Transcript Language and buy-in

Beta Gamma Sigma
Kevin Wilhelm
Sustainable Business
Consulting
Tuesday August 30th, 2011
(during the Sounders Open Cup Semis)
What I’m going to talk about
How I got my start
Facts about sustainability in industry
Why sustainability is important to companies
Who’s making $ by doing the right thing
What you can do to help
How I got started
Okay, how I really started
‘99 – Business
School
‘97 – Had
my “Dances
with
Wolves”
moment
‘01 – Moved to
Michigan,
started my own
biz
‘04 – Moved to
Seattle. War
chest: $500
‘07 – Opened
the doors
Today: Sustainable
Business Consulting
Facts about Sustainable Business
…and why it’s important to companies,
you, and your career ambitions.
The State of Sustainability
 The Government almost defaulted and was
downgraded
 The US is involved in three wars right now
 Our political system is broken
 Climate Legislation isn’t just stalled, it is dead
 The EPA is under attack for enforcing GHGs
 People are increasingly skeptical of green and
climate change regardless of the science
Yet, business needs to pay attention
because there is big $ at stake
“In the middle of difficulty
lies opportunity.”
Albert Einstein
Big $ at stake for Businesses
Indisputable Evidence
Some Major Effects
 Extreme weather
 Destabilization of local climates
 Glacier retreat and
disappearance
 Sea level and temp rise,
acidification
 Desertification
 Water scarcity
 Increased spread of disease
 Economic implications
Regulation is coming!
Upcoming Regional and Local Regulation
EPA 14,000 largest emitters (> 25,000 MT) in ’11
WA Requiring then 10,000 MT CO2e
Higher Fuel Efficiency Standards: 35.5 mpg, up to 54
Renewable Portfolio Standards: 35 states & DC
Toxic Waste Limits, REACH ACCORDS
FTC rulings on “green”
International reporting: UK, Japan, etc
U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
As of August 2011,
1054 cities signed the
“US Mayor’s Climate
Protection Agreement.”
Why is Sustainability Important in your Industry?
Energy
Prices
Leadership/
Recognition
Business
Travel
New
Carbon
Markets
Waste
Public
Policy/
Regulations
Supply
Chain
Sustainability
Tax
Incentives
Fuel Prices
Cost
Savings
Investor
Pressure
Paper
Reduction
Insurance
What’s Happening in the Marketplace
Fuel Prices: on everything, from air travel to lettuce
Supply Chain: Wal-Mart, Target, HP, Microsoft, SAC
Equity Investors: ESG, SRI, SEC Guidelines
Carbon Disclosure Project: $64 Trillion in Assets
Insurance: E&O Insurance
Debt: Equator Principles
FTC: Rulings on “green”
Other: Genesis Covenant, Pope’s comment, Sports Business Alliance
Our Philosophy and Clients
Language and buy-in
ROI & NPV
Environmental,
Social, Climate
External &
Internal
Implementation
The old way of doing business
Have FUN
while doing the work that needs doing!
Examples of Companies Making $
while making a difference
DuPont: Energy Efficiency
 Optimized energy and distribution at its facilities
 added new technologies with lower energy consumption
 improved yields from manufacturing processes.
Financial
• Saved more than $3
billion & expanded
their businesses by
30%
• Total savings from the
landfill gas projects
exceed $8 mill/year.
Brand
• Use to be the #1
Polluter, now seen as
innovator
Sustainability
• Reduced GHG
emissions to 72%
below 1990 levels.
• Removed CO2
emissions equivalent
to almost 78,000
vehicles or more than
900,000 barrels of oil.
Reduced its CO2 emissions 72% below Kyoto target and saved $3 Billion!
Reconfigured the plastic bottles for its Suave shampoo.
Financial
Brand
Sustainability
• Saved more than
$2 million in diesel
costs alone
• Met the stricter
packaging
requirements of
customers such as
Wal-Mart
• Saved plastic
equivalent to some
15 million bottles a
year
Changed production from curly noodles to straight noodles and then
redesigned packaging to shave 20% off the size of its packaging.
Financial
Brand
• Reduced the cost of
raw materials
packaging by 10%.
• Demonstrated to
customers a simple,
easy solution to
reduce GHG
emissions without
any impact on
consumer behavior
Sustainability
• Fuel savings
equated to 500
fewer distribution
trucks on the road
each year
From Waste to Revenue
Use excess foam from Therm-aRest ProLite models as raw
materials for camp pillows
which “sell like crazy”.
Financial
Brand
Sustainability
• Turned costs into a
revenue stream on their
income statement
• Met customer demand
for complementary
product to Therm-aRest.
• Developed additional
purchase point to drive
Therm-a-Rest sales
• Turned hundreds of
pounds of waste foam
destined for landfills,
which wouldn’t
biodegrade for decades,
into a practical
accessory
* Bi-Product synergy group recently launched in WA
GSB Law: Office Practices
 Installed six high-speed scanners to scan every
correspondence coming in to the office
 Web based storage allowed to them to convert
storage rooms into office space.
 Saved paper, time (filing, copying, shredding),
and opened up floor space on each of its three
floors.
Net Savings over $1,000,000
Amgen: Employee Productivity and Commuting
Began using video conferencing
provided showers, lockers, onsite bike tune-ups
Zipcars & shuttle every 15 minutes downtown
Scott Eklund / P-I
Financial
• Saving thousands of
dollars by reducing staff
business travel
Brand
Sustainability
• In 2006, named a
• best workplace for
commuters
• by a coalition of the EPA,
local non-profits and
transit organizations
• 75% of Amgen’s
workforce no longer
drives to work alone –
huge reduction in carbon
footprint.
How You Can Get Involved
 Best place to make change is where you are.
 Join your company’s Green Team. If none exists, start one!
This is a good career move.
 Take the case studies posted and put to action
 Attend conferences, go to Green Drinks, volunteer
 Get some additional training: City U, Bellevue College,
Bainbridge Graduate Institute
Get Involved!
What’s Happening in the Industry?
Where are the jobs? (by industry)
Geographic hot spots (Seattle, Portland,
Vancouver, San Francisco, London/EU)
Who is doing it and how many are doing it?
What are the jobs? (CSR director/manager,
sustainability consultant, other)
Helpful Resources
Local Resources
 Seattle Climate Partnership (SCP) www.seattle.gov/climate/partnership.htm
 Business Leaders for Climate Solutions www.climatesolutions.org
 Bellevue Green Business Challenge –Paul Andersson [email protected]
Reporting and GHG Protocols




Climate Registry
EPA Climate Leaders
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
GRI
General Climate info
 Climatebiz, Pew Center of Climate Change, UW Climate Impacts Group, Climate
Institute, US Global Change Research Program, Safe Climate.net
For Taking Action
 350.org (McKibben), Climatecrisis.net (Gore)
Top 100 sites on Climate Change
 World Environmental Organization www.world.org/weo/climate
What you can do?
People ask us: What can your 4 person firm do?
LEAD
Named a best small business to work for in
Seattle, Bronze medal winner from Environmental
Business Journal
Remember I started out not even knowing the
term “sustainability” so you are already ahead of
where I was when I started
Come talk to me
after !
Kevin Wilhelm
Sustainable Business Consulting
Tuesday August 30th
Closing
 In closing….we have an amazing opportunity ahead of us. And with this
comes amazing responsibility.
 The challenge is huge, but How many of you have read Tom Brokaw’s book
“The Greatest Generation.” They were uniformly declared this for the 20th
century, because our parents and grandparents were the ones that stood
up to Fascism.
 We can be this century’s greatest generation, the ones who planted a flag
in the ground and decided that “we”, “we” were going to be the ones to
avert this potential global catastrophe. Not only because this is the right
thing to do, but also because as I’ve detailed here tonight because it is an
effective way to increase profitability, reduce risk, meet customer and
investor expectations, and improve the value of your brand at the same
time.
 This is your opportunity. This is your responsibility. Please join us in
making this happen