Performance Measurement – it’s more exciting than you think!

As companies reflect on their accomplishments in 2009, many feel good about their efforts in sustainability and are sure they’ve made a difference, but can’t quite quantify their results. Measuring performance can be a challenge (especially initially) and the thought of it doesn’t usually get the sustainability team all fired up.  However, it is essential for maintaining momentum and keeping employees engaged.

First you need to benchmark your baseline environmental performance so you can tell whether your future initiatives make a difference. Which environmental areas do you want to benchmark and monitor on an ongoing basis?  Energy?  Waste?  Water? Identify which areas are applicable to your business and consider the expectations of your stakeholders (e.g. investors, customers, consumers, employees, competitors.) Now determine the specific metrics that makes the most sense. Do you simply want to track total energy consumption or a normalized version such as energy consumption per unit of production or per dollars of revenue?

Once you decide on the metrics, it’s time to go out and get the data. Some data may be readily available from utility bills or operational performance metrics you already track; other data may need to be obtained from outside service providers (e.g. waste haulers.)  Most of the time these service providers are eager to help once they understand your needs, but be prepared that you may face a little resistance.  Sometimes the service provider will be nervous about why you’re suddenly asking for data you’ve never before requested. They may even think you’re asking because you’re considering changing to another vendor. By taking the time upfront to explain your motivation, you can bypass some possible unpleasantness and set the tone for the service provider to partner with you on this important initiative.

In some cases, you may need to rethink your original set of performance metrics if the data simply isn’t available. For example, if you lease space in a multi-tenant building, utility sub-metering may not exist.

Once you’re able to track your performance, you can communicate and celebrate your successes citing actual quantitative data – and that can actually be pretty exciting!

Paydirt 2010 Sustainability Forecasts Featured on GreenBiz.com

Eliza Clark reflects on life as a sustainability consultant and offers Paydirt’s predictions for developments in the green business world in 2010. Read the full post here.

Paydirt featured in Upsize Magazine!

Eliza Clark provides an overview of sustainability considerations for small businesses in the January 2010 issue of Upsize. Read the full article here.

Planning for a Sustainable Competitive Advantage in 2010

While most people understand the connection between environmental sustainability and resource conservation, many fail to see that sustainability can also open up new markets and business opportunities.

As your company develops its strategic plan for 2010, consider reaching out to environmentally minded customers by either changing the way you do business, or developing new “green” products or services. Specific questions to ask include:

1. Are there ways to reduce the environmental impact of our products and services? Can you reduce natural resource consumption by improving the efficiency of your manufacturing or distribution processes? Can you purchase materials from local sources to reduce your overall carbon footprint? Or, if you are a professional services firm, can you change the way you deliver your services by limiting paper use, or conducting meetings using videoconferencing or Skype?
2. Are there environmental problems that our company can help to solve? Can you retool or reframe your existing offerings to help people solve environmental challenges? For example, if your company is a law firm, can you help expand the availability and use of renewable energy by counseling energy developers about government regulations, intellectual property or land use?
3. Are we adequately communicating the environmental benefits of our existing business? If you have already taken steps to make your products or services more “green,” have you also taken the time to quantify and market those benefits in a compelling way?
4. Can our company develop green products or services to reach out to new customer prospects? As you brainstorm new offerings, don’t forget to consider environmentally friendly opportunities, too! As an added bonus, green programs are also a great way to engage and inspire your employees.

Zapping Phantom Energy Loads

Did you know that many of the electronic devices in your home and office remain “on” even when they appear to be “off?” Unfortunately, appliances in standby mode still draw electrical power – in some cases, a lot of power! Many call those energy drains “phantom energy loads” or “energy vampires.”

The typical home has 20 energy vampires, including televisions, computer monitors, DVD players, video game consoles, and kitchen appliances. Overall, phantom energy drains account for about 5 percent of home electricity use. And according to Cornell University, energy vampires can add about $200 to your annual energy bill.

Save energy – and money – by taking the following steps in your home and office:

1. Identify your biggest energy drains: An appliance watt meter can be used to find out how much electricity an appliance is drawing in standby mode. Watt meters can often be borrowed from the local power authorities or a public library. Measure devices in your home and office while “on” and in “standby” mode to determine where you are wasting the most energy. 
2. Where feasible, unplug electronic devices while not in use – Unplug easily accessible appliances whenever possible, especially before you leave on vacation. Where unplugging individual devices isn’t feasible or realistic, plug a couple devices into one surge protector that can easily be switched on and off. 
3. When purchasing new electronic devices, select energy-efficient or ENERGY STAR products: When shopping for new products, reference the Federal Energy Management Program’s online database of products rated by their standby energy use: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/technologies/standby_power.html.  You can also look for ENERGY STAR-labeled products, which use about half the electricity of standard appliances on average– both on and off!

Sustainable Team Building in the Northwoods

In our current difficult economy, many companies are looking for ways to build employee morale using unconventional and cost-effective team building strategies. Facing tight budgets and, in many cases, impending layoffs, HR departments have been forced to get creative when designing programs to keep their remaining employees engaged and content.

At Paydirt, we encourage our clients to use environmental stewardship as an issue and initiative for rallying employees. Often our clients will form internal “green teams” to help assess their company’s environmental impacts and to develop strategies to reduce those impacts. Our strategic framework is designed to help companies identify and implement strategies that make a measurable difference in environmental performance, while also meeting critical business objectives.

Even in a recession, we find that “engaging employees” and building morale is still one of the most important business objectives for our clients. It’s been heartening (and maybe a tad surprising) to see how willing employers are to invest time and energy in developing employee-focused sustainability programs.

This summer, Paydirt worked with one particularly employee-centric company that was advanced enough to realize that, in addition to being a valuable learning and development tool, sustainability can also just be plain FUN. Krass Monroe, a mid-sized, Minneapolis-based law firm, engaged Paydirt to develop an eco-themed teambuilding exercise for the firm’s annual retreat.

The event objectives were to encourage friendly competition among staff, strengthen team member relationships, and integrate an environmental theme in interesting and unexpected ways. To meet those goals, Paydirt designed an “Amazing Race”-style scavenger hunt highlighting natural resources and historic landmarks in the Northwoods of McGregor, Minn.

Each team was tasked with completing a series of challenges with only a map, camera, vehicle, and their team’s skill, dexterity and resourcefulness to support them. Each participant received a McGregor tourism map that contained all of the information required for completing the scavenger hunt. However, the clues were designed to force the teams to be patient and work together.

The three teams (Team Awesome, the Killer Bees, and the Left-Handed Spatulas) set out for their “Quest” on a sunny afternoon in late September. All of the teams started at the same retreat location but were then sent to different second sites. Quest challenge locations included Savanna Portage State Park and the Long Lake Conservation Center, as well as a local winery.

Teams were also given the option to complete “bonus play” to subtract from their finish time, but were required to verify their completion of bonus tasks by documenting their participation on a digital camera. Once the teams arrived at the final Quest location (a hammock!), the Quest “Captains” verified their performance and documented their final time.

Although the winning team (Team Awesome) was undoubtedly the happiest, all of the participants had a great time. Quest participant Shanna Strowbridge noted, “The Quest that Paydirt put together for our firm was not only a great competition but also valuable for team-building. All of the team members had to be involved to help solve the clues and determine the best course to take.  Unlike team-building exercises we’ve had in the past that were mostly lecturing by “experts” on how to work together or make the most out of people’s different styles and personalities, our eco-challenge allowed for a real case study in how to evaluate the best person for each task and to devise mutual ways to succeed at the challenges.”

As for Paydirt, it was also a blast to plan the event! We hope that The Quest signifies the beginning of a trend for companies to realize that sustainability doesn’t have to mean a new set of “boring” or onerous rules and policies, but that “green” programs can also encourage people to get out and enjoy the beauty of nature. We salute Krass Monroe for their commitment to their employees and the environment!

Sustainable Seasons Greetings

During the Holidays, many of us tend to consume a LOT more than usual and forego the “green” habits we follow during the rest of the year.

Following are a few easy tips for ensuring a greener Holiday season and a more sustainable lifestyle as we head into 2010!

•  Switch to solar-powered Holiday lights. Traditional electric lights are a big power drain and can use more than 100 watts of energy per string. Solar-powered LED lights produce a bright, clear light and automatically switch on at sun down.
• Make your own wrapping paper! Most wrapping paper is used only once and then ends up in the landfill. Instead of purchasing mass-produced paper, look around your house for other creative options, such as the inside of brown shopping bags, newspaper, magazine collages or even handmade artwork. Use natural items from your yard or leftover pieces of ribbon to create a beautiful package that would make even Martha Stewart proud.
• Reuse gift bags. More and more people are starting to take advantage of the ease of reusable gift bags or boxes in lieu of wrapping paper. Make sure to take good care of the bags you receive so you can “re-gift” them to others, and then encourage your gift recipients to do the same!
• Recycle your Christmas tree. If you celebrate Christmas, take the time to investigate the tree-recycling program near you. You can locate your local program by visiting www.earth911.org. To be even more sustainable, select a pesticide-free tree from a farm near you.
• Go Green and Give Back! Save the money you would usually spend on Holiday cards, and donate it to a local charity. Send out an electronic greeting with your favorite 2009 picture instead!

Composting 101

Did you know that yard and kitchen waste make up almost 30 percent of the waste stream in the United States?

Removing compostable materials from our garbage cans can significantly reduce landfill space and also has excellent benefits for the health of your garden. Backyard composting has experienced a dramatic rise in popularity in recent years, as more and more people have discovered the environmental and economic benefits of composting (and that it’s not as difficult as it sounds!)

Basic Steps for Successful Composting:

• Identify a location convenient to the garden and the source of your raw materials
• Select an open bin or enclosed container  for compost materials
• Layer a selection of “green” and “brown” materials to balance the moisture content – an ideal blend is approximately 4 parts of browns to one part greens
• Maximize your compost efforts by turning the heap every few days using a garden fork
• “Cook” for several weeks
• Use the composted material in your garden for mulch, potting soil and more!

Typical “green” materials include fresh grass clippings, weeds or leftover kitchen scraps. Typical “brown” materials include dried leaves and grass. Don’t add meat, fish, animal fats, ashes or paper.

You can also purchase compost activators or try vermiculture, which is composting with the aid of worms, to improve the effectiveness and speed of your composting process. But adding a shovel-full of good garden soil will also do the trick. To learn more, visit www.howtocompost.org. Happy composting!

The Yin and Yang of CSR Reporting

The following is an excerpt from my recent article on greenbiz.com.

Crafting an effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) report is both an art and a science. A blend of facts and feelings. An amalgamation of quantitative and qualitative parts assembled into a more complete whole.

When corporate social responsibility reports first emerged, they were packaged as a “feel good” communications tool for showcasing a company’s community relations, environmental or volunteer activities. There was no industry-accepted, gold standard for what constituted a well-written or comprehensive report. Companies were free to come up with their own recipe and approach.

Now, in the age of limitless information, businesses are facing mounting pressure to not just understand their corporate environmental “footprint,” but to provide an honest and accurate snapshot of that footprint to people outside the organization.

It’s no longer sufficient to make vague statements that hint at goals to reduce a company’s environmental impact. Investors, regulators, consumers and even some corporate leaders (including Walmart) are demanding an elevated level of transparency regarding exactly what those businesses are doing to reduce their impact, and are pressing for more quantitative data to substantiate progress in their stated focus areas.

CSR-related metrics are now used to compare a company’s performance to other organizations, or to track a company’s performance over time. With the emergence of the Global Reporting Initiative’s G3 reporting guidelines and other NGOs like the Carbon Disclosure Project, businesses are under the gun to provide verifiable, quantitative data about the size of their environmental, economic and social imprint.

Most businesses are comfortable with the process of collecting and verifying financial data, but few are well-equipped or have a methodology for aggregating accurate CSR data. In particular, companies just starting their reporting journey may struggle with how to measure and communicate their performance, due to a lack of understanding of the metrics material to their industry or stakeholder interests.

So what factors should a company consider when developing its CSR reporting strategy?

To read my entire article visit:

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2009/10/22/yin-and-yang-csr-reporting

Reconnecting with the Earth: An Eco-Tour of Napa Valley

As the crisp autumn wind creeps slowly back into the air and the neighborhood kids head back to school, I can’t help but reminisce on my “sustainable” adventures from the summer of 2009.

This year, my summer was filled with more eco-escapades than ever before – exploring the wonders of fine, organic food at local bistros, shopping for environmentally friendly interiors for my 1940’s Cape Cod bungalow, and most notably, a week-long tour of some uniquely sustainable hot spots in California’s famed Napa Valley. 

Having never been to wine country before, my husband and I relied heavily on the power and insight of “Google,” as well as on copious referrals from the many wine lovers in our lives. (If you ever want to see someone get truly animated, ask a wine aficionado about Napa…)

We headed out to the hills with a list of recommendations longer than we could ever hope to visit and frankly very little real knowledge about wine –aside from the basic rules about pairing reds with meat and whites with chicken – a dramatic oversimplification, I know. We made a reservation at Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa, the “world’s first” LEED-certified gold hotel, and charted out a game plan to maximize our wine education (and consumption!)

Fortunately, one of the very first stops on our winery tour turned out to be the most advanced in its environmental practices, and its knowledgeable tour guides succeeded in bringing our appreciation for fine, sustainable wine to a whole new level. Frog’s Leap” winery is nestled in the heart of wine country in Rutherford, CA, and – as its tour guides are apt to say – was organic “before it was cool.” Visitors to the vineyard enjoy guided tastings on the porch of its beautiful LEED-certified building overlooking its picturesque organic gardens.

Frog’s Leap’s operations are centered on a belief that sustainability doesn’t have to mean compromise. Aside from harvesting an absolutely delicious product, Frog’s Leap uses a combination of dry farming, compost and cover crops to take full advantage of its soil and to bring a “balanced diet” to its vines. Cover crops also provide a habitat for desirable insects (like ladybugs and spiders), which then consume other vineyard pests. The vineyard is also 100 percent solar powered and features geothermal heating and cooling in its Hospitality Center.

At its core, however, Frog’s Leap is about good wine, and its owner,  John Williams, certainly succeeds in achieving his goal of producing wines that strongly reflect the soils and climates from which they emanate. Now that’s exactly the kind of “reconnection with the earth” that I can get excited about!

Our trip also taught us that sustainable wine is about more than just the land and the grapes. Sustainable packaging is also a significant focus for many wine makers and distributors. Of course most wine bottles or “cubes” can be recycled after use; however, some vintners are also looking for ways to reduce packaging from the outset. For example, last year, popular winemaker Fetzer took steps to reduce the weight of its wine bottle and The Wine Group switched many of its brands from bottles to bags.

Packaging News also recently announced that the world’s first 300g screwcap wine bottle is set to enter the United Kingdom market by the end of this year. The new design will reduce the current best in class wine bottle by 56g. If only less bottle meant more wine…