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In my new Emerging Trends article about sustainability communications, I make the case that “well-run organizations should be able to walk and talk – and clear hurdles – at the same time.”
Do you agree that you can walk the walk and talk the talk of sustainability at the same time, and that they can feed off of each other successfully?
Or is greenblushing – which I define as walking the walk but being too unsure and shy to talk the talk – too much to overcome? Are fears about greenwashing getting in the way of good communications and audience engagement?
Last week’s joint sustainability seminar, presented by Dix & Eaton and Summit Energy Services, Inc., focused on walking the walk and talking the talk. Appropriately, we covered the walk first, led by John Hoekstra, manager of sustainability for Summit Energy.
His recommendations were strategic, straight-forward and actionable:
- Develop a strategy that considers stakeholder concerns, current programs and competitive landscape
- Measure baselines and progress in areas of greatest impact: energy usage, water usage, carbon footprint and waste
- Reduce operational waste through energy efficiency, waste reduction and water efficiency
- Consider cleaner alternatives for raw materials, energy, etc.
- Engage employees and executives to support the efforts internally and become ambassadors externally
My job was to cover the talk. Check back later in the week for my four main recommendations, or follow the conversation as it happened by searching for #wwtt on Twitter.
