Green Options

I am a big fan of Conservation International (CI) and have been for ten years ever since I worked with the NGO during my previous life at a multinational corporation.  I admire CI’s collaborative approach by accepting the world’s largest corporations as part of the environmental solution and not just the source of the problem.  Realizing the importance of the private sector, CI created the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business (CELB) partnering with such companies as Starbucks, McDonald’s and Wal-Mart.

CELB’s mission is to leverage the power and reach of corporations to “improve human livelihoods through: innovative business practices that reduce companies’ ecological footprint, strategic investments in conservation opportunities and dynamic communications campaigns that engage consumers and employees worldwide to take action in their everyday lives.”

As part of their progressive communications campaign, CI recognized the influence and reach of social networking and social media.  And now, they are set to launch a groundbreaking tool designed to catalyze personal and collective action via the connective power of the web.  Are you ready for “Team Earth”?

Editor’s Note: Michael Brito is a social media strategist at Intel. You can find him roaming the intrawebs on Twitter, Facebook or his social media blog.

Climate change is upon us, indeed; no need to argue that point. But how on Earth are we supposed to react to its affect on food production, water resources, ecosystems, energy demand, insurance costs, etc?  Current research suggests that the Earth will warm over the next century and the rate of warming is steadily increasing. So the question needs to be asked, “What are we doing to prepare ourselves for these changes and how can people easily get involved in affecting positive change?”

Recently, Intel officially launched Progress Thru Processors; a new Facebook application that uses idle PC processor power for projects that are geared toward life changing research such as finding cures for deadly diseases and combating climate change.

I was just reading about a report on the psychographics of Hispanic teens, one of the fastest growing demographic segments—projected to reach 62% of the entire teen market in 10 years. Among other things, they are described as extroverted, outspoken, wired, and defined by culture. The top three media consumed by Hispanic youth are 1) the Internet, 2) TV and 3) radio.

In light of the barrage of data on the decline of direct mail, I’ve done a lot of writing these days in the defense of print. But the psychographics of your customer or prospect base (such as Hispanic teens) may well determine which medium (or media) you use. That could mean greening your marketing program at the same time.

I’m never a fan of reducing your use of print simply for the sake of greening. After all, electronic media have their own carbon footprints, too. They are just hidden in energy use, disposal of used electronic equipment, and so on. Comparing the carbon footprints of the two can be very complicated.

But for entrepreneurs and other freelance professional, Linkedin has always been a great spot to be. And there are quite a number of those active in the green world already there. So, if you haven’t yet joined or aren’t quite sure how to maximize your presence, here are a few tips.

How neat is this? Two kids — brother and sister Dave and Catherine Cook — decided the age-old tradition of school yearbooks was just dumb … and decided to create an alternative that was not only more useful, more entertaining and more interactive for today’s up-and-coming generation, but could also help make the world a better place.

The Pennsylvania-based creators of myYearbook have gone beyond mere social networking to cause-based social networking. Their site’s Causes section encourages teens in the 10-million-member-and-counting network to turn their lunch money into real money for charity.

The Environmental Protection Agency has launched an interesting campaign aimed at increasing citizens’ active efforts to help the environment: Pick 5 for the Environment. The idea is for people to choose five broad actions out of 10 listed on the EPA’s site to commit to, thus improving one’s overall environmental footprint. Don’t choose six, though; that’s one too many.

Memes provide very specific opportunities to participate in social media phenomena…….The 25 Random Things about [insert your product or service here] sweeping FaceBook - among others - is a no brainer to both implement and learn from.

Twitter, the popular micro-blogging website might also be one of the best tools around for staying informed and getting involved in your community.

[Creative Commons photos by Dean Shareski]

The short messaging service allows users to post up to 140 character long updates or tweets from their computers or cell phones. Folks can follow each other, keeping an eye on tweets from friends and likeminded people. Since you can pretty much tweet from anywhere, Twitter has evolved into a great resource for first-hand updates about current events. Lately, I’ve noticed that it’s also a fantastic way to get folks to get active!

GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily discusses green marketing for businesses with Maryanne Conlin, a lead writer for Ecopreneurist and Inspired Economist, and a green marketing consultant with expertise in targeting [...]

GreenTalk Radio host Sean Daily talks with Danielle Brigida, a marketing and social media expert working with the National Wildlife Federation, about the use and value of social media for wildlife preservation and other environmental causes. [Courtesy of [...]

I’ve been spending a lot of time these days working with clients interested in establishing a presence in social media. If you’re not considering doing that for your business, you might heed the words of Wayne Kurtzman from Media Bullseye.

Companies who miss the importance of the social media ship may actually risk the same fate as companies who thought the Internet was a fad. That sounds extreme, but over half the nation is already on a social network. They upload photos and videos or share shopping reviews. Customers are changing how they want companies to interact with them. The more that happens, the more companies will be left in the dust.

Since many if not most companies only have a hazy idea of how social media works and why in the world they should jump into the fray, some are slow to take the plunge. This is perhaps less true of new and old media companies. You can find Ecopreneurist and Green Options on Twitter, along with the New York Times, CNN and The BBC.

Besides Twitter, there are of course a whole host of ways to reach out to your customers and engage them on a one-to-one basis. There is Facebook and Myspace as well as a fast growing selection of newer sites. There are blogs and blogger networks, as well as, shopping social networking sites. There are community forums for a variety of topics and there are media sharing sites like Flickr and Youtube.

All of these should be considered for a social media campaign, but not all should be used. Why? This depends a lot on the company and product.

For example, as a social media marketing consultant, I focus on green products and on women’s products. I know the Mommy and female blogger and The Mommy and female social media market. I know the green market. What tools they use and where one can find green consumers. I recommend tools that make sense for my clients. Not all of the tools that Liz Strauss or Jeff Pulver suggest do that, though I follow and admire them both, but they often serve different markets.

One thing on which we all agree, though is Twitter. Though less than 2 years old, Twitter is rapidly becoming the go to place for both questions and answers. Have a question on organic food? Direct message @WholeFoods, an early and excellent user of social media. Follow Seventh Generation and find updates answers on a variety of green topics.