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Here’s an idea: Let’s all wear green clothes. Every day. Let’s drive green cars. And live in green houses. I mean green like Kermit. Ridiculous, right? It’s easy to imagine the response in the boardroom at the receiving end of this pitch.

Is it any wonder why a marketing appeal for behavior change to more sustainable choices in things like clothes, cars and household products is falling flat? By asking people to choose “green,” we are limiting our reach and isolating environmentalism from other social issues. We may not require people to literally put it on, but we’re asking them to adopt it. And that’s just as tough.

Lots of smart people have tried to work around this. Adam Werbach of Saatchi and Saatchi, one of the first to suggest that “green is dead,” proposed that environmentalism should be rebranded “blue.” It was a novel idea. But run the scenario above with the new color and you get the same outcome. Plus, say “I am blue” or “I blue the office” out loud and you’ll see why this won’t work.

As “Great Transition” thinker Paul Raskin articulates, “For social change (to occur) it takes a popular movement to convert grievance and longing into practical action of sufficient effectiveness and tenacity to overcome the inertia of culture and the resistance of entrenched interests.”

Recently, a researcher at Vermont Law, Marianne Tyrrell, reflected on this and wrote, “For this movement to occur, three components are necessary: 1) engaged dialogues; 2) a shared vision that arises from these dialogues; and 3) new forms of leadership to catalyze, support and maintain this transformation.”

Further, “as people increasingly view themselves as having shared goals and aspirations, both human solidarity and the potential for cultural transformation increase.”

Clearly, “green” is not a sustainable platform for this shared vision. Just ask anyone in a car dealership weighing the ROI of buying a hybrid while cheaper “fuel efficient” options are right there. Or try to sell air sealing and insulation upgrades to a family on social assistance or welfare. We “green marketers” are failing because we are trying to promote products and services with language that’s associated with a marginalized movement, and in ways that don’t connect with what people really care about –- the stuff that keeps them awake at night.

Recently, the term “sustainability” has been deployed in an attempt to strengthen and broaden the green fabric by weaving in social and economic justice and things like meeting the aspirations of first nations peoples. But, really, ask three smart people at a conference or think-tank gathering to define sustainability, and you’ll get three different answers. And don’t bother asking the people beyond those gilded walls.

To foster engaged dialogue, a shared vision, and new leadership, “green marketing” has to change. Instead of promoting specific, siloed choices, or a lifestyle that is precariously perched on a color, perhaps we should be marketing the evolution of common capacity-building tools that local groups of all types could use to stimulate and share these “dialogues.”

By using our collective marketing might to facilitate sharing, solidarity and dialogue among very different groups, we could enable existing advocates and local NGOs to be more effective at what they do (in environment, elder care, health, education, etc.) and thereby enable them to work better together.

Maybe then, and only then, the shape and color of the new transformational movement will arise organically. And it will be something that’s easy to be.

 

Pot hole. Is it two words or one? Some might say it’s a four letter word, actually. Every spring as the frost comes out of the ground and the streets heave and sigh, drivers are greeted by the rite of passage that is gaping holes and shredded tires. That poor soul pulled over with the four-way flashers on, chatting on the phone is calling a tow truck, not his mom. If you’re going to gesture to them, please make it a friendly wave. Because it could have been you.

There is a simple action you can take to minimize the chance that you will lose a tire or cause an accident because of an encounter with busted-up asphalt: Keep your tires properly inflated. An under inflated tire is an easy snack for a hungry pot hole. And proper inflation will also save you up to $60 a year on gas. Put a digital tire gauge on your key chain and drive safely. Simple actions matter.

Here’s a catchy jingle from our 2010 fuel efficiency campaign with Canadian Tire — which is a great place to get a tire gauge or, replacement tires

You can also watch this video on YouTube.

California Governor Jerry Brown recently declared a water emergency in the state. Reservoirs are at their lowest levels in a generation and this at the time of year that is usually the wettest.

Among other measures, the Governor called for a 20% voluntary reduction in residential water consumption. A statewide marketing program, Save Our Water, is in place with a wide range of information and actions that people can take. Californians are aware of the problem. It’s top of mind everywhere. But will they act?

There are so many things people can do to cut their water use — from changes in behavior on lawn watering to checking meters to taking shorter showers – but how do you get people started? At a time when people of all backgrounds have to be mobilized to act, what is needed is a simple first action that becomes the focal point for engagement on all water conservation messages.

The place to start is with something that is in every house, apartment, school, church or business. The toilet. Consider this:

• The EPA says approximately 20% of toilets leak. Every day. All day.
• That’s up to 275 million gallons of drinking water wasted silently every day across the state – or the equivalent of 10,000 backyard pools of water drained every day in California. That’s a lot of unhappy kids, and a terrible waste of resources at a time of crisis.

Toilet leaks can be detected by dropping a tiny vegetable dye tablet in the tank. If the water in the bowl changes color in a few minutes, there’s a leak. And most leaks are easily repaired by replacing the flapper in the tank – a cheap part that is easy to find, and easy to replace. (See This Blue Dot for more info on detecting and fixing leaks)

Toilets? You’re telling me to focus on toilets as a response to the water crisis? Well, yes and no.

The fact is, the biggest barrier to broad water conservation at the residential level is disengagement. People may know they need to act, but they don’t know how to start, or they think that anything they could do on their own would not make a difference anyway. So giving them something simple to do overcomes this barrier, especially if they see their friends doing it too. And people are disgusted by waste that brings them no value. Water running silently down the drain through a toilet is pure waste.  When they find out about it, they act.

The coolest thing of all is that when people check for leaks and stop them, they instantly become engaged and empowered and ready to do more. Because this kind of action requires little effort and almost no cost, its effect is not only to save water, but to change people. Someone who fixes a toilet for the first time will be much more open to seeing their lawn differently, and will water it less.

So building consensus and action on water conservation can start with a simple and affordable call to action: Check your toilet for a leak. Saving 10,000 backyard pools of water per day will not solve the water crisis, but it’s a start.

We’re not really talking about toilets here. We’re talking about engagement and change and action.

The current water crisis in California is placing increased emphasis on what everyone can do  to conserve.

While we should always be conscious of water usage, March is THE month to think about the importance of our water resources and what you can do to conserve at home.

See the links below for great info on water and suggestions on how you can be a water-saver all year round.

 

- The EPA Watersense Fix a Leak Week (March 17-23)

- California-based Save our Water program encourages residents to Get Real About Water!

- Canada Water Week (March 17-23)

- World Water Day (March 22)

“What’s great about One Change is that they convert awareness to action.”

For decades, actor, director and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. has been a leading voice calling for action on the environment. He gets it when we say that making it possible for everyone to take simple first steps is the gateway to broad and sustained action.

Click here to download this 45 second clip (.mov file, requires Quicktime).

One Change programs are among the most cost-effective utility programs in North America aimed at achieving energy savings. But don’t take our word for it! The evidence comes from a new paper published by The American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE).  The “Field Guide to Utility-run Behavior Programs,” published in December 2013 examines numerous approaches to achieving energy savings and offers some best-practice recommendations.  http://www.aceee.org/research-report/b132

Generating improved ROI for energy efficiency programs in the shifting investment climate requires a lot of method combined with a little magic. A data-driven but compelling community approach that focuses on a well-planned series of conversations/interactions with customers can create verifiable, immediate savings and can amplify participation in other programs.

Read our paper, which was presented at AESP in Orlando (January 29, 2013):

“Targeted DSM Community-Based Social Marketing: Method and Magic”

Vuntut Gwitch’in Chief Norma Kassi leaned across the table in Old Crow and looked me straight in the eye. “We are seeing extreme climate change here. Our land is burning. Our rivers are rising. And the caribou didn’t come this year.”

I had prefaced the meeting with the First Nation leader and four other council members in the high Arctic Yukon community by saying that at One Change we always try to accommodate the primary concerns of the people in communities we engage, and adapt our language accordingly. I’d listed “saving money,” “cutting energy use,” and “environment” as examples. In that order.

In an instant, I was reminded why I’d started One Change five years ago. What Chief Kassi was firmly but politely saying was, “It’s about the planet, stupid.”

Old Crow is a fly-in community of 400 on the Porcupine River, a two-hour flight north of Whitehorse, Yukon. It is the oldest consistently-inhabited community in North America, first established over 10,000 years ago when there was a land bridge across the Bering Strait.

For generations, the Vuntut Gwitch’in people have relied upon predictable patterns of weather and migration to sustain themselves and their resilient culture. It’s only in the last 60 years that electricity has been part of the community. “We kids used to jump up and flick the switch on and off when the teacher left the room,” said Gladys Netro, Executive Director of the community. “The electric light was so exciting!” I noticed a while later in the community store that basic CFL bulbs cost $26 each.

Now a bank of diesel generators out by the landing strip keep the lights on. Diesel has to be flown in to keep a town full of incandescent bulbs burning (the only bulbs people can afford). There’s a great deal of concern about pollution from diesel, but also a strong undercurrent of resentment about the lack of self sufficiency that comes with relying on this technology. And efficiency comes at a premium. Because all construction materials have to be flown in, a small three-room house can cost $250,000. Chief Kassi says the number one thing that could benefit the community is better insulation.

“We used to go to the woods to get logs to build our homes, and make clay putty to fill in the cracks. We used to stuff moss between the poles … and we were quite comfortable,” she added.

“What we need now is action and one-to-one education, particularly with the younger generation. We need to go into people’s homes and show them how to improve them. Our number one priority is to take care of the environment — to keep the land where the caribou walk and the water the fish swim in clean. Everything ties together in a circle. If there’s a community that can adapt to climate change and show others how to be self sufficient, it’s Old Crow.”

Stuart Hickox is in Yukon with other One Change staff as part of an energy efficiency listening tour sponsored by Yukon Energy and Yukon Electrical Company Limited. Findings from meetings with community leaders and people at community events will inform the development of a Yukon-wide energy conservation plan.

Sharing your simple action by writing on our Facebook wall is an easy way to help others save money and protect the environment. ‘Like’ us on Facebook today!

When most people think about participating in Earth Day, images of tree planting and garbage clean-ups may come to mind. But some of the biggest things you can do for the environment can be done without even leaving your home and spring is the perfect season to take action to help save yourself some money and protect the environment.

A good place to start is by getting out there and checking your house. Look for small cracks or other holes that may have formed over the winter. These can be very costly if not taken care of right away and make heating and cooling your home far less efficient. Effectively sealing up and insulating your home will save you upwards of 30 percent on annual utility bills.

Why not consider getting a rain barrel to celebrate Earth Day? By directing your gutters to a rain barrel and use the collected water to water your plants, lawn or garden, you will not only be conserving a valuable resource, but also saving money on your water bill. It’s better for your plants too…they don’t like the cold water that comes out of your garden hose.

Spring is also a good time of year to get your air conditioner ready for the hot months ahead. Call in a professional to get your ducts and AC equipment cleaned. Regular maintenance will help your air conditioner work more efficiently and is also important for the air quality in your home. Got an old AC? Consider replacing it with an ENERGY STAR® certified air conditioner. Today’s AC’s use 30-50% less electricity than 15-year-old models.