| | Posted by: Eric Raymond on September 27,2011,at 9:19 am Below is a repost of an older piece I authored over at Edelman’s clean technology blog that I think is still relevant reading. Many business people are shocked to learn that how you talk about your business is at times more important than what you say. The power of search,whether it is through Google,Facebook,LinkedIn,Twitter or any other path is one of the most underutilized tools in bringing attention to all things sustainy. ___ Companies in the solar industry wrestle for position and identity,trumpeting their latest innovation,funding or legislation. Blogs,forums and social media have spread the word far and wide,allowing these conversations to flourish across the web. With all of the channels and platforms for solar companies,lobbyists and “thought leaders” to participate in the discussion,how can solar companies make good decisions on where to share their voice? With Edelman Digital,I recently undertook an analysis of online conversations in the U.S. around the solar industry that shed some light on where these discussions are taking place. We have assembled a few insights that might be relevant to those in the industry. The vast majority of conversations around the solar industry are happening on blogs. If your company is not already building relationships and interacting with the right bloggers,now might be a good time to get started. Edelman has recently announced BlogLevel,a tool that allows close examination of influential blogs and current discussion topics. This is a great place to guide and refine your understanding of the influential solar blogs and conversations. Additionally,TweetLevel,the companion tool for Twitter,revealed that ink jet printing was a hot topic of conversation recently,driven heavily by a story in Science Daily. Another key area that solar industry companies may want to consider participating in is professional groups. For business-to-business focused solar companies,there are a handful of groups on LinkedIn with over 20,000 members each,entirely focused on discussions about the solar industry. Additionally,how companies talk about solar is important for connecting with customers through marketing and SEO and SEM considerations. Of all online coverage we analyzed in this survey,99% of the content mentioned solar panels. That may seem like common sense,but a much smaller percentage,mentioned solar power,solar cell,photovoltaic and other terms that are known and used throughout the industry. For blogs,that amounted to 24,000 mentions of “solar panel” over a three-month period. In that same period the next runner up,“solar power,” received only 6,800 mentions. Finally,while it would be ill-advised to take this section of research and apply it to a whole industry, knowing where,when and how to talk to consumers and industry can go a long way in overcoming some the challenges facing the industry,including some of those touched on in this USA Today story. Posted by: Eric Raymond on September 25,2011,at 9:19 pm I originally wrote a short piece for Triple Pundit about employee engagement and game dynamics and it got picked up by the Forbes CSR blog. Now that we’re back up and running here, I thought I would repost it for posterity. ___  Can game dynamics motivate employees to sustainability goals? (photo by Gary Leonard) People play games for three billion hours a week. Do you know what they are doing for the other few billion hours? Working. These two activities,it turns out,might not be as far apart as business leaders may think. For companies trying to influence behavior,gaming mechanics are today’s hot trend. Is putting some points on a leaderboard the trick helping marketers motivate consumers to behave as they wish? Even though there is science behind the behavior and success to be found,game dynamics are a far cry from the silver bullet. Clear results from this trend are as hard to secure as the mayorship of the local diner. Foursquare,the trend’s poster child, is trying to distance the company from the concept. Not all companies can attach a game layer to their business plan,so what can game dynamics do for these companies on the path to sustainability? Many businesses may be better suited to turn persuasive practices on themselves as a way to push forward internal sustainability goals. A TechCrunch post outlines a number of different gaming mechanics that are employed by SCVNGR,but at the core,gamification plays on people’s inner drives for psychological satisfaction. Tools like achievements,appointment dynamics and envy can ignite motivations and help people take action. What if companies jumped in to game dynamics,not for an external marketing program but as a means to motivate their internal workforce towards sustainability goals? Zero waste,for instance,might be more easily achieved. As an objective in sustainability departments across the world,one of the hardest facets of reaching zero waste is unifying the effort within the organization to motivate different departments and apathetic employees. Game dynamics can be leveraged to inspire organizations step-by-step because,unlike performance bonuses that solely draw on employee motivations for money,game dynamics can draw on dozens of behavioral traits and drive behavior and focus them towards a shared company goal. According to Adam Loving,“good gamification can amplify the intrinsic rewards of a particular behavior – to increase the feeling of fun,flow or accomplishment.” Walmart has created My Sustainability Plan to help employees live better lives. Leveraging game dynamics to elevate social and wellness programs encourages participants to take a more energetic role in their health. They increase program involvement,driving benefits that serve the employee but also ripple through the company. An increase in employee engagement will help businesses combat the $300 billion in productivity lost from disengaged employees unearthed by a Gallop study. While the novelty of virtual rewards and badges can quickly wear off,engaging employees to game to achieve the sustainability initiatives and goals of their company has the opportunity to capture people and change behavior,increasing employee performance,retention and the bottom line. For companies looking to engage their workforce in the sustainability journey,game dynamics may be just the win they are looking for. Posted by: Moya on September 8,2010,at 5:17 am Indian teens make washing machine with junks,runs without power! Bangalore:Sourabh Siyal and Tushar Agarwal,students of Christ College,designed a model which would pester people to take interest in environmental issues. Eco-wash,a washing machine was made out of junk material and ran on mechanical and kinetic energy,without the use of electricity. 
“The junk materials include a discarded plastic bottle,which we used as a box to wash clothes. A pulley is attached to the plastic bottle to run the machine. The pulley moves with the help of kinetic energy and helps to wash clothes,”explained Agarwal,who wants to be a scientific innovator. “Our idea is to do away with electricity and come up with an alternative. The washing machine can be useful in big textile industries. We’re planning to give our idea to one of India’s leading garment manufacturing units,”said Siyal,who too wanted to pursue research works in the field of science. via SiliconIndia Posted by: Moya on September 4,2010,at 10:46 pm  After learning of the 7.1 mag earthquake in New Zealand yesterday,I was reminded of a great post I read earlier this year,after the Haitian quake,that touches on the need for renewables such as solar and permaculture as a way to aid a faster recovery from natural disasters. ‘Solar setups are quick to install,mobile,and relatively inexpensive compared to the price of rebuilding a damaged electricity grid.’Add to that solar cell phones,solar ovens,water purification systems and lighting;and you have a fast and furious start for rebuilding a damaged mecca such as Christchurch,New Orleans or Chile.
Responding to disasters requires doing a lot with a little as quickly as possible. The newly formed PermaCorp Int’l has introduced permaculture relief and restoration efforts to global cities affected by disaster. Permaculture techniques have been used in some of the world’s worst disaster zones. In the short term,permaculture techniques meet the crucial needs of daily life:compost toilets reduce the risk of sewage born disease,rocket cook-stoves and gardens provide food,engineered catchments and filtration systems provide drinking water. But recovery from disasters is a long-term process. The real promise of permaculture is in providing systems that can sustain themselves beyond the redevelopment period. Like renewable energy,they are approaches that can help rebuild cities on firmer footings. Permaculture projects,like blackwater systems and instant gardens,are designed and built with the communities that will use them and keep them running. That hands-on approach contributes to the success and durability of the projects,but it also has psychological benefits that can’t be overestimated. Amidst devastation,it provides people with an opportunity to be actively engaged with something positive and meaningful.
As well as helping in any way possible,now is a good time for us to start thinking about the ways that renewable energy could make our cities more resilient to similar disasters. via openalex
Posted by: Moya on August 6,2010,at 2:32 pm Talk about upcycling — this tiny barbeque grill is made from a single Altoids Sours tin,two salvaged computer fan guards and a handful of nuts and screws, and it’s big enough to handle a wiener or a hamburger patty! Instructables user vmspionage claims that he (or she) got the inspiration from the eBq,which employs the larger Altoids mints tin,but in the name of progress vmspionage has made that original grill look like a 1980s computer by comparison. Posted by: Moya on July 4,2010,at 11:45 pm  Melting Men - Nele Azevedo Posted by: Moya on June 6,2010,at 6:31 pm 
This brand-new household environmental calculator is the first of its kind —it shows not only the carbon footprint but also energy,water,wastewater,trash,and stormwater runoff footprints of your home and lifestyle. In addition,it recommends projects based on your specific inputs that can save you money,reduce your environmental impact,or in many cases both at the same time! The Impact Calculator also calculates a score called the Low Impact Living Index™,or LILI™,that encapsulates in one number your overall environmental footprint. It allows comparisons to other homes near you or across the country. The Impact Calculator and LILI combined provide you with a clear roadmap to a greener home and lifestyle! From green products to local services,LowImpactLiving.com also has a ton of great info on alleviating the burden we place on the environment. And for the record,my ‘LILI’is 45! Posted by: Moya on May 3,2010,at 11:14 pm  After an adventurous week of helping two separate friends pack their apartments for cross-country moves,I found myself asking the same question over and over… chuck it or keep it? And after about the 100th time,I soon took initiative and just started throwing everything away. (Don’t worry,they’ll never miss the stuff!) While sifting through umpteen boxes and bowls of miscellanea,I was pleasantly reminded of a Treehugger philosophy stating that you can radically reduce your footprint and ‘live happily with less stuff and less waste on less money,but with more design.’
As Witold Rybczynski writes in HOME:A short History of an Idea, that in the middle ages,“people didn’t live in homes so much as camp in them. The nobility owned many residences,and traveled frequently. When they did so,they rolled up the tapestries,packed the chests,took apart the beds and moved their household with them.” I have since dissected my apartment and now rest confidently in my cleared space knowing that behind all the doors and drawers is a streamlined version of the hodge-podge mess that was hiding within my sanctuary. Over at Apartment Therapy.com they offer a few questions to help get you thinking about lightening the load. 1. Do You Need the Book? We started reading books on the kindle for iPhone and it’s changing our whole approach to book buying. Of course that doesn’t help us with the books we’ve already got. But to thin them out we consider:if we had to move,would we bring them? And:in 10 years will I remember this book? If it’s a yes then it’s worth it. If no,it gets donated to a friend or a library. 2. Do You Love It? It’s easy to feel you ought to hang onto something,but the real question is,do you love the thing,does it make you feel good,or do you use it? Does it bring something positive to your life? 3. Do You Wear It?. Now that summer is winding to a close,it’s easy to see what we’ve been wearing all the time and what has remained untouched. Maybe last year they were our go-to,but it’s ok to let them go if it’s been a couple of summers and they’re still on the hanger. This is a great time to take stock as fall is upon us. 4. Does It Help You Work? With a new season,we need to clean out our desk and lighten the piles that have accumulated. Following these 4 steps for decluttering your desk we’re starting with the piles and asking ourselves what is really necessary on the desktop for working? Are their things pinned to the bulletin board that are old and outdated? 5. Would You Pack It? If you were leaving on a trip tomorrow,what would you take with you? What do you presently use? Not last year or two months ago,but right now? This helps keep us current with what we actually need.
via Planet Green Posted by: Inna on April 29,2010,at 6:50 pm Did you know that transportation and construction and operation of buildings account for two-thirds of our country’s climate pollution? 
Since the early 90s,we’ve had LEED (the U.S. Green Building Council’s “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design”) to set best practices to tackle the buildings side of this problem. LEED certification has transformed regular construction projects into the new energy-efficient standard for a sustainable future. What about transportation? We impact our environment not only in the buildings where we live,work and play,but in the choices we make when we travel to those buildings. A recent study,“Driving to Green Buildings,” showed that driving to and from a typical office building consumes far more energy than heating,cooling and lighting that building. How do we cut back on all that wasted energy and climate pollution? And how do we make sure people have better access to safe,convenient and affordable travel choices? Introducing STARS,a voluntary points-based rating system inspired by LEED,which will allow transportation professionals to plan and compare their projects using a national sustainability standard. The framework is being developed by experienced public and private sector transportation professionals from Oregon and Washington. What do the masterminds behind STARS hope to achieve? It’s simple,really. They hope to change the way we think about transportation by emphasizing access,climate,energy and cost,to ensure higher performance in areas where transportation has the greatest impacts. And those aren’t the only benefits. This approach encourages transportation planners to work together with local residents and businesses to determine which travel options are most appropriate for an area and to combine all methods of transit to provide users a multitude of choices. Transportation projects will see savings as well. STARS will reward planners who develop smarter projects that incorporate more efficient ways of moving people and goods. “We’ll be able to serve more people for less money,” says Peter Hurley of the Portland Bureau of Transportation,one of the developers. STARS could follow in LEED’s footsteps,becoming an economic driving force and generating jobs. “Developing STARS could create green jobs for local STARS-certified professionals,just as the region’s ‘early adopters’of LEED still frequently win green building design and construction jobs,both locally and nationally,” Peter says. Already,the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission is working with the STARS team to apply STARS to their Highway 1 HOV and Auxiliary Lanes project. That work is currently supporting eight part-time local jobs. STARS encourages planners to ask a number of questions:How long should a standard trip take? What is the best mode of transit for a trip? What are the options of transit? When transportation professionals tackle these questions,riders get more options. STARS Project Scoreboard
 Click here for an overview of STARS and for more information on STARS,please contact Peter Hurley at the Portland Bureau of Transportation:Peter.T.Hurley@portlandoregon.gov. Posted by: Moya on March 6,2010,at 7:53 pm 
Sustainable food leader Bon Appétit Management Company’s socially responsible sourcing practices are gathering speed and attracting attention,proving that sustainable food can scale to meet volume and service demands of corporate,university and specialty venue food service. TIME Magazine cover story America’s Food Crisis and How to Fix It applauds Bon Appetit’s commitment as even deeper than retailers known for ethical sourcing,and puts them in the company of thought-leaders such as Bill Niman. TIME Magazine calls out national food service leader Bon Appetit Management Company’s sustainable sourcing practices,focusing on their push for no antiboitics in meat,low-carbon menus and other socially responsible sourcing. | Thoughts?We'd love to hear your thoughts,suggestions and feedback. If you're too shy to comment,or want to share something with us you think we'd enjoy,just drop us a note at editor [at] sustainy [dot] com.Thanks! |
