There is a serious lack of trust among consumers these days. Citizens of every country are eying large national and multi-national corporations with a narrowed, suspicious gaze. Questions are being asked. Answers demanded. With taxpayers around the world bailing out stupendous failures in the financial, housing, and insurance sectors, there is more than a lack of consumer confidence affecting the market. Frankly, we’re over it. We just don’t trust big business anymore. This is actually nothing new. But the uniform opinion of distrust, leveraged by the social media tools of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning sites, and blogging seems to have brought us to a tipping point.
Green job boards are popping up all over the internet. I review them regularly and my assessment is this: the chances that you will land a job in sustainability because of something you see on a job board are slim. Very slim. Consider that in more flush times, Americans have a much higher chance to find a job through networking than responding to an ad. Statistics vary, but I have seen anywhere from 60% – 80% quoted as the percentage of jobs found through networking. Now consider that these are difficult times for the American job market and companies are having a hard enough time finding the resources to add jobs to their payroll that we all know and understand, let alone something “new” like sustainability director. In a nutshell, there is not much on these job boards in either quantity or quality to give a job seeker hope.
So you wrote a CR report! Big deal! What next? Make it BUZZ. The thing about writing CSR reports is that they take a helluvalotta energy. The reporting process takes months, involves many internal and external stakeholders, and creates a reporting frenzy in the organization which bypasses none but the most unengaged employees. In theory, that is. Sometimes reporting is an intensive process for a just small group of individuals in the organization. Whatever the format, it’s intense. There’s a build-up. A deadline. Many hurdles to defuse. (is that as mixed metaphore?) Then. It happens. You send the report to print (or upload it to your fancy new html flash mini-site for viewing by the general public) and that’s it. B-I-G sigh of relief. Mop your brow. Stare into space and feel the release. Off to the bar for a celebratory drink. Sit back and wait for the compliments to start flowing in. I suspect this is how it happens in most organizations.
Last week, Sierra Magazine named the nation’s top 20 “coolest” schools for their efforts to stop global warming and operate sustainably. The magazine’s September/October cover story spotlights the schools that they believe are making a true impact for the planet, and marks Sierra’s third annual listing of America’s greenest universities and colleges. The […]
As part of its Earth Month outreach efforts, EPA today launched “Pick 5 for the Environment,” encouraging the public to commit to taking at least five actions to protect the environment. Pick 5 helps people identify ways they can protect their environment and makes use of social media sites to allow them to share their tips and stories. Since April 1, EPA has issued daily green tips via podcasts and email subscription. EPA is asking the public to pick 5 of the 10 actions listed below and then to share their own thoughts by using a variety of social media sites.
