How did Ford save 35 million going green?

How did Ford save 35 million going green?
Answer: by following the design concept developed by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart  called Cradle to Cradle or Waste = Food. Watch the video and be very inspired.

At its most basic it is about including the concept of composting or re-use of materials right into the manufacturing process at the design stage. Or as they put it, producing goods that can be re-used either by the biosphere or the technosphere, thus eliminating the problems of waste entirely. Get it??  I hope so, 'cause its pretty exciting!! No waste. No landfill. No problem.

As a designer, I know about the idea of  sustainable forestry. The concept was once explained to me this way. If everyone in the world agreed to use only recycled paper/wood products tomorrow, we would run out of recycled materials in one week. Ultimately recycling isn't the answer to our waste problem, because its not actually sustainable. That's where sustainable forestry comes in. Trees are planted and cut down for their use. And more trees are planted upon harvesting to keep the forest flourishing. That's the simplified, nutshell version. However, the concept of Cradle to Cradle is even more exciting to me. As Michael Braungart put it, "sustainable is the bear minimum".

So let me get back to the Cradle to Cradle idea and Ford for one moment.

Here are specific examples of one aspect of what Cradle to Cradle meant to Ford when they set out to re-tool one of their plants. Water run off was filtered by their "green" rooftops (designed to be a meadow for birds and bees). This rooftop saves Ford money on maintenance (there is less degradation on such rooftops). The meadow rooftop helps better regulate heat and cooling within the building iteslf, thus saving on heating and air conditioning costs. It saved a bundle of money by eliminating the need for a water purification process. Nature does the job by purifying the runoff water on the roof before returning it to the land. And it so happens that humans enjoy working in plants designed with these concepts in mind because such buildings require more natural light and natural airflow to achieve some of the other cost savings. The fact that the building is a pleasure to work in saves money on sick days, and employee turn-over. Bottom line, Ford saved 35 million dollars by redesigning their plant with Cradle to Cradle thinking. Now that's exciting! And if you watch the video, and I hope you do - you'll see that Ford isn't the only business taking notice.

Reduce, reuse, recycle – sustainable forestry, Cradle to Cradle – Waste = Food. Some provocative ideas to consider for your business and the future of the planet.

Crazy fun with Social Media - FaceBook for business?? Really?

This post is about using FaceBook (FB) for business. It's more about logistics than strategy. I thought I'd share some of my decision making process/experimentation here because I know other multi-talented business owners are also grappling with questions of how to manage online identities and how to use FB for business.

I've just set up two business "pages" for my businesses. I did that because I decided I really want to use FB mostly for keeping in touch with friends and family. Now when business contacts ask to be my friend on FB, I can say, "please become a "fan" of my business, I'm using FB for staying in touch with friends and family".

However, I may live to regret my choice! Keeping up with two profiles will be twice the work. I'm also an artist with a separate website for my pet portraits - so now three times the work. You see the problem!

First of all, FB was designed for you to stay in touch with friends and family. That is how FB wants you to use their service. If you solicit business directly, this will probably cause you to violate FB's terms of use, and they may well delete your profile - no questions asked, no warnings given. So keep that in mind. That being said, there are some recommended best practices about how to use FB for business. (In fact, let me give a shout out to Social Media Magic University (SMMU) and Jennifer Shaheen who teach this stuff).

Now, some people want to use FB exclusively for business. That means they use it for business networking. Their profile is more professionally focused. They aren't soliciting business directly as much as they are building relationships, demonstrating expertise and sharing information of value. For those who don't want to use facebook for keeping up with friends and family, the choice is pretty easy.

The issue that many people face howerver is - what if I want to do both - keep up with family, and also connect around business?? Like myself. Well here are some of our choices:

1. Use a single profile to represent yourself and your business. Intermingle business, family and friends and just determine in advance how you want to balance both and post to your wall with that in mind. You can use the privacy settings to help control what is seen on your wall and by whom. This option is recommended by many experts simply because managing a number of different profiles - one for personal and one for business can be hard to keep up with.
2. The next option is to use your personal profile for friends and family and set up a FB "page" to represent your business. Here are both of my pages for examples Carol Hillson Creative on FB and Carol's Pet Portraits on FB. To set up a business "page" click on the "advertising" link at the very bottom of the page, and then click on the "pages" link at the top of that page. (They don't make it easy!) This approach is actually what FB wants you to do with business. A "page" is a lot like a personal profile, except you invite "fans" rather than "friends" and it has analytics to help you measure the impact of your posts and or marketing efforts.
3. You can also start a group for your business - however, groups are meant more for facilitating discussions and there are no analytics. 

I'll keep you posted if I think I made the right choice. The jury is certainly out for now.

To be continued...

Dr. Riane Eisler speaking at the UN Sept 16, 2009

I saw Dr. Eisler speak in D.C., she was truly inspiring. I couldn't find a link with the information about her upcoming engagement in NYC, so I'm using my blog as a place to host the info and spread the word. If you can attend, you will be happy you did.

The Real Wealth of Nations: From Global Warming to Global partnerships
Sponsored by Grenada
In preparation for the One Day Summit on Climate Change

September 16th
1:15-2:45pm
Conference Room 1
United Nations Headquarters

Dr. Riane Eisler
World Renowned Speaker and Author

Dr. Riane Eislers’s newest book, The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics – hailed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as “a template for the better world we have been so urgently seeking,” by Peter Senge as “desperately needed,” and by Jane Goodall as “a call for action” – proposes a new approach to economics that gives visibility and value to the most essential human work: the work of caring for people and planet.

Please contact  Derek Nelson for registration at dnelson5@stu.edu or at 305-890-9349 (email preferred)