Hoffman York and HY-brid would like to wish everyone a very happy holiday. We believe the most precious gift we can give one another is a brighter future. And we can all do that, simply by living and working a little greener. Here are 10 simple ways we can all be more environmentally friendly, during the holidays, and all year round.

1. Decorate with ENERGY STAR^® qualified LED light strings. They use up to 90% percent less energy than standard mini-lights and up to 99% less than the larger C-7 holiday lights.

2. Make your own wrapping paper. Most mainstream wrapping paper isn’t recyclable. If each home wrapped just three gifts with an old map, the newspaper or children’s artwork, we’d save enough paper to cover 45,000 football fields.

3. Gifting electronics this season? Donate or recycle old electronics responsibly. They contain mercury and other toxins we shouldn’t put into landfills. Some sites will even pay you to recycle old electronics. For example, www.gazelle.com.

4. Replace the five most used light bulbs in your home with ENERGY STAR^® qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs and save about $150 in energy costs.

5. Use a programmable thermostat. It automatically turns down the heat when you’re asleep or away, saving up to $100 a year in heating and cooling costs.

6. Computer shopping? Choose a laptop over a desktop computer—it uses up to 90% less energy.

7. Take the stairs, not the elevator. This exercise is good for you—and it saves energy.

8. Drink tap water. You’ll save the materials and energy resources it takes to bottle and transport water. Plus, you’ll keep another plastic bottle from ending up in a landfill.

9. Fight “phantom load.” Electronics like computers, DVD players, stereos and TVs draw power, even when turned off.  Plug them into a power strip and switch it off when they aren’t in use. This combats phantom load and cuts annual energy costs.

10. Fix just one leaky faucet. You’ll save one gallon of water each day, and nearly 350 gallons of water each year.

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In my last post, I wrote about sustainability and how it is being weaved into the moral fiber of business today. I also touched on the fact that companies may be addressing sustainability now if, for no other reason than to say they have a stance on the environment.

People close enough to the environmental movement within business know that’s not a very strong reason on its own. So for those who want to know more about the benefits of addressing sustainability, I thought I would ask someone who has been pioneering this area to explain it for us. Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface Inc., and author of the new book, “Confessions of a Radical Industrialist” shared his thoughts with me recently and now you too can learn from Ray why a business should invest in sustainability—NOW.

Our conversation touches on everything from the path to sustainability for Interface, Inc., to what inspired Ray’s taking of the company down a sustainability path. Finally, Ray talks about the benefits of sustainability, the fact any business can and should do it and the importance of communicating sustainability efforts to internal and external audiences.

It enjoyed the opportunity to talk with one of the world’s most influential environmental business leaders and get his perspective on sustainability. Turns out he has the same outlook as HY-brid. I hope you enjoy listening to my conversation with Ray as much I did having it. Whether it’s your first steps, or if you have already begun down the path, I hope this Podcast inspires you to look more in-depth at what you are doing to address your sustainability efforts. As always, HY-brid would like to help you communicate those efforts. So give us call or send us an email, it’s why we’re here.

For more information on Ray, I encourage you to go to www.rayanderson.com.

Subscribe to our Podcast via RSS or download the interview (m4a file for iTunes users) or download the interview (mp3 file for non-iTunes users)or listen below.

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There is a fine line between doing what you say you will do and just saying what you will do. A perfect example is the push today for sustainable business practices. Companies are looking for a clear path to sustainability if, for no other reason than to say they have a stance on the environment. Though not a good reason on its own for a company to invest the time and money in sustainability practices, it is at least a start. More on that in a bit.

Before I talk about what is going on today, let’s step back fifteen or twenty years, when a business addressed its impact on the environment very differently, if at all. In very general terms, there was little pressure from the government to conduct sustainable business practices. Supply chain pressure was non-existent and for the most part, environmental practices were being led by only the largest of corporations. And even then, it wasn’t as much about the betterment of the environment as it was about the bottom line.

Fast forward to today, where government is playing an increasing role globally and supply chains and stakeholders are asking for updates on how a company is addressing sustainability. Though bottom line still plays a very integral role in sustainability, it’s not just the bottom line anymore. Today, having a stance on the environment is a good start but it is just that—a start. The next step is implementing those environmental promises into everyday practice. A business that builds itself with sustainability in mind every step of the way is a truly sustainable company.

Which leads me all the way back to my original statement about how doing what you say and saying what you do differ greatly. In the 80’s and 90’s a lot of companies were saying what they would do but doing very little of what they said. That sentiment is changing in today’s business practices. I would like to think it has as much (or more) to do with sustainability being embedded in the moral fiber of business owners, stakeholders and shareholders, than with outside groups forcing its hand. However we got to where we are today, the business world has changed greatly and it’s exciting to be a part of it all.

In my next blog I will address why companies are looking for a clear path to sustainability.  For now, if you want to find out how you can assess your sustainability practices, or if you simply want to learn more about HY-brid, send us a message, we would like to hear from you.

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It’s not always about how you market your business. It’s just as important to look at why you should be marketing it. And the issue of marketing your sustainability platform is a great example. Every organization is facing new energy challenges as the world shifts toward a more eco-conscious means of doing business, and the questions about your stance on the environment are being heard from all stakeholder levels. The increased political and societal pressure to curb carbon emissions and produce a meaningful message is inevitable. At this point, it would be detrimental for a company not to have a message created for how it plans to address the environment.

But how is the stance a business takes on the environment marketable? Should it be marketable? That depends on how it is approached. Never has there been more pressure for companies of all sizes to address sustainability. But doing so can’t happen without first understanding the “green” aspects of the business. A shotgun approach could lead to unnecessary expenditures and ultimately a “greenwashing” tag.

In previous posts and in those to follow, we have and will address how a business must look at what it has done to reduce its environmental impact. There are a number of ways organizations can collect that data- an energy audit is just one example. Once that information has been gathered, HY-brid works to help understand what makes sense from a communications standpoint for each of the stakeholders. The EcoMap (as we call it) process builds a message map for businesses to tie their environmental message into the overall corporate mission.

Once this map has been assembled, the sustainability message can be written. It is also at this point a company can determine exactly how much it wants to market what it has done. From the mapping process, a company can also learn how far it has to go to get to a sustainability message it wants to disseminate.

For more information on the EcoMap process, the questions to ask before you take your message to market or, if you simply want to learn more about HY-brid, send us a message, we would like to hear from you

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Cap and trade, energy efficiency, LEED buildings and renewable energy for business. All terms your audiences or customers are hearing and becoming very familiar with. With all the buzz around “green,” how you address your position on the environment is increasingly important. Your sustainability platform must project your environmental message across all audiences, internal and external. One segment taking increasing notice of green is the stakeholder- a somewhat loose term that envelops those from among others, the dealer/retailer audience to the supply chain, to those who own stock in a company.

A key reason for putting your sustainability platform in front of stakeholders is to keep them informed of how the company is addressing the rising number of environmental issues facing businesses of all types. With such a wide audience range, what makes sense from a sustainability perspective to one must also be pertinent to each of the others. That’s not to say that what you are saying to each gets communicated the same. What I do mean is that your platform remains the same but the terms and messages need to be communicated in a way that the audience sees the “what’s in it for me” has been met.

For instance, you may have three green certifications that make your product or service more sellable. To the dealer/retailer the certifications make sense in helping how they package that product and where in their store it is positioned. It also gives them an opportunity to promote their business as eco-friendly. That’s what’s in it for them.

To a stockholder, the fact you have three green certifications means something very different. An immediate question might be– are those labels going to help the price of the stock rise? The answer is maybe, but at the end of the day, what matters to this audience is a more global approach to your sustainability platform. The fact you have one may be enough to make them want to invest in you. If stock prices rise, that investor does better. That’s what’s in it for them.

Clearly there are many within your stakeholder audiences that are looking to work with and purchase stock in organizations with a solid environmental platform. This is another subset of your audience set and it too needs a message that makes sense. We will address this in a follow up post.

All of these examples are addressed in what HY-brid calls an EcoMap^sm. If you’ve been following me you know I have blogged about it before. It’s our way of helping clients understand how to put their environmental platform together—what audiences they have, what messages make sense to each of those audiences and how the platform ladders up to the overall corporate mission.

Have stakeholders asking what you are doing to address the environment? Have an environmental message and just don’t know how to put all the pieces together? The EcoMap is one way HY-brid can help. Questions on what your next steps are in navigating this issue? Let us know, it’s why we’re here.

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I recently read an article in the USA Today, “Green Claims by Marketers Go Unchecked.”  The article stems from a June 9, 2009 hearing before the Subcommittee on Commerce (Trade and Consumer Protection of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce) discussing the lack of legislation for companies regarding green claims.  Not surprisingly, since 2000, the FTC has taken legal action against only three companies for violating the guidelines.  The FTC was not set up to monitor green claims.  Since the 1980’s companies have been using environmental messages, but at no time has the Commission been responsible for monitoring so much at one time.

M. Scot Case, Vice President, TerraChoice Group, Inc. and Executive Director, of the EcoLogo Program put it best in his summation:

U.S. consumers want to buy greener products, but they are confused by competing environmental claims, unsure when a claim is accurate, and increasingly skeptical of all environmental claims.  As a result, the recent focus on green jobs, green manufacturing processes, and a green economy could collapse because of inadequate, competing, and even contradictory definitions of green.

The current system is not working:

• Greenwashing is rampant.

• FTC is not equipped to define green.

• The United States lacks a single, unifying environmental label to make “buying green” easy for U.S. consumers.

As a green communications professional, I find this to be an unfortunate reality that has led to a great deal of consumer confusion and skepticism.  As HY-brid, we work with our clients to develop and deliver green messages that are transparent. 

To find out more about greenwashing and eco-labels visit http://www.hy-bridgreen.com/why-go-green/.

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Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel recently ran a story about HY-brid and how we addressed the issue of Greenwashing “head on.”  But what is greenwashing?  Here’s how we define it:

It’s a problem many customers are facing—from the consumer goods aisles at the big boxes to the purchasing agents for large industrial facilities—green messages are everywhere.  And it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.  It’s not news to those of us in the marketing arena, nor is it earth shattering to those of us tweeting, living and practicing green.  But unfortunately we do not the masses make.  So, how does HY-brid help consumers understand how to disseminate between companies that are truly environmental stewards from those who just have cool messages that make their products sound green?

An interesting issue and one we have walked a number of our clients through.  We first look at a business and ascertain what they have done and are doing to increase their opportunities to deliver real green messages.  Do they practice green in their manufacturing?  Has the organization embraced environmental practices as part of the company mission?  Are their products as environmentally friendly as they can be?  These are the simplest of the questions HY-brid asks, but you get the idea.  The answers we get help us determine if our clients have a holistic green message to deliver.  In some cases we counsel on what they could do to get an environmental position started. 

In the end, it’s a safe bet that not all green messages are true, and this is really just a snapshot of what HY-brid can do to help you help your customers understand where you land in the greenscape. 

We would like to help you get to your environmental place in the world.  Questions about how to develop a green message, or how not to greenwash?  Let us know — it’s why we’re here.  

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Recently I was having a conversation with a co-worker about how businesses need to take a hard look at their bottom line now more than ever. Mix in the fact that they’re feeling pressure both from customers and the federal government to define their stance on the environment, and you have a recipe for some corporate confusion. So how do company leaders better the bottom line while defining a green platform? I’ll get to my thoughts on that shortly.

As my co-worker and I talked we decided the position a business takes on the environment can be sorted into two “eco” buckets. The “eco”nomics of doing business and the “eco”system in which a business operates. Both loom large in all industries and both “ecos” are facing uphill battles that can be positively affected by what businesses do—if the right things are done.

So…back to what a business can do to address both the economy and the ecosystem. We counsel our clients that spending a little now can save a lot in the future. That’s easier said than done for some businesses these days but there are levels of investment a company can make—some merely an investment in time—turning off lights in empty rooms, ensuring industrial equipment is properly maintained for examples. Other things cost some money upfront but pay off in the long run. Either path you choose, you can get started here.

One thing we often discuss with the companies we help market is having an energy audit done on facilities. The result provides business owners practical ways to implement energy strategies. And like I mentioned, though investing in efficiency and renewable technologies may cost a little bit on the upfront there are federal and some state incentives to help offset costs. Eventually, these technologies pay for themselves—sometimes in as little as two years. That makes long-term economic and of course ecosystem sense. Keep in mind, these are basic starting blocks for addressing the two ecos, but you have to start somewhere.

Once you’ve made your way through an energy audit—and hopefully some of the recommended improvements—you’ll need to let your end customers know about the commitment you’ve made to the environment. HY-brid is designed to help you bring that message to all of your audiences and we’d like to be your partner. Questions on what to do next? Let us know; it’s why were here.

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Welcome to HY-brid, Hoffman York’s new division dedicated to helping our clients launch their environmental and sustainability messaging. As an agency, we have been working with clients in the energy efficiency and sustainability marketing realm for nearly 10 years, but the concept of HY-brid started (in name at least) a few years back as we were helping some of our customers understand a few things about what they were doing as it pertained to “green” efforts in their offices and facilities.

What came of the work we did with those clients is what this website is all about. 


HY-bridgreen.com is an open means of communication, an information exchange about what we are doing to help our customers figure out what they are doing that is green, what they could be doing and ultimately how to communicate that to all levels of their end customers. It is also a way for you to tell us what you are doing that is green, what you would like to do and ultimately, a way to figure out if we need to work together to help you communicate your green message to your end customers.

That’s what we’re here for really — to guide our clients through the state of green and how it affects their business. Speaking of the state of green, I recently attended the State of Green Business Conference in San Francisco (Feb. 2, 2009). I heard a lot about what companies are doing to be green, a lot too was discussed about the way businesses would be working hard in 2009 to better their environmental impact (carbon footprint). One glaring miss though, from all that was discussed, was how these businesses were going to share what they had been doing or planned to do with the end customer. How you communicate what you are doing to better the environment—global and local, both in product and in process is an essential part of any marketing communications effort. At this point, even in this economy, it has to be.

To find out more about HY-brid, navigate the space you are in right now. See how we can help you figure out what your state of green is. We hope to work with you soon, and we hope to see you back here often. Have a question or comment? I encourage you to let us know what you think.

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