EnvironmentLA - The City's official site for information about projects and programs that are making Los Angeles more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power - LADWP offers environmental Green LA programs, including Trees for a Green LA, Energy Efficiency for a Green LA, Solar Energy for a Green LA, Electric Vehicles for a Green LA, Green Power for a Green LA, Recycling for a Green LA and Educational Services for a Green LA.
Green LA Action Plan - The City's official plan to improve energy conservation, transition to renewable power sources, and change the ways citizens commute to work and school.
US Green Building Council-LA - A resource for agencies, municipalities, professionals and companies interested in sustainable, green buildings.
Psychology Today just ran an article featuring Saving The World At Work. It quoted me talking about the upcoming responsibility revolution and how it would transform the business landscape.
The article quotes Dr. Daniel Goleman (author of Ecological Intelligence) talking about the requisite need for ecological leadership, both in its development and distribution.
Here’s an excerpt from Saving The World At Work that relates to the value of supporting local companies, even when a global cost cutting opportunity comes up.
The Law of the Long View says if you commit to your partners, you’re committed for the long haul. It’s your job to stick with them even if a short-term reason to change arises.
I am a huge fan of Adam Werbach (former President of the Sierra Club). Back in 2004 he declared that “environmentalism is dead” and in 2006 he went to work for Wal-Mart. Crazy guy? Not loyal? Hardly. He’s a rock star in my book (literally).
In April of 2008, Webach gave a very important talk at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. The content of the talk is aligned with my thinking. He believes (as I do) that we have to go beyond saving the planet to focusing on humans (as the planet will likely go on without us).
Whether you are a company, or just an individual, you must continually innovate to maximize your green-ness. The best way to do this is by focusing on a single weekly innovation. Think about everything you do as you do your workaday, and isolate areas where you can reduce your impact on the planet.
Frequently, corporate meetings are held in remote locations that require mega travel by attendees. Truck loads of paper and a mountain of waste is generated (from full color Power Point print outs to bottled water). When regulations go after carbon emissions, the meeting industry will be under scrutiny by the business managers at companies around the country.
If you feel a little bit green every time you remember to put your waste paper in the recycle bin, I’ve got bad news for you. It’s not good enough. Recycling is only “a little less bad” than pure wasting. It takes carbon based fuels to recycle paper. Only a small percentage of paper, for example, is converted back into usable paper. Every time you recycle, you actually suck technical nutrients out of a product, lowering its quality. In the book Cradle To Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, call this “downcycling.” What do you think recycled recycled paper would feel like? How thin and easily torn would it be?
There’s a great new video on YouTube called Miles The Can.
It tracks the journey of an aluminum can as it gets reborn over and over again. The story behind it is powerful: We need to realize how much energy is wasted for convenience.
I believe that we should repackage being green into a quest to preserve the living environment for future generations. Save the humans!
Here’s the bottom line: The planet will not implode, it will eventually become a terrible place for humans to live. New species, such as insects, will rise to power at some point, likely driven by climate change and pollution.
By Tim Sanders
Saving the World at Work
I think that company wellness programs are MONEY.
They create healthier employees and reduce insurance claims. Many companies find that the few year return on investment is three or four to one!
They are also a source of innovation and and leadership at work. When ex-Sierra Club president Adam Warbach helped [...]
This week, led by all-star Steve Nash, NBA is having it’s first green week. To honor this, league officials have conducted what I call “the green re-imagine” exercise. Re-imagine your entire business operation as if green were the law OR the defining element of quality in the eyes of your customer.
In the next few years, we are going to see two kinds of companies emerge from this mess: Saints and Sinners.
A very recent survey indicates that CEOs are less popular than politicians — a sign of things to come. In my book, Saving The World At Work, I predicted that the Responsibility Revolution would reshape branding as we know it.
Even during these tough economic times, big brands are still investing in green.
They need to. This is the future, long after this recession is gone. As more and more reports about the impact of global warming roll in (such as the recent one predicting flooding in DC when ice caps melt), the panic will increase — along with a feeling of personal responsibility to be more conscious in how we buy, etc.
