Category Archives: sustainability

Climate Change and Sustainability: Four PR Release Improvements

A recent climate change PR Release could have been improved in four ways: (1) by the simple addition of a recommended twitter post (one of the clients referenced in the release has a twitter account so the client will be writing one at some point), (2) by a landing page for, at a minimum, the PR Release so that in the twitter or Facebook reference I can send my audience directly to my source, and (3) by a video interview on YouTube addressing the issue and the findings.

What is the reason for spending money on a PR release in the first place if the subject isn’t worth broadcasting. Two aspects of marketing – frequency and consistency – need to be emphasized and the old school of PR release isn’t doing that by failing to integrate social media to include the triple play of Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter.

Why do I emphasize these three?

Social media is a distribution tactic related to a search strategy (a.k.a being found strategy) of which a PR release is often the starting point.

Number 4 improvement- keyword strategy

Who is your primary audience?

Connecting the terms climate change, global warming, and sustainability will begin to influence the page rankings for the organizations and individuals advocating sustainability principles and practices, being more visible to citizens searching for information and guidance on anyone or all three of the terms. If the folks using search engines to find you and information on global warming, climate change and sustainability aren’t a primary audience who is? Searchers are active in the learning and buying cycle. They are the best prospect for your idea, cause or cure.

Therefore, it is advantageous to sustainability and climate change advocates to incorporate all three terms throughout their press releases and, most importantly, on all Web published documents – all content really.

Google Search Traffic

Google Search Traffic

Screen shot 2011-07-12 at 2.04.49 PM This represent approximately 1M citizens per month in U.S. searching on global warming; 670,000 on climate change; and nearly 370,000 on sustainability.

Who and what organizations get top page rankings on these terms?

Take a look by searching on these terms, now, in Google and on YouTube. The 1st and 2nd most popular search engines. Keep in mind that overtime large Corporations can own these top page rankings on key sustainability terms for both organic search (what I am talking about in this post) and most certainly through paid search.

Corporate Sponsorship of Sustainability: The FYI

From an email from the Txchnologist:

“FYI – the Txchnologist is an online magazine that looks at new innovations in science and technology.  The next several weeks of coverage will be dedicated to exploring the issues around natural gas. The magazine is presented by GE but the stories are not necessarily reflective of the company’s views or positions.”

FrackingNatural gas is a high risk alternative to oil owing to the process to retrieve the gas called fracking. It will be interesting to see how balanced the stories are and to learn, possibly, more about GE’s investment in natural gas development, if they have one.  Most citizens, myself included, are not very well informed on this subject.  On EarthSayers.tv we have a special collection, High Risk Energy Alternatives, and we continue to believe that hearing directly from the leaders and citizens from both sides of the story is important for citizens in their professional and work roles to make informed decisions. We also see that it has been the practice to externalize risk and costs associated with our ecosystem services and the results are unacceptable as is continuing to not discuss the practice until there is a catastrophe such as the Gulf Oil spill and the meltdown of three reactors in Japan. To return to business as usual is also not acceptable and another good reason to listen to the voices of sustainability.

What we don’t know is does a sponsorship by a major corporation compromise the integrity of our collection?  Major corporations have the big bucks and the marketing intelligence to know the value of thought leadership.  It’s tempting. We continue to look for where EarthSayers needs to find the funding support to be part of The Worldwide Commons and remain, like a library, open to all, but unlike the bookish roots of our library systems (special libraries in particular) being rooted in online video, the voices of sustainability.

High Risk Energy Alternatives: Nuclear and Gas

ConsciousAwareness4GIn the context of diminishing fossil fuel resources, climate change, and the quest for a carbon free future, the EarthSayers.tv special collection on high risk energy alternatives features nine videos about nuclear power and natural gas, the latter involving an extraction process called fracking.

All of these videos were made before the meltdown of three units at the Fukushima reactor site.

We will continue to grow the collection so as to provide voices of sustainability to our citizens who will be asked to make decisions in their communities – oceanside, rural, urban, mountain – about alternative, high risk energy sources.

(1) 300 Years of FOSSIL FUELS in 300 Seconds
Fossil fuels have powered human growth and ingenuity for centuries. Now that we’re reaching the end of cheap and abundant oil and coal supplies, we’re in for an exciting ride. While there’s a real risk that we’ll fall off a cliff, there’s still time to control our transition to a post-carbon future.

(2) Energy: The Next 10 Years Really Matter by Alexander Van de Putte
Alexander Van de Putte, Senior Director and Operating Officer at PFC Energy International and a member of PFC Energy’s Executive Committee discusses how givens and wildcards can affect our future global energy needs. He discusses how Givens, which are defined as: low uncertainty with high impact events, such as climate change, demographics and hydrocarbon supply will impact our ability to produce energy.

(3) Peak Oil and Resource Wars by Daniele Ganser
Daniele Ganser talks about Peak Oil and Resource Wars at student seminar on sustainability, 2009. What’s the solution when demand is going up and availabiity is going down? It’s only been 150 years of the oil age.

See also special collection from Peak Moment TV.

(4) Climate Change and Nuclear Energy by Anthony Giddens

Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens is a British sociologist who is renowned for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies.  Underlying foundations of climate change science and nuclear proliferation are two greatest risks in this century and we must mobilize against them. He discusses issue of energy security in a rapidly industrializing world in a world of scarce resources.

(5) Nuclear: Dirty, Dangerous and Expensive by Kevin Kamps
Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear explodes the myths now being promulgated by those promoting nuclear power. He tells of the insoluble problems of nuclear waste, how nuclear power plants routinely emit radioactive poisons, how catastrophic accidents can happen, how nuclear power plants are pre-deployed weapons of mass destruction for terrorists, and the enormously high costs of nuclear power.

(6) SAVE THE WORLD AWARDS 2009
Trailer for the Save the WORLD AWARDs show. Issues addressed at this television event include: Climate, Energy, Water,  Pollution, Hunger, Peace, Dignity, and health. It takes place in a nuclear power that was built but never used in Austria.

(7) TED Debate: Does the world need nuclear energy? Brand & Jacobson
Nuclear power: the energy crisis has even die-hard environmentalists reconsidering it. In this first-ever TED debate, Stewart Brand and Mark Z. Jacobson square off over the pros and cons. A discussion that’ll make you think — and might even change your mind.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes.

(8) Gas Drilling: Stories From the Front Line
Candace Mingins Ms. Mingins lives with her husband and three children on their family farm in Van Etten, NY. A well was drilled on their property in 2006. In 2008, she helped organize Shaleshock Citizens Action Coalition .

(9) Gas Drilling is Unsafe
Central United Methodist Church Endicott, NY; March 17, 2009 Barbara Arrindell is the co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability. She discusses what is involved in gas drilling on a scale of development with many stages -all entail contamination. This is a process that could only happen in a de-regulated situation. This is a public health crisis.

Sustainability Awareness: And the problem is US

ConsciousAwareness4GThe headline and article in today’s Financial Times,  “Environment: long-term impact of green issues played down: Awareness of environmental issues is growing among consumers, who now understand more clearly the role that business plays in producing emissions or harming the environment.”

That’s the good news about awareness growing. They give a nod to the effectiveness of social media in connecting egregious acts of social injustice in, say, Mexico to the shoes you are thinking about buying here in Portland.

So what’s the bad news?

“However, the long-term impact on brands is not as great as it might seem. People have short memories and most consumers’ buying decisions are more influenced by price, convenience or product features.”

The bad news is US.

Here’s an excellent interview with Dominique Conseil, President of Aveda, on changing our habits that address the US issue.

P.S. Recent consumer study by GoodHousekeeping magazine that suggest we are on our way:

“Key findings show that concern about the environment is top of mind and influences daily behaviors and decision-making.”

Cause-driven Organizations: Stars not Planets

A recent Pew research study which examined nine months of consumer data spanning the first three quarters of 2010, and summarized at journalism.com “sheds light on the significance of search aggregators and social networks, the importance of creating a family of related Websites, and hints at which kinds of sites might have more success with paywalls than others.Screen shot 2011-05-12 at 11.53.57 AM

The importance of linking sites with mutual interests, say all those around water, needs to be emphasized to cause-driven organizations who continue to view their Website as the center of the universe, rather than as one star among hundreds in a virtual constellation accessible to educate our citizens on becoming more conscious and aware of this one planet and its needs. We  need to connect the stars for  them and view their learning process as a journey, an exploration.  For us at EarthSayers.tv we are connecting the people around the sustainability movement and beginning to organize them into  special collections around geography and issues such as water.  Linking is what we do to increase awareness and adoption of sustainability principles and practices. We always appreciate when organizations link back, but few do.  That’s got to change.

On The Commons by Jay Walljasper.

On The CommonsYesterday I had the opportunity to be introduced to the thinking and activities of Jay Walljaspar from the organization On The Commons at a local event sponsored by The Oregon Commons here in Portland, Oregon.  The auditorium was jammed and joining Jay as a speaker was Portlander Mark Lakeman of City Repair. Both were very inspiring and it is clear that Portland, The Oregon Commonslargely through the efforts of leaders like Mark and the many non-profit organizations ranging from the interwine.org to Portland Community Media is a model for actualizing the principles of The Commons at the community level.  I posted a video clip of Jay’s speech on EarthSayers.tv, What is The Commons?  I think the concept of The Commons was hardwired into my being when I landed on this planet as it has influenced my thinking in not only my early career as an association manager and public administrator, but throughout my work in high tech and, now, as the developer of EarthSayers.tv, the voices of sustainability.

“The commons is a new way to express a very old idea—that some forms of wealth belong to all of us, and that these community resources must be actively protected and managed for the good of all. Here is a quick description:

The commons are the things that we inherit and create jointly,

and that will (hopefully) last for generations to come.

The commons consists of gifts of nature such as air, oceans and wildlife as well as

shared social creations such as libraries, public spaces, scientific research and creative works.”

I have struggled with how to make EarthSayers part of The Commons in virtual space that is very much a place but not in the usual sense. We are a library of sorts, but of video, not books. We are a network aggregating content from channels, but are broadcasters with no link to TV.   But, that’s another story and one that may be helped by my better understanding the current thinking on the Web as part of The Commons. Jay referenced a related concept, POPS which I think is about Privately Owned Public Spaces, like coffee shops, but I need more information on POPS. Jay Walljasper is the author of the new book All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons. All that We ShareJay brings us stories that point us toward a greener, more equitable and more enjoyable future. He is editor of On the Commons, a national think tank, and a senior fellow at Project for Public Spaces. I hope that through the links in this post you begin to educate yourself, as I am doing, about the Commons movement as it is systemic to sustainability and a cornerstone of social and cultural sustainability thinking and action at all levels. You’ll be hearing more from me on The Commons.   We will be developing a special collection on EarthSayers.tv to bring together in one place the voices of  leaders and activities of organizations that make up the path to The Commons.

Rachel Carson, 1907 – 1964

At EarthSayers.tv, the voices of sustainability, we have created a special collection honoring environmentalist and sustainability advocate, Rachel Carson. Much of the video available is from a biographical play titled, “A Sense of Wonder” featuring actress Kaiulani Lee as Rachel. Her tn_19247book, Silent Spring, warned of the dangers of pesticides and the disconnect of humankind to nature. While written in 1962, Silent Spring deserves to be read or re-read by us all.

Her words are inspiring, her writing (some now are eBooks) motivating, and her life an example for all of us to be advocates and activists on behalf of our planet and people.

Finding Precedes Engagement

Finding before Engaging

The hot topic these day among our business and civic leaders is not search and how it influences what we are finding to learn or buy.  It’s civic and customer engagement. Unless you’re a big corporation with deep pockets how can you engage when you can’t be found?  Yes, social media plays a minor role so far in search and a bigger one in terms of engagement, but searching on keywords is the first step in a buying or learning process.

Many decision-makers still consider the Web too “technical” for them to understand and manage. Search, if it is managed at all, is left to individuals with the least amount of exposure to the organization’s clients/customers/students/citizens and little if any access to the organization’s strategic plans and tactical program planning. This is not the situation in large, consumer brand companies.

Here is an example of the influence of search on a topic I think demonstrates how influential search results are to spinning, not crafting a story.  I hope it sparks leaders to begin questioning how search  works and how it may not be working for their organization or their stakeholders.

Oil Spill: BP#1, Our Health #3, and Wildlife #4

What is a third grade student searching YouTube on the term oil spill seeing these days and what are they likely to click on? Why should we be concerned how search results architect knowledge and information, influencing how our citizens perceive local, regional, national and world events?

Youtube is the second most popular search engine.

Let’s follow up on the Gulf Coast oil spill and see what impression you are left with.

BP is in the prime spot on what is called a SERP – search engine results page – followed by the second promoted video a YouTube Channel, Vision Victory, which seems to be a real estate and financial video blogger named Daniel of crushthestreet.com.  Organic (unpaid) search begins with a news report on health concerns of the spill by AlJazeera English with National Geographic in fourth place with a video about penguins and the oil spill. Check out the view numbers.

Screen shot 2011-04-06 at 8.35.39 AMThe BP click through is to their YouTube channel and the first video features “Ike Williams, owner of Ike’s Beach Service in Gulf Shores, Alabama, who’s been in business on the beach for 27 years. His staff is getting ready for what is expected to be a busy tourism season this year along the Gulf coast, now that the area is returning to normal.”

Screen shot 2011-04-06 at 9.09.00 AM

How many people out there think the Gulf Coast is returning to normal? If enough people believe it, does that make it true? How reliable of a source is BP?

How can you engage the third grader and the other 3.3M searchers (monthly U.S. out of 4M worldwide) when you can’t be found or seen and when searches on keywords ranging from cameras to oil spill to sustainability are increasingly being dominated by large corporations who buy their way to the top?

Time to start paying attention to what’s happening with Google and YouTube search and learn what’s under the hood.

Sustainability News is mostly CSR Reporting

One of the many Web advantages are alerts.   I subscribe to sustainability alerts from the New York Times and, recently, the Financial Times. I didn’t anticipate any difference, really,  in either the quantity or quality of the news alerts, but I was surprised by both the quality and the quantity.

The alerts from the New York Times come in sporadically, here are four in March:

  • At the Home and Housewares Show, All Things Bright
  • Armani Takes Up a Cause
  • New Technology Could Make Desalination More Accessible -A Singapore company..
  • Spa Treatments by the Dead Sea

Now compare these to the alerts from the Financial Times received today, Sunday, April 3, 2011

  • Call on companies to act on emissions
  • Danish pensions invest in giant offshore wind farm
  • Data providers join forces to meet information demand – In the aftermath of the financial crisis, key data providers have all made the same bet – that in years to come environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues will be a more important part of investors’ decision-making.

And three more topics to drive home the point:

  • Environment to be at heart of aviation policy rethink
  • Technology has potential to retrofit the world
  • Reporting: Building a system – Commercial building sites are perhaps not the first places most people would look to find examples of the way IT systems and software are helping companies manage their environmental footprint and reduce waste.

What became painfully obvious to me is that the lightweight nature of news stories, not only in the New York Times, but 3BL Media and their CSR Minute (they mix sustainability and CSR coverage) as well as Just Means (actually Just Means positions itself as one stop news for CSR, but mix in sustainability) are practicing business oriented  reporting on what mostly boils down to what I call RADs or reports, awards, and do-good stories praising corporations for their actions.

Even Sustainable Life Media (SLM) (sustainable business focus and “bridge to better brands”) spends an inordinate amount of time and space covering the do-good actions of large, multi-national corporations some of which have as their core business toxic chemicals and reputations for environmental and social justice abuses.  There are exceptions such as a recent story by Bart King in SLM that PUMA could be the first brand to measure impact on eco-system services, a major accounting and financial management issue.  This is a critical sustainability issue as discussed on EarthSayers.tv by  John Fullerton of the Capital Institute and Larry O’Connor of LaTrobe University in Australia. Interestingly enough PUMA’s initiative is part of a larger one by the French parent company, PPR group. The author goes on to report, “The Group said the overarching program, dubbed PPR Home, will go beyond the traditional Corporate Social Responsibility model and set a new standard in sustainability and business practice in the Luxury, Sport & Lifestyle and Retail sectors.”

Fact is, though, if you are in the business of reporting on sustainability here in the U.S., there’s not much out there.  No point in blaming the messenger unless they aren’t digging deep enough and finding those companies who are making inroads like B Corporations and non-profits such as the Textile Exchange. The messengers are reporting on what corporations are giving them as news and progress. It’s all about RADs – reports, awards, and the do-good stuff.  At some point, however, a U.S. focus on large companies combined with the assumption that CSR can be reported as sustainability and vice versa makes  “news” more like PR spin and reporting more like marketing rather than journalism, blogs or no blogs.