Graduation Pledge Alliance

Make Your Purchases Fair Trade

2012-02-09T05:17:00.000-08:00

In a nutshell, Fair Trade helps make sure that "free trade" works for the poor. It's a non-profit group that ranks as the leading third-party Fair Trade product certifier. They help people around the world work in harmony with the planet to produce goods in a responsible way while at the same time making consumers aware of these products by certifying them. The group provides the tools and support that farmers and others around the world need to become successful entrepreneurs, which reduces growing dependency on foreign aid. They are aiming for creating both conscious consumers while eliminating the exploitation of workers. Check it out at http://fairtradeusa.org

AASHE Launches STARS 1.2

2012-02-08T05:08:00.000-08:00

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) is best known for coming out with the go-to survey instrument for campuses to monitor their progress towards sustainability. It's called STARS (Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System) and was launched in 2010. If your campus isn't a part of this they need to be! Besides letting your campus know where it's it at on progress towards sustainability, STARS can be used a complete road map that shows very concretely what you have to do to make more progress. AASHE just launched a new version, 1.2, marking the third release (previous versions were 1.0 and 1.1). It's good to know that AASHE is constantly examining STARS and improving it. Check it out at https://stars.aashe.org

Tracking Corporations on Climate Impact

2012-02-07T04:47:00.000-08:00

This is a great organization doing it's part to fight global warming and climate change. What they do is score the world's largest companies on how well they're doing with mitigating their climate impact. They do this in order to promote corporate climate responsibility and more conscious consumption. The goal is to raise a deeper awareness among consumers on the importance of climate change as an issue. Part of the message is that consumers have the power to support the companies doing their part and avoid companies that are not. After all, businesses have to pay attention to what consumers say and do! Check it out at http://www.climatecounts.org

A Site With Many Resources on Sustainability and Responsibility

2012-02-06T06:40:00.000-08:00

Doug McKenzie-Mohr first came out with Fostering Sustainability: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing back in 1999, with the third edition having been issued in 2011. He's an environmental psychologist, which means he knows how to get people to behave in a more sustainable manner. All the content of his book along with many other resources (articles, case studies, turnkey strategies, etc.) and discussion forums are available at this website: http://www.cbsm.com.

Slow Food USA

2012-02-03T02:45:00.000-08:00

What exactly is Slow Food? it's an idea about how to live and how to eat that connects food to your social and environmental responsibility efforts. It's a truly grassroots movement with thousands of members in well over 100 countries. As an organization with 225 chapters in the US alone, it works for food and farming policy that's good for the public and the planet as well as farmers and workers. It's about buying local food that is grown using sustainable methods. It's about taking care of the land. It's about ENJOYING food as well! Check it out at http://www.slowfoodusa.org.

Appleseed Expeditions

2012-02-02T02:33:00.000-08:00

Appleseed Expeditions was birthed with a vision of providing an outlet for students to gain inspiration and passion for the world and the people in it. Their programs are designed to help students better understand the needs of the world, learn how service can improve their lives, and gain a deeper perspective of how their talents and abilities can be used in fulfilling their dreams. If you haven't made your plans yet for spring break, be sure to check out their Alternative Breaks page where you can engage in super-cool service projects in such destinations as Guatemala, Costa Rica, Hawaii, the Galapagos Islands, the Dominican Republic and the Florida Keys. Information at http://www.appleseedexpeditions.com

Interesting New Job Site: Jooble

2012-02-01T07:53:00.000-08:00

You already know how many places there are to check for job postings -- hundreds if not thousands of different job sites, not to mention individual organization pages. Jooble is a new job search engine site. And when I say new, I mean very new! So new that the "about" page could use a good round of editing. BUT, when I typed in a keyword or position title like "Sustainability Coordinator," up popped all kinds of jobs I hadn't seen posted anywhere else, so it's a pretty powerful tool that could help you in your job search. Check it out at http://jooble-us.com.

Crocodyl: Crowdsourcing the Real Story on Corporations

2012-01-18T15:58:00.000-08:00

My final installment on sites that help you find sustainable products and companies is about Crocodyl. Unlike the other sites I've talked about, this one is run more like a wiki that people can contribute to based on what they've learned in their own interactions with the corporation, allowing for an analysis that spans sustainability, labor and human rights, social justice, public policy, health and corporate responsibility. You're more likely to find fairly negative information on corporations from this site, so be prepared! It's worth checking out -- especially to see what information they may have on any companies you may be considering in your career path. The website is at http://www.crocodyl.org.

JustMeans Insights: Sustainability Among Global Corporations

2012-01-17T11:17:00.000-08:00

JustMeans Insights is a great place to find out about how many global corporations are doing in terms of corporate social responsibility, environmental performance and sustainability criteria. They take the time to mine hundreds of documents to put together a pretty comprehensive look at lots of different companies. They're pulling all that information into a data visualization tool that allows for comparison of companies across a number of different analyses. Check it out at http://www.justmeans.com/top-global-1000-companies.

A Whole New Class of BENEFICIAL Corporations!

2012-01-16T06:19:00.000-08:00

Before the holidays descended with all their attending craziness, I was trying to do a series of posts about various product and company guides. I want to pick back up on that today by telling you about B Corporations. The "B" here stands for Beneficial. The idea is to create a whole new class of corporations that adhere to strict social and environmental responsibility criteria and that also have their good missions protected by law in the event that they are eventually acquired by larger corporations that may not have the same values. More than 450 companies, mostly small to medium in size, have signed on to the B Corporation criteria. These are the kinds of businesses we should all be supporting. They might also be the kind of businesses you want to get a job with! And yes, the website at http://www.bcorporation.net does include a job board under the B Corp Services pull-down tab. Several states have enacted B Corporation legislation that will protect the mission of these progressive companies, and many more are in the process of considering it. Check out B Corporations today and see what it's all about!

In the Workplace: Introducing the Triple Bottom Line at Work

2011-12-13T03:55:00.000-08:00

I came across this great post by Mrim Boutla at the Responsible Careers blog (http://responsible-careers.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-do-you-integrate-triple-bottom-line.html#comment-form) and feel like it's definitely worth re-posting here for all of you. Enjoy!

Many of you are currently wondering: ”If you are a socio-eco innovator currently working in a business unit in which triple bottom line approaches are not discussed, what can you do?”

My answer to this is “help your supervisor and colleagues understand how to make sustainability one of the main forces for innovation and long-term profitability”. The mark of a true leader is to effect change within what they can control. No matter whether you are an executive or a junior analyst, you can choose to walk the talk as a socio-eco innovator and positively contribute to change the definition of value for shareholders.

Easy to say, but how do you do that? Here is a roadmap that can help:

Leverage like-minded professionals within and beyond your company

If your company issues a sustainability report, look at the authors of the report. Leverage the acknowledgement section of the report as well as the company’s directory to find out who actually did the analyses for the report.
Do the same thing with the sustainability report issued by your direct competitors (leveraging the acknowledgment section as well as LinkedIn).
Connect with these like-minded professionals – Understand the frameworks they used for their analyses, and learn who provided them with the data they needed for their analyses. Ask about the current sustainability goals they are working on, and the trends they are seeing for the next couple of years.

These conversations and contacts will help you learn more about the methodology currently used by your company (and your competitors) to measure the socio-eco impacts of their projects. These conversations will also give you the methodology and vocabulary you need to articulate the benefits of 3BL over the single bottom line approach you have been using.

Apply your new knowledge to your own projects

Knowledge without action is useless. You need to have the courage to apply this knowledge to your projects in order to be the change you want to see. Try the following:

Leverage the web of people and resources that helped your contacts in their previous analyses.
Make a stellar business case for how integrating sustainability goals and measures into a specific project will help your supervisor and colleagues. To do so might require a bit more work – namely drafting two proposals
The first proposal will be the ‘business as usual’ proposal. It is designed to demonstrate that you are a great contributor who can generate results within the company’s current procedures and priorities.
The second proposal will be the ‘innovative 3BL’ proposal. In this proposal you will make your move and add a few (one or two) modifications that will lead to better 3BL while preserving the results that would have been generated through the ‘business as usual’ proposal. Make sure to also integrate how your competitive advantage will increase over your competitors based on the business intelligence you have gathered through your contacts at other firms. This innovative 3BL proposal will show your boss and colleagues that such measures can increase your competitive advantage without compromising your financial results. This second proposal will also show that such 3BL measures are currently readily available and that you can help them implement them within your business unit.

Bridging the gap between intention and action

I can hear you from here – Mrim, you are nuts, don’t you know how busy I am? For the last 2 years, I have been squeezed right and left, and feel lucky to still be employed! I don’t have time to draft even a first good proposal and you want me to draft two? Where am I going to find the time to connect with these like-minded professionals and learn more about these measures?

My answer: Goals we set are goals we get! As an emerging socio-eco innovator, you will have to be the change you want to see. Moving past inertia and business as usual and putting the time and energy to train yourself and to go the extra mile are part of the journey, as well as taking risks, and learning from the failures that are sure to pave your way to success!

To emerge as a leader in socio-eco innovator who knows how to take risks, you need to stay informed and show to your supervisor and colleagues that doing business as usual is actually hurting competitiveness. Go the extra mile, leverage new people and resources to present how achieving 3BL results will lead to long-term competitive advantage for your business. Beyond your own team, make sure to also let others know within your company (and among colleagues who work for your competitors) how much you have been enjoying developing these skills and knowledge, and how much value these could add to the business.

And remember: If you try this 4-5 times and your supervisor and colleagues turn you down each time, by then you will have plenty of contacts in other business units or among your competitors that can facilitate a switch towards a different role or a more innovative company where your newly developed skills and knowledge will be valued and rewarded.

Sustainable Products Guidance: The GoodGuide

2011-12-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

This week I'm going to focus on various sites that will help you find the products with the lowest negative impacts. The plain fact of the matter is that we all have to buy stuff, quite a lot of it really. Much of it we need, some of it we don't. But what we CAN do is make informed purchases that are in line with the values of social and environmental responsibility. Today I'm featuring what is probably the best all-around sustainable product rating site around, and it's called GoodGuide. Part of what is really nice about GoodGuide is that they report on three dimensions: Th health, environmental and social performance of products. That's right in line with the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility. With more than 145,000 products in their database, chances are you'll be able to get a rating on the product you're about to buy. You can even scan the barcode of a product in the store with your smartphone and get the rating on the spot. Now that's convenience with a purpose! Check it out at http://www.goodguide.com. You'll be glad you did!

New Interactive Forum on GPA Website!

2011-12-01T05:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, Pledgers, some of you have been wondering where in the world I've been for the last week. Hey, I figure if Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) and Steven Colbert (The Colbert Report) can take a whole week off from their programs, so can I! But seriously, the GPA has now created something that many of you have asked for: A place to interact with each other about the joys and challenges of trying to make good on your Pledge of social and environmental responsibility in the workplace and beyond. That forum now exists and I've posted an initial question to get the discussion going: WHAT'S YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN TRYING TO FULFILL THE PLEDGE? So point your browser to http://www.graduationpledge.org/pledge-signers/pledger-support-forum-interactive and post your comments!

Getting a Jump-Start with StartingBloc

2011-11-18T05:23:00.000-08:00

Ever hear of a group called StartingBloc? They offer fellowships to students and young professionals for socially conscious venture development. As their website says, "StartingBloc Fellows are young leaders who share a common set of values. They believe that economic value creation and social value creation are complementary. They believe in making money and doing good. Fellows come from over 221 undergraduate universities and more than 50 countries." Check it out at http://www.startingbloc.org/

Low Impact Living Calculator

2011-11-17T04:59:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago I posted a neat little water footprint calculator. But if you want to go the extra mile and really see about your lifestyle's impact, you can broaden the scope by using the Low Impact Living Calculator. In their website's own words, "it shows not only the carbon footprint but also energy, water, wastewater, trash, and stormwater runoff footprints of your home and lifestyle. In addition, it recommends projects based on your specific inputs that can save you money, reduce your environmental impact, or in many cases both at the same time! The Impact Calculator also calculates a score called the Low Impact Living Index™, or LILI™, that encapsulates in one number your overall environmental footprint. It allows comparisons to other homes near you or across the country." Wow -- that's pretty extensive! Check it out at http://www.lowimpactliving.com

In the Workplace: Social and Environmental Responsibility

2011-11-16T04:16:00.000-08:00

We all want to feel like we're doing "good" work, both in terms of the quality of the work we do and the positive impact we hope it will have on the world around us. If your workplace is ready to engage in some real dialogue about doing good work, then check out the GoodWork Toolkit at http://goodworktoolkit.org. In the website's own words, "The GoodWork Toolkit consists of a Guidebook, Narratives and a set of Value Sort Cards. These materials are designed to inspire conversation and reflection about excellent, ethical and engaging work."

Ecocentric Blog

2011-11-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

Okay folks, this is the last awesome website on tap from Grace Communications Foundation. It is a blog about issues concerning food, water, and energy. Tons of great stories and information. Check it out at http://www.ecocentricblog.org/

Eat Well Guide

2011-11-11T06:34:00.000-08:00

Another offering today from Grace Communications Foundation. The Eat Well Guide is a free online directory of places that offer fresh, locally grown and sustainably produced food in the US and Canada. There are listings for literally thousands of family farms, restaurants, farmers' markets, grocergy stores, CSA programs, pick-your-own orchards and more. You can search by zipcode, keywords, categories or products. One of the coolest features of this site is that once you have found a bunch of places you're interested in, you can click a button and it will collect them together in a downloadable/printable PDF! There's even an interactive mapping tool that can help you plan a trip to all the great places you found. Check it out at http://www.eatwellguide.org.

New Energy Choices

2011-11-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

Today's cool site from Grace Communications Foundation is the Network for New Energy Choices. The group promotes environmentally responsible energy policies and technologies through in-depth reports and web content. They just recently came out with their Freeing the Grid report, "...a policy guide that grades all 50 states on two key programs: net metering and interconnection procedures. Together these policies empower energy customers to use rooftop solar and other small-scale renewables to meet their own electricity needs" (from their own press release).

Some of the issues they cover include the following: Net Metering and Interconnection; Energy and Agriculture; Energy Water Nexus; Power Plant Impact on Fish; Natural Gas Fracking (this one is particularly important to pay attention to); Local Permitting; and Biofuels. For each of these topic areas they offer an introduction and then lots of resources for further learning.

Definitely worth a look!

The MEATRIX

2011-11-08T08:17:00.000-08:00

Forget about the Matrix, what you need to see now is THE MEATRIX -- another great site from Grace Communications Foundation. This award-winning site reveals what's wrong with factory farming and promotes the alternative: Sustainable family farms. The original film first came out in 2003 and went viral. It continues to be very popular, having been translated into more than 30 languages and viewed by more than 15 million people around the world. If you haven't seen it, check it out today!

H2O Conserve

2011-11-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

Today's offering from GRACE Communications Foundation is H2O Conserve. It's a site that's all about water and how to use less of it. One of the cool things on this site is their Water Footprint Calculator that helps you figure out just how much water you and your household is consuming. Once you've figured out that, then you can take advantage of their many tips for using less. There's even a cute cartoon for kids about conserving water at home, although it's not the slickest animation out there, by any means. They also include easy cut-and-paste HTML tags and images so you can help promote water conservation throughout your own networks.

When Good Design and Great Messaging Come Together

2011-11-06T02:50:00.000-08:00

There are lots of groups out there who work on issues of social and environmental responsibility, but it's less common for the work to happen within the context of excellent design. So I get really excited when I come across a group like Grace Communications Foundation and its family of websites. I'm going to do a series of blog-posts this week that focus on each of their main sites. Up first is a fantastic site called Sustainable Table.

The ST Chronicles present a series of food adventures such as the Eat Well Guided Tour of America, where Sustainable Table traveled for 40 days from CA to NY to bring attention to the growing sustainable food movement across the country. The trip kicked off in Hollywood and finished up at the Farm Aid concert, which was held on Randall's Island in New York City.

10 Reasons to Learn Sustainable Home Cooking is a well designed 2-page downloadable PDF that serves as a great introduction to the impact our food choices on society and the environment.

The also offer a variety of other PDFs that can be mixed and matched to put together presentation kits on a number of sustainable food topics.

The Greenest Companies

2011-11-04T04:32:00.000-07:00

Newsweek recently published their rankings for green companies in the US and around the world, so whether you're just beginning to think about what you'll do for work after you graduate from college or you're a long-time Pledge alum thinking about your next career move, these listings are a great place to start. Be sure to read the piece about why European companies seem to be much further ahead on sustainability than US companies -- it's an eye-opener!

Two Publications on Sustainable Lifestyles

2011-11-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

I wanted to highlight two different publications for those who wish to be more sustainable in their day-to-day lives. One has been around for more than 20 years, while the other is brand new. Oddly enough, they both come out of Vermont! The longer-standing one is called Green Living: A Practical Journal for Friends of the Environment. The other is called Prudent Living Magazine. They both offer gobs of information on living lightly on the only planet we have. Check them and tell me what you think!

Make a Difference and Recent Media Coverage

2011-09-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

Two things today: In the little career support bookstore that is forming on the right sidebar, I've just added a great book that everyone should check out: Making a Living While Making a Difference. I also wanted to highlight a great little story that just appeared at Catalysta, a forum to explore and develop jobs that are socially responsible, sustainable, and benefit the common good. They did a small story on the Graduation Pledge, which you can check out at http://www.catalysta.org/paths.html

Online Pledging: An Idea Whose Time has Come?

2011-09-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

Does the idea of gathering signatures of Pledgers on paper seem a little outdated to you? Wouldn't it be great if there were a simple way that any student who wanted to take the pledge could do so quickly and easily online? Well, we think this is a great idea, and we're exploring ways to make it happen that will help Pledge organizers to put more focus on getting the word out on their campuses, and at the same time help the GPA keep better track of how many people are taking the Pledge each year. We're still in the exploratory stages, but when we come to a final decision and method of doing, you'll be the first to know, so say tuned for details!

What Happened to Tim Rairdon?

2011-09-03T05:33:00.000-07:00

The good news is that Tim Rairdon, who did amazing work supporting Pledge efforts across the nation and world for the past couple of years, will still be involved! Although he will no longer be the Executive Director, he has agreed to stay engaged with the GPA by becoming a member of our important Advisory Board. Tim is now serving a community of oral health care professionals, connecting them to the information, resources and people they need to perform at their best. He can also be spotted running up and down the lake shore path in Chicago, IL. He's excited to continue his work with GPA in an Advisory Board member role! THANKS, TIM!

GPA Hires New Executive Director: Sherman Morrison

2011-09-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

I am pleased to introduce myself as the new Executive Director of the GPA. I look forward to working with all of you to develop of the GPA into an increasingly robust effort to promote sustainability as a framework for positive change in the twenty-first century.

I became an environmentalist during my undergraduate studies at Eastern University, a small Christian college of the liberal arts in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, where I triple-majored in Economics, Political Science, and Spanish. After graduating, I spent five years in Washington DC working for a small NGO called the North American Coalition on Religion and Ecology, trying to get people of faith to respond positively to the environmental crisis. Through that organization I was able to attend the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro back in 1992, where the focus became linking environmental responsibility, social justice, and economic issues through the concept of sustainability. After marrying in 1995, my wife and I settled in Keene, New Hampshire where we both ended up attending graduate school and working up until the present at Antioch University New England. I received my MS in Management at that campus back in 2007, and am now currently entering the dissertation phase of my doctoral studies in the Antioch University-Wide PhD in Leadership and Change program, with a focus on Sustainability in Higher Education. My doctoral work is highly relevant to the GPA, offering insights into recruiting new GPA Partner Schools through the ever-growing body of sustainability professionals in higher education.