July 20, 2011
Climb The Green Ladder
I’ve just noticed that our book, Climb the Green Ladder: Make Your Company and Career More Sustainable, is 65% off in Amazon’s summer sale - buy it for a bargain £5.94!
That’s way cheaper than I can buy it direct from my publisher – madness!
February 10, 2010
By Amy Fetzer
If you’re feeling frustrated after Copenhagen and ‘Climategate’, take heart. Your actions can help tackle climate change while making your company – and career – stronger and more successful.
We know this because as part of the research for Climb the Green Ladder: Make Your Company and Career More Sustainable, Shari and I spoke to over 80 sustainability specialists – from organizations including Hewlett Packard, Royal Mail and the London School of Economics – who successfully changed their organizations from within.
Our research revealed that all sustainability strategies are underpinned by the same six maxims or principles which can help guarantee success – whatever your level or industry. These principles are described in much greater detail in the book, but we’ve given you a sneak preview below.
1) Get the mindset: Believe in your own power, and you can make a difference.
At the Phelps’ Group, Kristen Thomas’ idea to swap disposable dishes for reusable ones started a green tidal wave that ultimately led to her company becoming the largest private solar power installation in their area.
2) Make the business case: A business case which demonstrates how your sustainability initiative can add business value will show colleagues you’re no hemp-wearing hippie but a business savvy, strategic thinker who understands the new marketplace dynamics.
Martin Blake showed Royal Mail that tackling inefficiencies in their buildings could save £20 million a year while wiping up to 100,000 tonnes off their carbon footprint.
3) Get colleagues on your side: From using peer pressure to change behaviour to giving people the freedom to develop their own solutions, engagement is vital.
Dr Paul Toyne from Bovis Lend Lease formed sustainability action groups across the company, asking directors to recommend people to ensure top level buy in. This meant new initiatives were embraced as solutions came from within.
4) Have 2-way conversations. It’s crucial to communicate your messages effectively and that means making it real and relevant. Coral Rose persuaded fabric buyers at Walmart to use organic cotton by giving them a packet of kitty litter which was the equivalent weight of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used to grow cotton for a single conventional t-shirt. The result? Wal Mart is now the largest user of organic cotton in the world.
5) Work together: From working with others in your company to competitors, customers, suppliers, NGOs and government, collaboration can reap great rewards.
For example, in Scotland, Boots has teamed up with another company to share deliveries. The initiative has save 6,000 delivery miles a week and 150,000 litres of fuel per annum – reducing costs and the company’s carbon footprint
6) Make it part of the culture. . From making an action plan to making targets personal and part of everyone’s job, the most successful organisations are those who have made sustainability an everyday part of business thinking.
Randy Boeller, from HP US, has seen how an integrated approach reaps real business rewards. Take packaging for example. The carbon footprint of getting a product to the consumer can be four times as much as processing the raw materials for that packaging. This means that a lighter, but more environmentally-intensive material could be the better choice overall, demonstrating why you have to look at sustainability at every level to make the most intelligent decisions.
January 29, 2010
NYC launch event, 21 January
I am delighted to report that the NYC launch event, 21 of January, was very exciting and a tremendous success!
This event focused on how sustainability provides a leadership advantage for women. The conversation was led by senior level women who have made tremendous strides in spearheading effective sustainability programs. Speakers included (as pictured left to right), Eleni Reed, Director, Sustainability Strategies, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc., and me, Shari Aaron, Co-Author Climb the Green Ladder, Natalia Oberti Noguera, Executive Director of NY Women Social Entrepreneurs, Tensie Whelan, President, Rainforest Alliance and Maria Figueroa Kupcu, Director, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Practice, Brunswick Group.
According to Holly Perlowitz, a senior banking professional based in the New York area, “Gathering with Shari Aaron and other women focused on sustainability was inspiring and reminded me that grassroots efforts matter and committing oneself to carrying the message can start in our homes and our places of business – but it just has to start!”
A special thanks to Double Knot for hosting such a lively event!
Amy also enjoyed speaking at the These Young Minds conference on the 26th of January and got some great feedback from the organizers. Alim Abubakre, Founder, These Young Minds, offered these complimentary words: “Amy Fetzer, is an inspiring, remarkable and unparalleled speaker. Having a personality like Amy speak at an event is what any audience needs to be fulfilled.”
Amy also was welcomed into Commerical’s offices in the UK last week to do a workshop on sustainability. Simon Graham compliments included: “Amy’s work is inspirational. We had the privilege of her presenting one of our Green Ambassador seminars and she is as great a speaker as she is an author. The audience went away with a new vision and energised to do more to Climb the Green Ladder.”
We have such a great week talking about the book and getting people’s feedback. Many thanks to those who participated in our events and we look forward to seeing more of you at other events soon!
Shari
December 4, 2009
It’s been another exciting week for Climb the Green Ladder!
In good company in Waterstones' window
First, we were thrilled when our publisher, Wiley, told us that, despite being published for just two weeks, initial sales have been so good that they have ordered a second print run!
I was also excited to spot Climb the Green Ladder taking pride of place alongside SuperFreakonomics and Too Big to Fail in a central London Waterstones’ window display. We want to say a huge thank you to all of you who have bought the book, and please, keep your feedback coming in!
One company nearly cleaned out Wiley’s warehouse when they ordered a copy of the book for every single member of staff for Christmas. Other organisations have told us they are giving the book as a corporate gift, or that they’re interested in giving it out during green campaigns in the New Year. Do get in touch if these are ideas you’d be interested in too.
Amy Fetzer
We’ve also had hundreds of individuals sales from everyone from students and consultants to MDs, and the book has had orders from as far afield as Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong! The feedback coming in is that people are really enjoying the book and finding it helpful and inspirational – click on the links to read (or add!) reviews on Amazon or our website and keep telling us your thoughts.
We’ve also launched a new events section of our website so you can keep track of when we’re speaking near you.
Plus, we’ve updated our services page to explain a little bit more about us and what we do – when we’re not writing books that is!
Victoria Hands
The week has also ended on a high with the second Climb the Green Ladder LSE lecture.
After I introduced the Climb the Green Ladder and the six principles of successful sustainability initiatives, Dr Victoria Hands took to the stage.
Victoria, the Sustainability and Environment Manager from LSE, was one of the first people I interviewed during the research for Climb the Green Ladder. Her achievements in helping to get London universities recycling are a real example of how one person can make a difference and it was clear she left the audience inspired.
Dr Martin Blake, Royal Mail
Martin Blake is another incredible individual who shared his experiences with us during the research for Climb the Green Ladder. His achievements at helping Royal Mail become more sustainable – for example by showing them that making their buildings energy efficient could save £20 million a year – are hugely impressive. The audience appeared fascinated by his accounts of presenting the business case for sustainability and facilitating real change at Royal Mail.
It was really great to take questions, and then to meet and chat with members audience afterwards. Again, the main feedback from the event was that people really appreciated and were inspired by an approach which gave them tangible tips and examples of how they could put sustainability into practice in their working environment.
I’ll be putting some video footage of the lecture up soon – so watch this space!
Thanks again to those of you who attended, and keep your thoughts, feedback and successes coming in. We love hearing from you.
With best wishes,
Amy
November 26, 2009
LSE Climb the Green Ladder launch
What a night! I’m thrilled to report that the London Climb the Green Ladder LSE lecture and launch was a resounding success!
‘Inspirational,’ and ‘empowering’ were the buzz words on the night, and the word on Twitter was that it was ‘the most inspiring public lecture ever on sustainability,’ (RT flame_me_ up).
Listen to the podcast here!
Don’t miss the next lecture on Dec 3 – read more!
The crowd
Thanks so much to those of you who attended – it was wonderful to see, and in some cases, meet you!
After an introduction by the chair, Dr Richard Perkins, I kicked off the lecture by telling the story of Climb The Green Ladder and introduced a few of the book’s key findings.
Jo Confino, The Guardian
Ed Gillespie, co-founder of Futerra, then had the crowd chucking with his fast-paced and insightful presentation on the right ways, and the wrong ways, to get your sustainability message across.
Next, Jo Confino, Executive Editor and Head of Sustainable Development at the Guardian, kept the audience rapt with his inspiring personal account of bringing sustainability to life at The Guardian.
Jo, Ed, Amy and Richard on LSE panel
This was followed by a Q&A.
Over 180 people attended, and the queue was so long to buy books afterwards that people were overheard saying they’d buy their copy online or at a bookshop later!
Listen to the podcast here!
Other comments on the night included:
‘Inspirational!’
Amy Fetzer Book Signing
‘Empowering’
‘Unlike other talks on sustainability – you really came away feeling like you could make a difference!’
‘Amazing, inspirational speakers!’
‘I’m definitely buying the book!’
‘The launch and lecture were a triumph’
August 26, 2009
Tour of Ogilvy & Mather's new green headquarters
After interviewing Freya Williams from OgilvyEarth for Climb The Green Ladder, we were thrilled to catch up with Freya in person, and to visit the company’s new LEED certified building in New York*.
Freya, a Senior Partner, Planning Director, had already inspired us by helping Ogilvy & Mather launch a green consulting arm and to reduce its business impacts, from introducing double-sided printing to dishing out reusable water bottles.
Now Freya is launching Hopenhagen (www.hopenhagen.org) a high profile campaign which aims to raise awareness of the crucial climate change summit happening in Copenhagen this December (http://en.cop15.dk/).
Freya and her partner, Seth Farbman, have been working with the creative team to raise awareness for event. The Summit in Copenhagen is the culmination of many months of work to get world agreement to mitigate the devastating impacts of carbon emissions.
The opportunity to focus the attention of political and business leaders, as well as motivate more individuals to put pressure on these groups to ratify a world treaty, is of tremendous importance. The scientific community urges us to drastically reduce our carbon emissions in order to lessen the severity of the impacts of climate change.
Hopenhagen aims to be an ‘open source’ campaign using a central website, hopenhagen.org, to drive the debate and awareness and allow users to send messages to the 192 UN delegates attending the meeting.
To get inspired, visit:
http://www.hopenhagen.org/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jun/23/hopenhagen-climate-change-campaign
(*Application for LEED certification is pending but they expect to receive gold level certification.)
August 26, 2009
Amy and Shari premiered the highlights of Climb The Green Ladder and the six key approaches that underpin effective sustainability initiatives, featured in our book.
Our first webinar was conducted in July on Ventureneer.com, an online learning community. It was great fun, and we had fantastic feedback.
This included an invitation to give the presentation live at a ‘Lunch and Learn’ seminar for a major chemical company in September.
Stay tuned for more information on upcoming Climb The Green Ladder web-based seminars.
To find our more about our training programs and ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions, please send us an email and we will be delighted to send you more information.
August 26, 2009
Climb The Green Ladder’s Shari Aaron will be speaking at Green Works Workshop and Festival on September 11th at Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT.
Program Title: Green Business Sense: Why and How to Green Up your Work Life
For more information, visit:
http://ctfolk.com/ctff/greenworks.html
Please send me an email if you are able to attend as it would be great to meet you!
August 3, 2009
Winning Book Cover for Climb The Green Ladder
Great news!
Climb The Green Ladder: Make Your Company and Career More Sustainable is now available to pre-order on Amazon.com as well as Amazon.co.uk!
Just click on the link to pre-order your copy!
May 18, 2009
Amy on Twitter Shari on Twitter
