Session 2: Measuring Your Social Footprint
Mark McElroy, Executive Director, Chief Sustainability Officer, The Center for Sustainable Innovation 

Every once in a while I feel like I’m back in school. This session was thick with black-on-white arial-font powerpoint slides, complex theories and TLA’s* (*Three Letter Acronyms), unfortunately scheduled during my usual afternoon digestive nap-time. Before long, however, the mostly-atrophied academic curiousity part of my brain woke up.

But because this session was so information-intensive, I won’t try to describe the entire thesis here. Rather, I’ll highlight the bits and pieces that resonated with me.

Mr. McElroy begins by introducing and describing measurement standards, differentiating between Principle-, Performance- and Process-based systems, and taking a strip off the Global Reporting Initiative for offering measurement without standards. He then underlines the importance of context in measuring ecological impact. (For example, Dupont reported that their water usage declined over three years. This cannot be described as more or less sustainable without knowing the context – ie, what the rate of water usage is in that area – increasing or decreasing)

All of this moves towards a measurement system for what is sustainable. Which is all about performance vs. standards of performance. Simply, you cannot measure sustainability performance without setting standards. Unfortunately, most of what passes for mainstream reporting these days is context-free.

In getting to the social performance measurement, Mr. McElroy began by describing ecological performance, in terms of Natural Capital – the valuable goods and services provided by the planet’s ecosystems (wetlands water purification services, forest carbon absorption services etc) Thus, the Ecological Footprint Method measures the impact of human activity on beneficial flows (or carrying capacity) of this Natural Capital.

Mr. McElroy then introduces the concept of Anthro Capital. This is a measurement of our human resource based on three pillars:
Human Capital (individual knowledge, skills)
Social Capital (Shared Knowledge and cooperative networks – people achieving common goals
Constructed Capital (The material world that humans produce)

A measurement of Ecological Sustainability can then be expressed as an equation:

S=A/N

S= Sustainability Performance
A= Net Actual impacts on the carrying capacities of Vital Capitals resulting from organizational operations (Impacts of what you are doing today)
N= Net Normative impacts on the carrying capacities of Vital Capitals resulting from organizational operations (How much impacts can be absorbed by the ecosphere)

So (and this is my example here) if you are cutting 1000 trees a year, and the forest can only grow 500 trees a year, then your sustainability performance score would be 1000/500, or 2.

Any score of 1 or lower is then sustainable.

Sustainability is not a property of products or companies, because it is only the activities of an organization that can be sustainable (or not) An inanimate object cannot be held accountable to a standard of performance.

You cannot say a glass is sustainable. You must consider the USE of the glass, or the PRODUCTION of the glass, and the disposal of the glass.

Likewise, carbon footprints (by themselves) are not measures of sustainability. There are no ‘denominators’ or standards of performance. Unless you measure them relative to some economic unit (Carbon Intensity) or relative to ecological threshold, (ability of the planet to absorb) or social threshold. (standards set by people) Simply reporting on trends or efficiency fails to respond to the underlying question.

“When there are competing points of view on standards, let them compete (what’s the alternative – no context?) If we’re waiting for certainty, or consensus… we’ll never make progress.”

It’s always good to remember that all the marketing hoopla we produce still has to impact our world and its people. Thanks, Mark. 

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

Monday June 2, Session 1:

Desirability & Sustainability: The opportunity for brand and design
Steve Bishop, IDEO – Design firm based in Palo Alto – 8 offices, 500 people www.ideo.com

Green Briefs readers who wanted to send me to this event: 27.3% (first place in category)

This session started off right away with a brainstorming exercise. Each table was given a product to try and make more ‘sustainable’. Right away, everyone at our table was interacting, and generating ideas for our little bottle of Jergen’s Skin Smoothing lotion. We came up with everything from a complete reformulation, to redesigning the packages to fit together better for shipping. Or, in the words of Paul Winter, a Senior Creative with Packaging for Mattel, “Ship less Chinese air.”

The session then moved to the IDEO process of addressing brands and sustainability. First of all, for them, Brand is NOT about logos, tag-lines or advertising. They look at, quite simply, the relationship between a company and a person.  They then moved to show some case studies.

For Shimano, they were tasked with re-introducing cycling to the ‘non-performance’ market. In order to give the client a feeling of the confusion these people face when entering a cycle shop, they sent the Shimano execs to buy face make-up in a high-end cosmetics store. Brilliant use of analogous, yet unfamiliar experience to make a point. The end result was ‘Cruising’, a brand approach to simplicity of design and community of ridership.

Nasal Irrigation as Definition of Sustainability.

Presenter Steve Bishop then did a personal LIVE demonstration of the Neti Pot, a small teapot-like device that you use to pour water into one nostril and let it drain out the other. Equal parts disgust and curiousity in the crowd. But this he used to demonstrate the progression of sustainability:
Personal Impact | Social Impact | Environmental Impact

On the personal level, the Neti Pot works for Steve. It keeps him from getting colds and it feeld good. Apparently. The social impact he measured in terms of a reduction in non-urgent emergency room visits for medication. Environmentally, less packaging and medications enter the ecosystem.

Waste snot-water disposal issues were not discussed.

‘Eat my voltage’ – Hybrid car bumper sticker
Steve also discussed the ‘Badge of values’ that products offer customers. You should not need to tell people why something is good. They should experience it.

They then compared hybrid cars and solar power.

In a hybrid car, you see the performance directly. In fact, there is a web site where hybrid owners compete to see who is getting the best mileage. This Steve described as initiating ‘Gaming Behaviour’ in driving sustainability. (I’m sure there’s a doctorate being written as we speak)

The basig theory is, if you need an educational session to communicate the value of your green product or service, that’s a DESIGN FAILURE. You have to make it a desirable experience. If an experience is desirable, there is no sacrifice.

Analyzing the customer and brainstorming
In this interesting group exercise, our table was given the task of learning about a customer through a series of home and lifestyle photographs. We named our person – Rosa – we answered all sorts of questions about her habits, her family situation, her likes and dislikes and her aspirations, based on the images, (Late 20’s, puppy-parent, Filipino, family-oriented, couch-potato, New York Times-reading writer-wannabe).

Then we were asked how to make our product more sustainable FOR HER, and help her meet her needs. The results, predictably, were more insightful, creative and robust.

Our sustainable ideas:
Re-formulate the product as solid ‘leaves’ of softener that would dissolve with rubbing.
Introduce a companion softener for her dog.
Design ‘finger-pots’ of softener for readers that also remove newspaper ink.

Overall, a good start to the show, if a bit up my alley (nothing new for me in brainstorming with sticky notes), and I thought Steve sold the IDEO process and case studies a bit hard.
Extra points for the nasal irrigation demo.

Best quote of their presentation: “Sustainability is a verb, not a noun.” Beto Lopez

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

Monday June 2

I cycled up to the Conference Centre at the Hyatt. As usual, no bike rack in sight. Once inside though, more sustainable thinking was definitely in evidence.

Hunter Sasser, one of the organizers, introduced me to the various green aspects of the show materials:
Shirts – Organic cotton by Edun Live
Bags – Reclaimed canvas by Eco Bags 
Lanyards made from recycled bottle caps
Name tag holders – Made from vegetable-based plastics
All printing done on recycled paper with soy-based inks
All signage (by ecobanner) is non-toxic (presumably meaning not vinyl) and after the show will be recycled into carpet

Not bad. Until I saw the table full of plastic bottles of Pepsi Cola products. Oh well. At least they were small bottles.

 One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

Thanks to everyone who answered the survey on what I should see and blog about from Sustainable Brands 08. Here are the winners. (Stay tuned to see if I actually listen!)

Monday June 2:
Morning: Desirability and Sustainability: the Opportunity for Brand and Design – 26.1%
Afternoon: Measuring Your Social Footprint – 13.1%

Tuesday June 3:
1:45 – 2:30 Conscious Consumers Are Changing the Rules of Marketing. Are You Ready? – 47.8%
2:35 – 3:20 Leveraging Social Networks to Build Brand and Drive Change – 59.1% 

3:25 – 4:10 De-Commoditizing Through Sustainability – 55% 

Wednesday June 4:
1:30 – 2:15 Making Sustainability Relevant – 60.9%
2:20 – 3:05 Targeting the Chameleon Consumer and What Do They Think Makes “Green” Products Green? – 58.3%
3:10 – 3:55 Current & Future Trends in Measuring Sustainability – 50%

Thursday June 5:
11:25 – 12:10 Innovations in Sustainable Packaging – 45.8%

And from the comments section, some of my favourites:

Follow the money or make the money follow you!

I HATE that people have been reduced to the word CONSUMER. It drives me absolutely crazy. Can you get this brain-trust to come up with a new, less-offensive word? We citizens do more than consume dammit (at least I hope we do).

What should my networking strategy be?
Booze.
Blinding charisma.
Do some and send me half. 

Chicken or Fish?
Wild Pacific Chicken 

For direct access to all the results, click here.

Thanks again!

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

Sunday June 1, 2008

6:00am – Mouth tastes like reclaimed greywater. Amtrak coffee changes this taste, but does not substantially improve it.

8:00 AM – Breakfast of high-fat French toast with high-corn-fructose syrup and nitrate-preservative-drenched sausage patties may help. I wolf this down as we rumble by the abandoned asbestos-laden rusting battleship hulks and refineries of Martinez on our way to Oakland. I love train travel for the more complete visual slice of life it offers when compared with the roadside views. 

10:30 – After a few hours of slow cruising through fertile farmland, we arrive on-time in Salinas. The town itself has a southwestern feel to it, and the small train station carries this motif rather nicely.

A small bus is waiting to take us to Monterey. (The Amtrak train/bus routine. connections have certainly been good) He ends up taking me right to my little Oceanside Inn Hotel, instead of the scheduled stop at the Hyatt.

The Oceanside Inn is like an old-school roadside motel but smaller. It’s beside a busy road, but the sound is not too bad inside. It is closer to the ocean than the Hyatt, soI walk into town along the beach. The air is quite crisp, especially with the brisk wind whipping up the chop. Somewhat cool and hungry, I arrive at the Fisherman’s Wharf, and ingest a bread-bowl full of clam chowder, which hits the spot brilliantly.

Cannery Row is like Monterey’s Gastown, historical roots of the city etc etc. Located in this neighbourhood is Bay Bike Rentals and they set me up with a Brodie hybrid bike. I now have my freedom back! I scope out the location of the Hyatt (about 3 bike-minutes away) and am now ready to overfill my brand brain.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

10:30 AM – migrate to the observation car. More glass, more views. Ranger Clint from the National Park Trails & Rails program  commentates on the natural and cultural sites as we chug past Puget Sound. This is a nice touch – a rolling play-by-play to the widescreen panorama. A bald eagle lifts off and paces the train for a few moments, Shutters click. People oooh and aahh. Ranger Clint has scored. This is an Amtrak Marketing Moment.

I make a reservation for the 11:45 lunch seating, and soon realize my goal to subsist sustainably is doomed early. The special is hot turkey sandwich with gravy & a biscuit. I don’t even bother to introduce the question of free-range or organically-fed as I open a plastic pack of ‘Ranch Lite’ dressing for my salad.

Most people I talk to are enthused about the space, the pace and the style of train travel vs the airline experience, anyhow. (As my lunch-table-mate Sheri said, “When I flew, I took pictures out the window all the time … now when I do that, I can actually tell what they’re pictures of.”) But few bring up the concept of low-carbon travel. When I mention it, people are aware of the issue, but American Idol seems to be more top-of-mind.

2:10 PM Smoke stop at Portland. I get out to investigate the station. Now THIS is a place that makes you feel like traveling by rail. Gleaming polished marble, original bent-neon signage and a huge clock. Amtrak could do a lot worse than to refurbish all of their stations to this level.  It would certainly start the customer experience off right.

4:15 PM – Another cheery conductor toddles by hawking invitations to a wine tasting in the ‘Parlour Car’.  Five bucks gets 4 tasters, cheese and crackers. I follow him into a retro restaurant  car with small hopes of an organic grape choice. It was not to be, but I did engage in some good sustainable dialogue with a gentleman from the California Environmental Protection Administration. As we swirled our Columbia Valley vintages (local wines, at least!) we debate the finer points of grassroots social change at the community level vs sustainable change by dictatorial decree. 

5:45 PM ­– Dinner Reservation: The options are salmon or steak. Both from the farm. I order the cow. 

7:46 PM – I totter back to the lounge car with the rest of my half-bottle of non-organic cabernet. Here I meet Greg Lovely, (brief NFL starter with the Buffalo Bills and Arena Football star on his way to join the ‘TriCity Fever’ on a trade) and Darrel, a part-time Alaska fisherman and full-time story-topper. The subject wanders from retreating glaciers to advancing offensive tackles. We switch to free-range cocktails from Darrel’s vodka stash and the last vestiges of Pure Sustainable Sustenance are forced out through my pores.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

4:45 AM – Even the birds are rolling over for another hour of sleep. The taxi shows up to take me to the Main Street Station for my 5:30 bus to Seattle, and as though by design, it’s a Prius hybrid. Vancouver’s Terminal Station looks proud in the rising eastern glow of a cloudless travel day. The Sustainable Road Trip is officially underway.

We’re in Seattle by 9am. After checking in, I venture forth seeking sustainable caffeination. Two blocks from the station, Zeitgeist Coffee provides organic espresso, a Ryan’s All Natural Non-filtered Cider and a non-organic banana in a funky heritage warehouse  atmosphere. Thus far, the purity of my sustainable biomass is relatively untarnished.

9:30 AM – I board the Coast Starlight Express at King Street Station. The building was originally constructed in 1906, and is being restored, but it’s not there yet. The imperturbable superiority of the conductors and staff, however, remains untarnished.

Nestling into car 1112, seat 49, the first thing that strikes me is the legroom. With my back in the seat I can’t even reach the chair back in front of me. As I marvel at this, our Train Car Attendant comes by to hand out pillows. Touché.

So far, the score is Amtrak 2, Airlines Zero. And I certainly don’t miss having to take my shoes off in supplication to some surly Hun at security.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

So what would YOU choose to go see at Sustainable Brands 08?

The issues are broad and diverse: Sustainable design, the social footprint, retaining talent, green building, de-commoditizing, re-branding, sustainable packaging, green wine, greenwash… how to decide?

What the heck, unlike most North American Governments, I’m willing to try democracy.

I elect YOU, my fearless blog reader(s?) as my advisory panel. I have created a simple on-line survey which will let you tell me which sessions you would like to see me cover. It should take no more than 2 minutes. Click here to take it.

It’s a win-win. I get help making decisions (which I will need after the 30-hour train ride), you get a shot at blog content that might even be relevant.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

I began my pre-trip journey on the Carbon Footprint calculator, adding up the emissions for my various travel options from Vancouver BC to Monterey CA.

Distance: 2,810 km
CO2 emissions if traveling by air: .67 tonnes
CO2 emissions if traveling by car (@ 9L/100km): .586 tonnes
CO2 emissions if traveling by rail: .169 tonnes (about the weight of my carry-on)

This made the choice pretty straightforward from a purely environmental standpoint. I then compared the cost  of air with rail:

Air: $284.05 Return
Travel time: 7hrs 38 Minutes (each way)
Additional costs – Taxes: $81.66
Total: $365.71
 

Rail: $208. Return
Travel time: 30 hours (each way!)
Additional costs – Food, magazines and enough bar car booze to anesthetize me sufficiently to sleep in a train seat: $150
Total: $358

So, costs being somewhat equal, I looked for the Amtrak customer communications that were going to make me feel eco-righteous enough to make up for sleeping in my clothes like a hobo.  I had to dig surprisingly deep on their web site just to find this bit:

“The environment is a precious resource that we should all do our best to protect and rail travel is at the head of the class when it comes to eco-friendly travel. Trains consume less energy and produce less harmful pollutants than either car or air travel. Hopping on an Amtrak train will save you gas and daily wear and tear on your car. It also reduces the ever-increasing traffic congestion on the roads and in the skies.”

Wow. So what about their advertising?

Here’ s link to a 2007 Amtrak ad. Not a peep about CO2. Likewise in this Amtrak campaign from DDB Seattle, featuring a talking car and a strange little fairy godmother-thing that stirs your coffee and holds the curtains back. Creepy, but not green.

Last, but not least, when I received my Amtrak tickets, the sleeve was wall-to-wall paid advertising, featuring such eco-inspirations as the Teletubbies. Even creepier.

Ground Transportation

I tried my hardest to rent a hybrid car. Really, I did. There is one company that rents them, FOX Rent-a-car, but they only have locations at airports. For those guilty plane travelers, I guess. So I decided to rent a bike. It’s my main mode of travel around Vancouver, so why not Monterey?

The Bay Bikes Rental web site looks well-equipped and convenient. And they’re open on Sunday when I arrive. They also rent this cool ‘Surrey’ pedal-mobile that would look pretty swank pulling up to the valet parking at the Hyatt!

Green Hotel?

Once again, there was little or no eco-marketing on the accommodations side of things. The Sustainable Brands 08 web site gushes about the sustainable initiatives of their host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Monterey. But even at the discounted rate of $205 a night, my Scottish Wallet Sustainability Gene forced me to seek an alternative that would use less of my personal green.

I found it in the Monterey Oceanside Inn. I’m sure the tightly-cropped snapshots don’t do it justice. But after 30 hours on a train, it’s going to be heaven.

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.

“Join a staggering faculty of over 70 design, sustainability and brand leaders, along with peers from around the country, with the beautiful Northern California Coastline as a backdrop and explore how you can stay on the cutting edge of sustainable business and translate brand innovation into revenue growth and brand value.” (from the Sustainable Brands 08 website)

How could I resist?

I first heard of this conference (now in its second year) from Jacqueline Ottman, a consultant and author I met in New York in January of 2007. I was immediately impressed by her depth of knowledge in what was, at that time, an emerging field for most marketers. I was unable to attend Sustainable Brands 07 in New Orleans, but heard through all reports that it was an amazing experience for anyone who shares an interest in green marketing.

So now I’m off to Monterey.

But the question is, how to get there? I wouldn’t feel right flying… all that carbon. It’s too far to unicycle, (for someone of my abilities and testicular fortitude, anyhow)

Is that the romance of the rails I hear calling?

More on my travel booking adventures in the next post…

One in a series of articles on Lorne’s Sustainable Journey to the Sustainable Brands 08 Conference in Monterey CA. Click here for the full list of sessions, or here for the ‘Fear & Loathing’ road trip journals.