I want to get something off my chest: "....but are you really green now?" That was the question posed to me at a very recent meeting over a VeeV cocktail. To be more formal, the full context of the quote was "VeeV sounds very progressive with everything you're doing in the space but (are you personally) really green?" This question, and it's not the first time I've gotten this, frankly irks me in many ways. However, I'm going to choose to view the proverbial glass as half full and explain both how I, as a micrcosm of a new group of eco-conscious entrepreneurs, try to answer this question, as well as to what extent I actually consider myself "green."
Simply put, to me it's all about a spectrum. The question isn't black/white or cut/dry, so I think it should actually be rephrased more along the lines of, "Where do you fall in the spectrum of trying to be more 'green'?" This question is still highly subjective, but at least admits to some element of needing/wanting to improve and recognizes that it's a continual process. I remember several years back when I was just getting my feet wet in the green community and I went to a gathering at the home of Lawrence Bender (he of Inconvenient Truth fame). The featured speaker of the evening was Gary Hirschberg, who is the founder of Stoneyfield Farms yogurt and, for my money, one of the pioneers of the modern green movement. Anyway, he got up in front of the group and said "Hi, my name is Gary and I'm a polluter...let's just get that out of the way." At first, I chuckled and brushed this statement off as some type of ice breaker that he regularly used to kick-off these sorts of gatherings. I'm sure that is in fact the case, but after a few minutes of introspection I realized just how profound and fitting this quote was. To have a person up there who has been interested in sustainability and all of its ramifications virtually his whole life stand there and humanize himself the way he did and admit that he, and his company Stoneyfield Farms, both have a long way to go was truly cathartic. People like Gary have helped to remove the soapbox stigma from the green movement and allow it to be inclusive and forgiving, much like a religion (not trying to open Pandora's Box but hopefully you understand the intended analogy). As a counter example, let's look at former Vice-President Al Gore. Clearly he's done as much or more than anyone for a very long time, but when the news erupted about the astronomical CO2 admissions at his house in Tennessee I felt like he was very defensive and alienating towards the average American who is still getting up to speed on all things 'green.' Granted, it was a catch-22 in many ways, but I feel like if he could have been a bit more forthright as to why his house utilizes so many fossil fuels and admitted some culpability and room for improvement it might have endeared him to more people.
Let's get back to this idea of the spectrum. Whether it's our employees at VeeV or friends I'm speaking with more casually, I always try to emphasize that there's no line in the sand that needs to be drawn. Little things can truly make a big difference. I'm always blown away by eco-tidbits, such as recycling a single aluminum can runs an average television set for 4 hours. How crazy is that? For anyone that has never done anything to purposely minimize their carbon footprint, let's just start with something that mundane since there's a good chance that you drink pop (that's right, I'm from the Midwest originally (Chicago) so we say "pop"...live with it). Anyways, whether you drink it at work or at home, if you start recycling that can at one or the other, I can almost guarantee that it will have a spillover effect. For me, it was the opposite of most people in that my company VeeV was the catalyst for many changes in my personal life. It started with that little voice in my head saying things like 'even if you recycle that paper at work, you still need to do it at home or the airport...even if it is a small amount of paper.' That's right, I swear on my life I'm that guy that does not throw away any paper when I'm traveling on the airplane (which I do a lot) because you know they don't recycle it even when they say they do. At first the temptation was strong to unload a couple of pounds of paper from my briefcase that was already probably 25 lbs or more. But eventually you realize that it's worth the sacrifice or the few extra minutes until you find a recycling bin and that's how the work changes start to permeate your personal life and vice versa to the point where it's all a continuum.
As a larger corporate example, many people have heard about Wal-mart's grand plans to revolutionize green and make sweeping changes given their position at the top of the food chain, yet many are skeptical that these changes are being enacted. Having some insider knowledge I personally think that Wal-mart is headed in the right direction, but without passing judgment I can actually tell you that they have had a profound impact on my company with a simple thing that they call employee PSP's (Personal Sustainability Projects) or D.O.T. (Do One Thing). The idea is aimed at making the smallest changes, having it become habit and then watching the compounding effect of millions of people making small changes take over. At VeeV, it manifests itself as part of our quarterly bonus system which certainly helps it sink in. We keep it simple and ask every employee to come up with one personal and one work PSP goal much the way they get new sales goals each quarter. There are a few PSP's that are better not put into writing but they can be things like 'take shorter showers to conserve water' (personal) and 'check my tire pressure once a week because I drive a lot for work and I get 2 more mpg when the tire pressure is optimized' (work). As you can see, we keep these very free form and try not to put restrictions on them because the point of the exercise is really just to make people think about habits they have, how they can modify them, and where that moves them on the spectrum.
Does the fact that I traded my SUV for a Prius and take much shorter showers make me "green?" Of course not...but it's definitely a step in the right direction and I'll get up tomorrow trying to move one step closer to my desired end of the green spectrum. I doubt I'll ever quite get there all together but that's fine, too.
I'd encourage other folks to comment on ways their personal and professional lives have impacted their position on the "green spectrum."