Green Options » enterprise

De-jobbing America: Unraveling the Employment Economy

John Ivanko — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:09:32 +0000

There’s just too much emphasis on “getting a job” these days.

Okay, so we’re at nearly 10 percent unemployment nationally (if you believe the Federal numbers), so many people are without a steady stream of bi-monthly paychecks. Yet, 90 percent of Americans who had a job when the economy tanked, still do. But for some that means being a wage serf, cubicle clone or working in the Dilbert world of dysfunctional corporate America – working hard to make someone else richer (and often, with ecological impacts). There’s too many CEO bonuses and none for the employees who clean the counters, work on the assembly lines (ideally making hybrid vehicles), or take care of customers. The vast majority of education system continues to be committed to helping people find jobs, not make a sustainble life, especially one that doesn’t destroy the planet or exploit people (though more are starting “sustainability curricula”).

What we need is less of an emphasis on transforming less-green jobs to more-green jobs for the plethora of job seekers. There’s nothing wrong with getting a job (there are a few great companies, some that even offer employee ownership and stock, in addition to addressing the development needs of their workforce).

But if you want to gain an upper hand on life, more self-employed or self-owned enterprises are discovered that you can keep more of your hard-earned money by working for yourself. As I write about in ECOpreneuring, doing so allows you to also reinvest our profits in ways that either restore the planet and/or improve the well being of people living in our community, nation and planet. These businesses have a triple bottom line and many have ditched the commute to some office, working, instead, from a home office.

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Car Sharing Competition: Hertz Chases Zipcar

John Addison — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:35:37 +0000

Editor’s Note: John Addison publishes the Clean Fleet Report. Excerpts of this article will appear in his upcoming book – Save Gas, Save the Planet.

Car sharing programs are popping up all over the place. Introduced first in Europe, car sharing is now growing in the United States with over 200 car share programs operating in over 600 cities.

If you’re not familiar with car sharing, these programs allow two or more people to need only one car through a well-organized sharing service. Each shared vehicle results in 6 to 23 cars not being owned and evidence shows that once someone joins a car share program, they cut their vehicle miles traveled up to 80 percent.

Zipcar is the current US leader in car sharing, boasting over 260,000 members — individuals who live car-free in a city, couples who share one car, university students and staff, and corporate fleet and travel managers.

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Enterprise Rent-a-Car Opens Green Branches in Atlanta

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:04:40 +0000

When I sat down with Enterprise Rent-a-Car’s VP of Corporate Responsibility and Communications Pat Farrell, and Christine Conrad, VP of Public Relations, in January, both spent a fair amount of time talking about the company’s large fleet of greener vehicles: hybrids, flex-fuel vehicles, and higher-mileage cars. As a couple of commenters noted on those posts, though, finding the greener car you want may be a challenge. Enterprise’s Dan Miller, general manager for Atlanta, also heard these concerns from their customers (particularly corporate accounts), so he decided to do something about it. Now, Atlanta residents wanting to rent either a hybrid or higher-mileage (28 mpg or higher) vehicle from the company know where to go: one of the area’s four “green” branches.

Each of these branches carries stocks about 100 cars, and about 60% of the vehicles at each branch consist of greener vehicles. In a short call last week, Pat (and colleague Lisa Martini) told me that these branches are not focusing on flex-fuel vehicles, as the fueling infrastructure in Atlanta doesn’t support their widespread use. He also noted that Miller’s decision was based on “the need for green in Atlanta” because of the high amounts of traffic congestion, as well as customer demand for the vehicles. He stressed throughout the call, though, that this was a “grassroots” decision: Enterprise sees itself as a “confederation of local operations (owner Andy Taylor’s phrase), and Miller’s decision reflects any local managers ability to manage his/her fleet to meet local needs. He expects that other regional managers will be watching developments in Atlanta closely.

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Car Sharing Comes to St. Louis

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:56:50 +0000

While it is possible to go carless in St. Louis (especially if you live in the city), most residents would claim that it’s challenging. In many cases, this perception represents an unwillingness to give up the convenience of a personal vehicle, but there is merit to the argument: our public transportation system is good, but not great, and the concept of a walkable neighborhood is still very much in its formative stages. In the last month, though, St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-a-Car (a company I’ve blogged about recently) has started an experiment that may help residents rethink the idea of car ownership: it’s WeCar car-sharing program has launched (rather quietly) at Washington University and in the downtown loft district.

As local blogger Steve Patterson noted when WeCar rolled out at Wash, the program appears to be all-hybrid: six Priuses at Wash, one at their medical campus, and nine downtown. Mayor Francis Slay is already singing WeCar’s praises: “It will help the environment,” Slay said. “It will also give people more options as far as commuting. Some people would like to take light rail or the bus to work but they need the flexibility during the day. They can use the WeCar.”

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Enterprise Rent-a-Car Moves Towards a Greener Business Model: Part 2

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:58:18 +0000

Last week, I began to take a look at some of the environmental initiatives underway at St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-a-Car (which also own National and Alamo). While my discussion with VP of Corporate Responsibility and Communications Pat Farrell, and VP of Public Relations Christine Conrad, involved all five of the current “planks” in the company’s environmental platform, we were there to focus on its most recent announcement: customers could now purchase carbon offsets when reserving a vehicle by phone, or through the company’s web site.

The offset program with Terrapass started just over a month ago, with the company officially announcing it on January 15th. To its surprise, the program gained popularity before the official announcement: after the soft launch on January 1st, an average of 1000 customers a day were buying the $1.25 offset option. I did ask Pat about the controversy surrounding offsets: was this simply a way to make drivers feel better about doing the things they always do? Are they simply green “indulgences?” He told me,

That’s why the offset program is the fifth of the five planks in our platform. I often equate offsets with ‘marking time’ or ‘marching in place’: you’re doing something, but not necessarily moving forward. So, if that’s all you’re doing, that would make me uncomfortable. If you’re using them in combination with other solutions, though, that makes sense.
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Enterprise Rent-a-Car Moves Towards a Greener Business Model: Part 1

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:52:07 +0000

Last September, when discussing a new tool for vehicle fleet managers to determine the environmental impact of purchases, I made a quick reference to efforts by the rental car industry to “green” their fleets. At the time, I’d seen a number of press releases touting these efforts, particularly commitments to purchasing vehicles that produced lower levels of emissions. I remember thinking that I should reach out to St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-a-Car to find out more about their efforts; unfortunately, thinking was as far as I got.

I got the chance to rectify that situation when I met with Pat Farrell, Enterprise’s VP of Corporate Responsibility and Communications, and Christine Conrad, VP of Public Relations, two weeks ago over lunch. While the focus of our discussion was the company’s new offering of carbon offsets (in partnership with Terrapass) to customers renting by phone or through the company’s website, Pat and Christine also wanted to discuss the range of environmental initiatives Enterprise had taken in recent years. These have included:

Greening its fleet: The company (which also includes National and Alamo) now owns 73,000 flex-fuel vehicles, and 4000 hybrids. Over 237,000 of its 1.1 million vehicles average at least 32 miles per gallon, and 264,000 have earned EPA Smartway certification.

Contributing to Biofuels Research: Last year, the Taylor Family, which owns the company, donated $25 million to create the Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.

Conservation Efforts: Enterprise’s charitable foundation has committed to plant 50 million trees over the next fifty years in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation (though will not use these trees for offset credits)

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