Each year, King County recognizes organizations that have made recycling and waste reduction a priority, so we’re honored to make the “Best Workplace for Recycling and Waste Reduction” list once again this year.
Instead of us telling you how, here’s an excerpt from the webpage listing this year’s recipients:
Outsource Marketing is a fourth-year Best Workplace that is building on past recycling and waste reduction efforts. In 2009, Outsource Marketing rebranded their business to better reflect its responsible approach to business and marketing. Most messaging is done electronically at Outsource. Instead of printing letterhead, notecards and envelopes that might go to waste, the new brand made it possible for it to print small, customized quantities in-house as needed. Old letterhead stationery was turned into notepads. A series of videos were also created to focus on recycling in the workplace.
Outsource Marketing’s printed collateral system consisting of a folder, mini-brochure and multiple insert sheets and cards was replaced by a customizable brochure that is printed and bound in-house using plain string. It has also been formatted so it looks great when delivered digitally. Outsource Marketing has increased its use of collaborative online tools, video conferencing, instant messaging and other technologies to increase waste-free communications. Each staff member has signed a “green pact,” promising to reduce, reuse and recycle where possible. In addition, Outsource Marketing continues to implement responsible, green marketing efforts for its clients.
Advice to others: “A project without a leader won’t get done. Appoint a ’green czar’ to lead initiatives and provide support to develop an empowered group. Take a look at marketing materials with an eye toward waste reduction. “
Would you like your organization to be a bit greener? Contact us and we’ll be happy to share a few tips with you.
The live streaming video of the oil spill turns my stomach, so I’ve been struggling with this question for weeks: “Can Responsible Marketing help restore BP?”
My gut says “never!” but my brain says “maybe.”
The fact is, trust requires both competence and character—two things BP lacks.
I know it’s early to ask, but if BP did the following things:
Successfully stopped the oil spill
Adequately cleaned up their mess
Proved they made their other rigs safe; and
Reinvested a large percentage of their profits into other renewable energy options
…would you be willing to give them a second chance?
I boycotted Exxon after the Valdez spill, so I’m on the fence on this one, folks. I’d have to see something pretty special from BP to get me to reconsider them.
Normally, I’d say this is Responsible Marketing: Use paid search to share the positive and combat the negative. Bully for BP.
But where’s the competence? Where’s the character? I see neither and BP has lost my trust.
They’ve stumbled so badly, so often and on so many fronts this feels like a desperate ploy to manipulate public opinion. Actions speak louder than words and I’m no longer listening.
In fact, I’ve boycotted BP.
So what do you think? Does this feel like smart marketing or slimy spin?
And what will it take for BP to regain your trust?
Research has shown that for knowledge workers, using money as an incentive actually hurts performance. You read that right. If you want your team to really shine, give them a purpose:
We’ve been talking about the marketing benefits of adding purpose to an organization since the beginning here. The research findings illustrated in Daniel Pink’s new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us add another dimension to the argument:
If you want to fire up your employees, give them some personal freedom–and give them a purpose.
Know a company that’s managing and/or marketing with meaning? Share it here.
Anyone interested in the Apple iPad has no doubt been to the Apple homepage lately and discovered this nice surprise bottom-center:
That’s right. At a time when Apple could be cross-selling any number of their new offerings, they are using one of the four sandboxes on their homepage to share their supplier responsibility practices. You know, the info that’s typically buried in the “about us” section of a company website—if it exists at all.
Strategic posturing? Maybe.
But consider the timing: Apple is on the cusp of their biggest product launch since the iPhone.
And consider the real estate: Whatever the company puts on their homepage sells.
Apple realizes at a time when their fortunes are good and the stock price is up, maybe putting social responsibility up front just might the most responsible thing they can do.
We believe small things can have a big difference. That’s why printing on used paper and offering our guests a ‘glass’ of water, not a bottle, are all part of Outsource Marketing’s Green Pact.
This year Outsource Marketing is pleased to once again receive the award for Best Workplaces for Recycling and Waste Reduction 2009 from the King County. This is our third consecutive year receiving the award since the program’s inception in 2007.
This small award is already making a big difference in workplace recycling programs. In 2009 the number of award recipients increased 30% with 65 businesses receiving the honor. Rather than be one of the select few, we hope to be one of the select many.
Visit KCSWD to find out how your workplace can get involved in its own commercial recycling program.
Join us as we unveil our new look and see what it means for us, our clients and ultimately, our world.
Pam Mauk, Executive Director of Family Resource Center will share some of the important work they’re doing to support 18 charities that provide essential human services on the Eastside.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Doors open at 4pm; presentation begins at 5:30pm
Like a lot of people, I’ve had my doubts about Walmart’s sincerity when they’ve talked about sustainability. No matter their green claims, I can’t get past the fact they sell more cheap stuff from China than anyone.
Do you care if a pair of jeans you were about to buy was made with sweatshop labor?
What if you looked really good in them—would you care then?
Are you sure?
In Sweatshop Labor is Wrong Unless the Jeans are Cute, Neeru Paharia and Rohit Deshpandé of Harvard Business School share the results of two studies that have revealed that consumers “are motivated to use moral disengagement strategies to reduce dissonance when their desire for a product conflicts with their moral standards.”
Put simply, the more you want something, the more you are apt to mentally justify your actions with statements such as “The use of sweatshop labor is okay because companies must remain competitive,” and “Sweatshops are the only realistic source of income for workers in poorer countries.”
We rationalize war, but now it’s clear our moral judgments are affected in the purchasing decisions we make every day.
To this, the authors warn—
While on the face of it, such actions are less atrocious than the horrors of war, they may perhaps be even more dangerous due to their subtle and insidious nature – by some estimates there are hundreds of thousands of sweatshops still operating today.
While there’s debate about the role of sweatshops in a global economy, most would agree that conditions in many are deplorable.
So who’s most responsible for the survival of sweatshops?
Consumers for continuing to purchase the products?
Marketers that position, package and merchandise the products?
