GREEN: It’s the Right Thing to Do

QUESTION: What do Sports Illustrated, Kiplinger’s, Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone have in common?

Answer: All of them have published “Green Issues.”

Unless you’ve been isolated from the world around you, you’ve noted that increasingly more companies, industries and institutions are taking great pains to profess their Green-ness. All of this activity is being heralded under the banner of Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR. (Yes Virginia, there is another CSR. It’s not just the Customer Service Rep anymore.)

Go anywhere. Green is a headline. It’s a leading marketing message, and it’s being placed at the head of the promotional line. Why now?

This is really nothing new. Going back more than 100 years to the “First wave of green-ness,” men like Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir saw a vanishing wilderness. In the end, this was the birth of the nation’s first environmental movement with the formation of the National Park System, and the Boone and Crockett Club, the nation’s first environmental group.

The “Second Wave of Green-ness” started in the 1960s with the publishing of eco-book “Silent Spring.” The old fogies among us will remember Native American Chief Iron Eyes Cody (who was actually Italian) standing at the side of the freeway with a single tear in his eye, as passing motorists flung trash out of their car windows. And remember those stories of Lake Erie and the Ohio River catching fire from all the toxic waste being spewed out by uncontrolled factories?

The Third Wave

For about the last decade (more like two), we’ve been in the “Third Wave of Green-ness.” This time it’s global and no longer just concerns the environment. Social and localized economic concerns and people’s rights have now crept in to the picture. Landmark events like the 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, India, Love Canal, the destruction of the rainforests in developing and third world countries, and too many other issues to name here became rallying cries for the modern environmental movement.

So that’s were we are today. Corporations are seeing their bottom line’s affected by their prior, present and future actions. In some cases it’s regulatory pressure, which has been growing exponentially, while in others its the economic pressure by the public to do business with companies, institutions and organizations that care, because it’s “the right thing to do.” The “Triple Bottom-Line” decision-making process takes environmental, social and economic factors into consideration at every level.

In fact, new or enhanced administrative divisions and offices are popping up everywhere within both the public and private sectors. CFO’s (corporate sustainability officers) are all the rage in board rooms and executive committees around the world.

Sustainability Initiatives

Michael Dell has taken full ownership of his company’s efforts to promote and foster a vision of sustainability. He recognizes that senior executive support for the company’s sustainability efforts is critical. Dell’s Sustainability Council consists of the company’s CEO and chair, its chief legal officer, chief compliance officer, chief procurement officer, and senior executives from finance, engineering, investor relations and communications, human resources, and sales and service.

In January 2007, the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive was formed. OFEE advises the federal agencies, makes recommendations concerning policy, facilitates implementation, provides a centralized focal point for assistance and direction, and helps educate and train people in the requirements of the E.O. The steering committee members are among the President’s chief advisors on environmental and acquisition issues, underscoring that successful integration of environmental and energy considerations into an agency’s daily operations requires close coordination by environmental, acquisition and facilities staff.

MSU’s Ecofoot

Michigan State University has an organization on campus called ecofoot–The Office of Campus Sustainability. Its mission is to foster a collaborative learning culture that leads the community to heightened awareness of its environmental impact. It envisions MSU as a sustainable community that provides for the social and economic needs of its current and future members without compromising the health of the biosphere.

The DNC in conjunction with the city and county of Denver has developed criteria to define CSR-based requirements for companies that qualify to do business with or for the Democratic National Convention in August. To quote its Sustainable Business Practices document, “A sustainable business includes in its bottom line an assessment of its impact on the broader social, economic and ecological resources of the community in which it operates; and seeks to lessen the negative impacts while continuously improving upon the positive ones.”

Social and Economic Concerns

The common theme of all of these efforts is that not only environmental criteria are identified. In addition, and given equal weight are social and economic concerns. The “Triple Bottom Line” is not only to do no harm to the environment, but also to treat people ethically and with economic fairness. In other words, people, planet and profits.

The in-plant’s competitors are generally the commercial sector. Quite frankly, the commercial sector on the whole has been ahead of the sustainability game. Case in point is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification (www.fscus.org). There are over 700 certified printers in the U.S. with FSC certification. Less than 1 percent are in-plants. That will most likely change this year, from all indications.

From the Public Printer

I’d like to share with you some excerpts from U.S. Public Printer Robert Tapella’s keynote speech on January 24, during The Business of Green Media Conference at California Polytechnic State University.

Tapella stated: “Executive Order 13423, signed by President Bush last January, calls for environmental sustainability and puts forward a single vision. This order consolidated and strengthened five executive orders and two memorandums of understanding and established new and updated goals, practices and reporting requirements for environmental, energy and transportation performance and accountability. The Office of the Environmental Executive, which reports to the President, was given not just policy responsibility, but authority to grade the success of each executive branch agency on their sustainable environmental stewardship.

“In concert with the Office of the Environmental Executive, I would like GPO to develop an environmentally advanced certificate or seal for a more environmentally responsible paper for use by Federal agencies. These could include processed chlorine-free (PCF) paper, carbon neutral papers, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified papers and perhaps others. I’d like to encourage the paper industry to embrace such a move.

“I would like to see GPO move into a new factory—one that has “green building certification” LEED—platinum. LEED is a voluntary green building rating system that provides measurable benchmarks for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. Platinum is the highest standard. I’d like to see GPO move into the first LEED Platinum Printing Plant in America, and I believe that is an achievable objective.”

Tapella concluded with the following quote from President Theodore Roosevelt:

“Our position in the world has been attained by the extent and thoroughness of the control we have achieved over nature; but we are more, and not less, dependent upon what she furnishes than at any previous time of history.”

Roosevelt made this observation 100 years ago during a speech to a national conference on conservation held at the White House.

“At GPO,” Tapella concluded, “we intend to move forward with this timeless vision so eloquently expressed by one of America’s greatest leaders.” IPG

Vic Nathan Barkin has more than 30 years of experience in the printing industry and currently owns a consulting practice specializing in digital printing business development, workflow and technology implementation geared to the in-plant community. He also offers expertise in “Green Printing” practices, FSC certification facilitation and is an FSC auditor for Smartwood. Barkin is a past president of the IPMA’s Arizona chapter, and has been a presenter at ACUP, SUPDMC, Big 12, NGPA and PIAMS Green Industry Showcase. He currently serves as vice president for the Mountain States Printing Education Foundation and is a consultant for Vista Research, a division of Standard and Poore’s. Barkin was the manager of Northern Arizona University’s Printing Services department for 12 years and recently served as solutions sales manager, digital printing, for Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group. He can be reached at (928) 853-1547 or: vicbarkin@netscape.net

Stakeholders and Your In-plant

Stakeholders are parties who affect, or can be affected by, an organization’s actions. All of them carry equal weight. Any of them can affect how successful you and your operation are.

According to the book “Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value and Build Competitive Advantage,” by Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston, there are five categories of stakeholders:

1) Consumers and Community

Your customers and clients, and their constituents, are either your strongest ally, or your worst enemy. Increasingly more buying decisions are incorporating the triple bottom line. Mandates and policies, which up until recently were based on economic factors, are now being made in much broader terms. Departmental RFPs are including questions never asked in the past.

2) Investors and Risk Assessors

A well-run in-plant’s budget is approved, if not dictated, by various administrative and finance decision-makers. Since more funding decisions are being made with the value proposition of green initiatives in mind, it is wise to promote the in-plant’s green-ness. Risk assessments are now being made on their environmental merits as well as their financial ones.

3) Idea Generators and Opinion Leaders

Those gurus whose ideas carry weight can have a profound impact on how an in-plant does business. The “green-ness” factor has risen to the forefront. Whether it’s enhanced technology leading to greater efficiencies, or best practices with a green slant, this group guides and transforms the thought processes of the specific enterprises and the industry.

4) Rule Makers and Watchdogs

Ever-changing compliance regulations, from environmental to health and safety issues, have to be the first priority. Of all the stakeholders, rule makers can have the most sudden and immediate impact. Internal and external individuals and organizations acting in a non-regulatory capacity can also be a force to reckon with if not aware of their presence. The question to ask is not if the in-plant will be scrutinized, but when.

5) Vendors, Organizations and Competitors

Starting with your vendors, the stakeholder relationship is twofold. On one hand, they (should) have a broad knowledge of their green product portfolio, but may only reveal a portion unless you ask specifically. On the other, it is really you, the customer, who drives the market. By requesting/demanding green products and services, you are actively providing direction to your vendors, just as your customers are doing with you.