ParkHowell.com

Archive for the ‘Consuming Green Stuff’ Category

Dell’s empowering approach to sustainability: Twitter Q&A with its Director of Global Sustainability Operations

Dell started making its enormous impact on the tech world in 1984 when Michael Dell sold his first computer from his dorm room at the University of Texas at Austin. Now the company is making a significant impact on the planet by empower people and enterprises to do more.

Dell is routinely at or near the top of the list for the “greenest” companies on several studies including this one from Greenpeace.

I had the opportunity today to host a Twitter Q&A (Has tag #DellSus) with Bruno Sarda, Director of Global Sustainability Operations, and he talked about the many initiatives that have made Dell one of the greenest and most sustainable companies on the planet.

Here are just three of the impressive sustainability programs we discussed.

  • Dell’s Reconnect e-waste recycling initiative with Goodwill, which has created over 250 jobs and diverted more than 200,000 pounds of e-waste from landfills
  • Their revolutionary mushroom packaging for Dell servers, made of 100% organic material (The packaging, not the servers)
  • The Dell Social Innovation Challenge encourages and nurtures social innovator college students to help bring transformative ideas to pressing problems throughout the world.

Here are highlights from the Twitterview.

Q: What initially sparked your interest in corporate sustainability?

A: Our world needs help. Corporations are a huge force for change & am convinced sustainable business is better business.#DellSus

Q: @Dell is a leader in #sustainability. What is one thing Dell does that many companies forget in their initiatives?

A: @MichaelDell has inspired many of us at @Dell to drive positive change. Great to work for co that enables u to do ur best work.

Harness passion of stakeholders. We collaborate w/ suppliers, customers, competitors, academia, govt, civil society, etc.

Together we are stronger, faster & smarter. EICC, @TSCNews,@TheGreenGrid are good examples.

QWhat CSR achievements with Dell are you most proud of?

A:  Picking only one proud outcome is tough – we have many success stories in supply chain, ops, packaging, product, customers, etc.

Would say am proudest of our e-waste takeback & recycling leadership globally. The results are powerful!

Too many people still don’t know why or where to recycle used electronics. Need to improve collection rates.

Q: Your e-recycling leadership is seen in Reconnect consumer computer recycling. Why is @Goodwill a great partner in your e-waste initiative?

A.  @Goodwill is great partner b/c of our shared goal to create a positive impact on participating communities and environment.

QOne recent accomplishment is Plant-a-Tree w/ 1/2 million+ trees planted! @carbonfundorg @ConservationFun. What can we expect next with Plant-a-Tree? 

A@Dell customers are true heroes, we’re so grateful to them. They donated $2M+ to help reach this milestoneOur commitment to environmental conservation goes beyond Plant-a-Tree. You can expect more in the future.

Q: How does reuse play into Dell’s sustainability strategy?

AMuch of what is collected in takeback program can be and is reused – either in whole or in part.

QOverall, @Dell4Good refers to a lifecycle approach to sustainability. What does this mean exactly?

A: Means being aware of all the things you touch, and to look to reduce environmental impacts at every step.

We recently produced a short animated piece to illustrate what it means @Dell

Q: What patterns or trends are you noticing from you customers as it relates to sustainability?

A:  Seeing grt interest frm govt & corp customers to green their supply chain but also their operations. We help them w/ both.

Q: What green/sustainable efforts do Dell employees practice internally? 

A: Employees full of passion for #green. Many locations globally have green teams working locally. Inspiring!

Q: As a corporate leader in sustainability, how has@Dell4Good inspired responsible change in other corporations?

A: We collaborate openly w/ suppliers, customers & peers. We’ve seen our best practices adopted & we’ve adopted others’

Q: Can you talk a bit about the mushroom packaging@Dell4Good has employed recently? Why mushrooms?

A: Packaging innovation is always on our mind. How we got to mushrooms is a great story, check it out.

The best packaging protects your product while embellishing it and leaving the smallest possible footprint in the process.

Packaging matters to our customers big & small. We’ve innovated on many fronts with phenomenal results. 

 Q: What patterns or trends are you noticing from you customers as it relates to sustainability?

A: Seeing grt interest frm govt & corp customers to green their supply chain but also their operations. We help them w/ both.

Q: How does everyday consumer benefit from@Dell4Good sustainability initiatives?

A: Many ways! Consumers care most abt packaging & recycling, and we also help them save on energy use.

B2B customers care most abt energy efficiency to reduce carbon footprint & operational costs. 

Many products have biggest environmntl footprint during customer use. Important to design w/ that in mind.

We’ve achieved great progress helping all types of customers reduce their IT footprint as a result.

We used to focus most on what we were doing internally to be#green. Now, we focus most on how we help our customers do same

Q:  You’re also a professor @ASUgreen. What have ur students taught u about sustainability? Any of their ideas brought to @Dell4Good?

A: @ASUgreen students r full of great ideas. Definitely learning frm them. Many ASU entries in the Dell Challenge?

Q: What can we expect to see on@Dell‘s corporate sustainability report for 2012?

A: Continued transparency in a more attractive format that’ll make it easier to track our progress & understand our commitments.

If you missed our Twitterview today and have a question for Bruno, please ask it in the comment section below. I guarantee you’ll get an answer, and one you’ll probably like.

I’m not sure that all greenwashers should be condemned?

I’ve been reluctant to post this info graphic on greenwashing. I received it in an email last November, and I’ve been meaning to delete it ever since. However, like that tiny, but vigilant, tag of popcorn husk clinging to the back roof of your mouth, it is still there.

So here it is for you. It’s full of great stats and facts about greenwashing and what to look for. And it begs the question:

Are the companies accused of greenwashing doing it on purpose, or do they just NOT know how to communicate the real environmental impact of their products overselling their “greenness”?

Could it be that they have the best of intentions and are simply bungling their green marketing; their nefarious character created from naivet’e? I’m not ready to condemn all of them just yet, and that was my reason for not immediately posting the info graphic.

What do you think? Who are the biggest greenwashing offenders? Who are those that simply don’t get it? How can they do a better job with their stories of sustainability?

Green Marketing Exposed
Created by: Marketing Degree

How not to make your green marketing a joke

I’ve been getting in trouble lately from the green marketing community. They think my “Got Green? and 10 Other Brand Curdling Cliches of Green Marketing” presentation is making fun of the industry.

It’s not. It’s making fun of companies and brands that are eager to jump on the green bandwagon without doing their homework. Their green marketing shortcuts are laughable, diminishing the credibility of the entire green marketing industry.

At least Lorna Li of Green Marketing TV appreciates my humor. She recently invited me on her web TV show to discuss the art of green marketing.

The Art of Green Marketing for Sustainable Brands – Park Howell, Park & Co from Green Marketing TV on Vimeo.

In this interview we cover:

  • Which companies tell their sustainability story well, without the hackneyed green marketing cliches
  • Big brands that are failing the “got green?” test
  • Successful examples of green marketing
  • Egregious examples of green wash, in products that have no business calling themselves green
  • Whether green marketing is really dead and if we should just give up

This revealing discussion with several real world green marketing examples, ought to help you better define your green marketing strategies and bring you closer to becoming a remarkable sustainable brand.

Inaugural GoGreen Conference hits Phoenix

GoGreen Conference at the Phoenix Convention Center

Do you think you have your green brand and marketing figured out? Do you want to put it to the test? Join me as I moderate the workshop, Green Marketing & Branding: Creating Behavior Change during the inaugural GoGreen Conference at the Phoenix Convention Center this Tuesday, November 15.

GoGreen Conference Phoenix has a terrific lineup of speakers, including:

  • Al Halvorsen, Senior Director of Environmental Sustainability, Frito-Lay North America
  • Derrick Hall, CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks
  • Phoenix Mayor, Phil Gordon
  • Kevin Tuerff, President, Enviromedia

I, and the Park&Co team, will be Tweeting updates all day from the event using the hastag #GoGreenPHX. If you have any questions for any of the presenters that you’d like us to ask, be sure to send us a Tweet.

Are you attending? If so, be sure to swing by the Park&Co sustainable marketing booth in the exhibit hall to say hello.

Green marketing and the five steps to a more sustainable brand

I recently wrote a post about Coal Burger and its ironic and unfortunate brand positioning of being a “Green” burger joint. They are good people that own and run the place, but just misdirected in the ways of green marketing.

Great Lakes Brewing Company sources its ingredients locally to green its operations

But there’s hope and help for the Coal Burgers of the world. Entrepreneur Magazine, in its November issue, features an article on the five-step guide to marketing a green business called: Selling Green. They called me as a source for their piece the day after I wrote about Coal Burger, so the information was top-of-mind. Here are writer Matt Villano’s five steps to green marketing that he culled from his interviews with marketers and business owners across the country.

  1. See What Your Customers Want – Do they even care if you’re green? Bardessono, a luxury hotel and spa in Yountville, CA, made this mistake.
  2. Define What Green Means to You – Green has many nebulous meanings to consumers and proprietors alike. Ava Anderson does a nice job of explaining what being natural means in their non-toxic personal care items.
  3. Connect the Dots – Answer consumers’ questions: Does it work? Is it good for my budget, my family, and our planet?
  4. Practice What You Preach – Are you backing up your green position with sustainable actions that matter? Green Apple Cleaners in New York walk the talk.
  5. Reinvest in the Community – The old think globally, act locally adage. Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland only sources its ingredients locally.

The article is filled with case studies that demonstrate each of the five steps to marketing yourself as green. However, I’d like to remind you that being green isn’t so much about your marketing as it is about your philosophy and action. Being sustainable should be a natural bi-product of how you approach your business with planetary efficiency and healthy products as your highest priorities. That’s when your green story starts to get really interesting.

Do you have a favorite company that is doing its green marketing well? Please let us know below.