Initiative
John Firedman

More than just words ... its about action and intentions

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

More Than Just Words

We judge others by their actions, but ourselves by our intentions. That’s why making sure your actions match your values is the first step toward ‘sound living.’ But it can be hard to put into practice. Sometimes you have to ask yourself “Can I afford to do so?” even if that means sometimes doing without something, or delaying gratification. It also means becoming informed about where products come from, what they contain, who made them (and under what conditions) all of which may be hard to determine.

Remember that every purchase you make is a vote for the kind of world you want.

Not everyone has a radio station or blog column, but by living our values we serve as an example to those around us, just as parents prepare properly nutritious meals for their children demonstrates and teaches good habits. People expect – and have a right to expect – that those of us who talk about living a sustainable, green or ‘sound’ life live our lives accordingly.

The new focus on a “sustainable” economy is creating new products or services that help people to reduce their environmental impact and live their values by offering information back to point, country, or company of origin and attributes like fair trade, working conditions and workers’ rights.

Increasingly companies are increasingly going to be asked (required) to measure and report on their footprints in these areas, as well.

Beyond the niche consumer segment that will always seek out and is willing to pay more for goods and services that match their values, the vast majority of consumers must be encouraged to action through more traditional value drivers for those particular goods or services.

For example, the ultimate success of electric vehicles will depend on other attributes as much as their reduced environmental impacts. By offering aesthetic appeal, performance, safety, reliability, and the waiver that allows such vehicles to use the express lanes in some jurisdictions, those vehicles will have mass appeal, because they will engage the value drivers for a much wider range of automotive purchasers.

Programs such as charging and refunding deposits on glass and plastic bottles and aluminum cans to provide direct financial incentives for desired behaviors can be successful, but they often have limited impact when convenience and comfort needs are not met.

When Home Depot creates a mechanism for people to bring back used compact fluorescent light bulbs (to prevent them from going into landfills), it is an attempt to influence consumer behavior. But asking people to remove the burned-out bulbs, store them, and then remember to take them on their next trip to the store is less convenient than simply throwing them out in the regular trash collection (as bad as that is for the environment).

Likewise reusable shopping bags are often left in shoppers homes or cars. Signs in the parking lot that remind people before they leave their cars to go into the store “Did you remember you reusable bag?” would go a long way to helping people to bring the bags into the store before the habit becomes engrained.

Manufacturers of computers, cell phones, and a host of electronic devices offer power- (and energy-) saving tips for consumers, but more than 90 percent of the electricity used today for computers in offices is the individual desktop stations that are left on at night and monitors that are left on when laptops are disconnected.

In homes, chargers that spend day after day in the outlet are drawing power even when the portable device is not attached. And your new TV set? It is drawing current even when it is “off” diligently keeping track of the date and time and which channels to remember.

Your parents were right – the best way to save (and have more for when you need it) is to turn things off when you’re not using them; the water, electrical devices and through the use of a programmable thermostat. Don’t think of the later as turning things down or off when you leave, think of it as turning things on for when you get home. And you’ll be saving money as well as the environment – and that’s Sound Living.

John Friedman is an award-winning communications professional and recognized sustainability expert with more than 20 years of experience as both an external and internal sustainability leader, helping companies, ranging from small companies to leading global enterprises, turn their values into successful business models by integrating their environmental, social, and economic aspirations into their cultures and business practices.

On social media, Friedman is recognized as a thought leader. In 2013 he was #2 on Triple Pundit’s List of the Top 30 Sustainability Bloggers on Twitter, #14 on Guardian Business’ 30 most influential sustainability voices in America and is consistently included as one of the leading voices in CSR by Forbes’ Brandfog. His insights on sustainability issues and strategy have been a regular feature on Huffington Post, Sustainable Brands, Ecopreneurist, and Forbes.com.

An Albany State (New York) communications graduate, Friedman earned a management certificate from as part of the Lafarge/Duke Management Training program at the Fuqua School of Business in 2000.

Friedman is a co-founder and served in a leadership capacity on the board, executive committee and as board chair for the Sustainable Business Network of Washington (SBNOW) from 2003 until 2012. Friedman also heads corporate citizenship communications worldwide for Sodexo.

Organizational affiliations are for transparency purposes only; the opinions expressed are the author’s personal opinions and do not reflect those of any organization.

John can be reached at jtfkrf@aol.com, is @JohnFriedman on Twitter and can be connected on LinkedIn and Facebook.