For the last week my inbox has been bombarded with pitches from businesses, large and small, helpfully informing me that April 22 is Earth Day, and explaining how their companies are commemorating the event. Don't get me wrong; some of their products sound pretty cool, like the ecobutton from Staples promotional products, which, at the press of a button, puts your computer in "ecomode" (more energy-efficient than sleep mode).
I've learned some interesting facts as well. According to the folks at Nitro PDF Software, every person on the planet consumes about 123 pounds (or 12,500 sheets) of paper a year. Approximately 37 pounds of that is used just printing things out, which (hanging my head in shame) I admit I even did while researching this column. All this printing not only hurts the environment, but, according to Melanie Atta at email marketing company Campaigner, "About 1 to 3 percent of corporate revenues are spent on printing costs."
To save on paper consumption, both Campaigner and their competitor Constant Contact encourage all business owners to increase their email marketing, while cutting back on direct marketing. In fact, Constant Contact senior vice president Eric Groves says last year Constant Contact customers sent 28 billion emails in their marketing campaigns, saving more than 3.5 million trees.
This is all sound advice, but truthfully it makes me sad -- and mad -- that 41 years after the first Earth Day we're still concerned about these problems. I'm not saying we shouldn't be worried about the environment; I'm upset we haven't really fixed anything yet.
I realize I am an idealist; at times admittedly I'm even a Pollyanna. When I was in high school back in the 60s, my friend Barbara and I used to trek into the city, head to a dingy office and collect our folding table, petitions, and "Save the Environment" buttons, which we'd sell on the streets of New York, trying to raise funds and awareness. Fueled by the naivete of youth we thought we were doing our (very small) part to help change the world. So it stuns me that today we're still fighting that very same battle.
When I first moved to Los Angeles in the late 1970s, the sky was often colors that skies weren't meant to be. Smog alerts were routinely issued, warning the old, the young, and the infirm to stay indoors and not breathe the outside air. But aggressive new regulations, while not completely eradicating LA's infamous smog, have virtually eliminated smog alerts. Yet despite this triumph, some politicians are calling for an end to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), saying it hinders business.
I don't buy it. I believe businesses can simultaneously thrive and be environmentally considerate. Many businesses have embraced that philosophy as well. A new study released this week by CompTia, the trade association for the information technology industry, shows green IT initiatives are increasingly important to businesses. According to the 2nd Annual Green IT and Insights study, in 2009 only 9 percent of companies rated green IT as a high priority. This year 37 percent of businesses do, and that's expected to hit 54 percent by 2013.
In fact, says Tim Herbert, CompTIA's vice president of research, "It's likely many firms eye green strategies as a means to help the bottom line." Currently, 20 percent of businesses have a dedicated budget for green IT initiatives, but the survey says 44 percent are "moving in that direction."
So what is a green IT strategy? The CompTIA study says it includes factors such as reducing energy consumption, equipment usage, recycling and product disposal, a company's carbon footprint, and employee behaviors.
Technological advances make it a lot easier for small businesses to be environmentally conscious. Many businesses have already adopted a pro-environmental stance, making the ones that haven't look even less socially responsible. Last month research firm BBMG released a new report, Unleashed: How New Consumers Will Revolutionize Brands and Scale Sustainability [free registration required to read report], in which it labeled more than 70 million American adults "New Consumers." These are the people who are "defined less by demographics than by shared values … and are increasingly concerned with products' impact on the planet and its people." BBMG says that even during the recession, 25 percent of the New Consumers were willing to pay more for sustainable products.
Lately from Washington we've heard a lot of concern about the rising U.S. deficit and the debt future generations will be saddled with. I'm a bit more concerned that those generations have a future with water they can drink and air they can breathe. On this Earth Day, let's think about why we're still fighting many of the same battles from 41 years ago, and how businesses like ours can help create a greener and more sustainable world.
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