Cumulatively these benefits help their companies be more socially responsible which is a critical response to the current environmental crisis. But responsible spending is absolutely essential in this atmosphere of economic crisis.

So many people focus exclusively on the environmental aspects of sustainable business. But there is an opportunity to drive home the message that this practice is a very practical solution to tightening budgets with a continued demand to increase sales.

If you are looking for more information for your home or business, make sure you look through the links listed on the right of this page. There are some excellent resources for learning more. Or feel free to contact me if you are in the Omaha area and I can share what I know.

There has been some lip-service given to developing public transportation infrastructure, but I doubt that will happen until it is virtually too late. I’m so frustrated now that so many Americans are demanding that the government and industry solve the resources problem for them.

At a meeting we went to recently on Transition Towns and Peak Oil there were some scary numbers thrown around about how technology solutions aren’t going to solve our problems. Hybrid cars, wind & solar energy, nuclear, or the mythical clean coal don’t stand a chance at picking up the slack left by declining oil production.

I’m a HUGE advocate for making changes to our behaviors in order to reduce consumption. The benefits are endless, you save money, help reduce environmental harm, and maintain better health. I sincerely hope that more people in the community start to adopt similar solutions.

But…I found this video today and am truly troubled. Watch for yourself.

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