Entries in Sustainability (2)

Sunday
01Mar2009

How green firms can calculate the benefits of Sustainability using PaperCalculator.org

How can a marketing department get a rough number on the reduced carbon footprint they offer to their customers?

The Environmental Defense Fund’s www.papercalculator.org  is a great tool for marketers looking to provide some dimension and context for their environmental message.

Here’s an example of how to use it based on our experience with an industrial recycler of paper tubes, Paper Tube & Core, Inc. in Paterson, NJ. The question:

The question: How much energy is saved when customers turn to Paper Tube & Core, Inc.?

  • We asked the client to calculate how many pounds of paper came to them for reprocessing each year. We were advised that every year, they recover and reprocess 7,800 tons of cores (this was admittedly a rough calculation based on the estimation that each truckload weighs on average 1,500 lbs)
  • We took that number and subtracted the weight of material that was disposed.(Thanks to the company’s rigorous three step quality process 20% of those materials are removed for recycling and remanufacturing by third parties. As a result, Paper Tube & Core successfully re-uses or recycles approximately 95% of all material they secure, fitting the accepted definition of a “Zero Waste” Operation.)
  • Then we went to papercalculator.org and used the pull down menu to choose the kind of paper(in their case kraft) had the material been manufactured from pulp.
  • According to the Environmental Defense Fund’s Paper Calculator ( www.edf.org/papercalculator/ ),this reprocessing saves 78,168,209 Kilowatt Hours each year.
  • Divide that by 10,655 (the wwkilowatt hours needed to power a typical house for a year).
  • And you have a useful, if roughly estimated stat:  The firm saves enough to light and heat  734 homes each year

Of course, this is a rough number in need of some discounting. Although the client’s proprietary process avoids traditional manufacturing energy usage, every operation burns some carbon. Nonetheless, it’s a cost-free starting point and one you can apply before you bring in the essential consultants.

Check it out. Visit www.edf.org/papercalculator/ and test your numbers.

Upcoming posts:

- What you learn about HARO when you give away free press releases

- More on Anti-Social media and how to make it lesss Anti

- Eating your way into social media

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AuthorSteven Greene | DateSunday, March 1, 2009 at 11:48 PM | CommentPost a Comment |
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Monday
23Feb2009

The Year of Light Green

Andrew Winston, co-author of the book Green To Gold posted not long ago, describing 2009 as “the Year of Light Green” (http://tinyurl.com/aho4zj).In many ways, this is the good news. No doubt dramatic action is required at a national level to reduce our carbon footprint. But the proof will be in the ripple of Light Green actions by small businessess across the country that recognize that Green is about financialy sound sustainable practices (with a small “s”) first and foremost.  Wal Mart has already seized on green packaging as something more than spin. They recognize it as an opportunity to lower costs and increase profits ( http://tinyurl.com/ahyx9f),But smaller firms are also seeking out green strategies — from flourescent lighting to reduce and re-use tactics — that lower costs. In 2008, we saw major media publications eliminate special “Green” issues as Sustainability became mainstream, much as IT melded into coporate strategies soon after the dot com bust. And so here at our shop we are finding ouselves re-jiggering stragies for “green” clients, placing cost-cutting up front and allowing Sustainability to speak for itself. In these challenging times,  it’s hard to justify green unless it puts your company (and clients) in the black.

AuthorSteven Greene | DateMonday, February 23, 2009 at 7:18 PM | CommentPost a Comment |
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