One Man’s Vision Of A Greener Oil Industry

Sam Wurzelbacher had his moment after a serendipitous encounter with Barack Obama and Joe The Plumber was born, and given a platform.

We now take for granted the opportunities technologies like social media create. These days almost everybody is a click away, and sometimes the big names even respond in person. Now, if we can better connect those at grassroots with ideas and real experiences with those in positions of power and influence we should be able to accelerate change.

If Sam Wurzelbacher is Joe The Plumber, then please meet the irrepressible  Barry Slater or ‘Joe The Oil Worker‘, a Tour Pusher / Supervisor of Drilling Operations with 18 years of experience in the oil industry.

Thanks to a connection via Ian Berry of Differencemakers I spoke to Barry to explore what help in any way  I could offer, and I do like a challenge.

Please take 3 mins to read through the very brief Q&A below and maybe give Barry a step up to create change in an industry that needs it.

Describe your career / industry experiences:

“I’ve worked in the industry for 18 years, have 100% safe working history ,was educated in my early days good practices and principles and have followed them throughout, sadly during this time I’ve frequently crossed paths with the lawbreakers in the industry and additionally stood up against them and at this time being of a junior position seem to find that my position has then been terminated, albeit and additionally without proper investigation , on a positive note the higher I reach in the industry which I’m still climbing, my discipline then allows myself to implement standards which will always allow 100% compliance to safety and environmental  procedures.”

What is your big idea?

“My big ideas would dramatically reduce the oil industry’s carbon footprint and believe that I can allow offshore vessels to become almost self-sustainable.

Watch This Video And Don’t Worry About Climate Change

My briefest post ever.

Watch this video and don’t think about climate change this week:

 

 

 

Still think it’s all unrelated?

Words feel irrelevant.

What will our climate gift us next year?

 

 

 

 

 

A Great Small Green Book

Book Review:

The Three Secrets of Green Business

 

If you’re part of a small business in the UK and want an easy to read yet comprehensive guide to green business, go no further, even forget Google searches, this is it.

I have been known to be less than complimentary towards some books and guides allegedly aimed at the SME market, as many don’t genuinely understand their intended audience.

Gareth’s tone and content are perfect for many time poor managers pushed into dealing with today’s growing green pressures, and usually with little previous experience of environmental management.

Any book that is confident enough to use words as accessible as ‘stuff’ and ‘jollies’ (i.e. an indulgent unnecessary business trip) whilst remaining authoritative works for me.

Green Business Blog Carnival #4

Hello to week #4 of the Green Business Blog Carnival, a fun fair of green business news travelling across the blogosphere helping to spread the good word.

Below you’ll find links to some great content on this week’s sustainable business related topics from respected bloggers.

Let’s get on with the show…

Hitting hard at the Test Your Strength is David Wheat Science In Action – Often debates about climate policy come down to ”My experts can beat up your experts”. This research shows that there are objective measurements that can reveal which experts are more expert, and therefore should be given more weight in guiding policy. (Not that policy is driven by experts–it’s politics.)

In the House of Mirrors is HaraBara Green – Big quantities are sometimes hard to grasp. When you hear that millions of gallons of crude are spilling in the Gulf, how much is that really? Professor James Corbett of the University of Delaware has done the math in a creative way. Your could drive your car for 100,000 years on gas made from the oil spilled so far.

Carrying his Goldfish is Jeff McIntire-Strasburg at Sustainablog – St. Louis-based Practecol just launched its line of “eco-frugal” products designed to help consumers save money and the planet.

Spotlight on Africa: Coaching for Conservation

March has definitely been a month of sport around these parts. Meetings at a Premier League club, Sport and Social Responsibility Summit, Beyond Sport application deadline extensions and most importantly I actually made time to start running again!

I recently wrote a post about a great UK based social enterprise I’m involved with called Kick 4 Change and how they are engaging in proceedings for the forthcoming World Cup in South Africa.

Today I want to take a quick look at a grassroots sport project engaging local communities in Africa itself, in Botswana to be more specific.

Small Business, Low Carbon: High Potential

I spotted one of my favourite examples of CSR in smaller business included in a pretty good You Tube video.

Adnams, a brewery that produces, wait for it, a ‘carbon neutral’  beer (not tried it yet – Adnams, are you reading this?  hint). I often use them as a case study when presenting the opportunity that is CSR to small and medium sized (SME) business audiences. They even got a few big smiles during a seminar I delivered for a Turkish Chamber of Commerce a couple of weeks ago! Carbon neutrality aside, the hidden gem in this story is not green beer, it is that Tesco, the giant retailer asked Adnams if it was possible to produce a eco-friendly beer. Please dont underestimate the role reversal in this story. Literally thousands of businesses try unsuccessfully to tempt Tesco into stocking their product every year, that the retailer went to Adnams because of their reputation – one sizable vote for CSR!

Anyway, I digress, for a change. Back to the video…

Apart from the epitomy of polished corporate smugness that is Truett Tate from Lloyds Banking Group, it’s not bad at all – shame there had to be a bank in their scraping at rebuilding their reputation.

I would also wholeheartedly endorse Business in the Community’s Mayday Network for any smaller businesses out there. Get involved! It’s free and offers some great opportunities to network (the name gives it away), learn and position your company.

… and yes Coethica has signed the Copenhagen Communique - have you?

A Green Football Pitch?

Here are a few questions about professional football (or soccer to those in the USA) that have piqued my CSR interest recently and need answering.

• 29.9 million* people attended a professional game in the UK last season – That’s one hell of a carbon footprint. How big is it, who cares and what is being done?

• Football related media is now dominated by gambling, alcohol and fast food brands – Is it really the right image for its large impressionable younger audience?

• Financial sustainability – How has football dealt with the recession and the impact of the  influx of foreign ownership?

• Community projects – Football is quite aloof about its community programmes but is it just shallow PR or inefficient waste of money?

* Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance 2009

 

Let’s get one thing straight from the start, football is not by any stretch of the imagination the best training ground for great business leaders with vision. As soon as you walk into the entrance of any football facility the ‘mist’ descends. It has improved, but football is still awash with tribalism and an over abundance of testosterone effecting decisions. Football has the power to attract even the sanest people into roles that frequently churn up employees and spit them out onto the surreal merry-go-round within the industry. Ever seen a job advertised for a football club? Elvis gets spotted more.

I’ll get through each of the questions over a couple of posts throughout the season and keep one eye on any potential influence coming from the World Cup 2010 in South Africa and the London Olympics 2012.

 

Let’s start with the biggest picture…

Climate change and football – nope, you’ve probably never heard that combination of words before or will anytime soon. Considering the industry’s global impact and size of audience that scares and saddens me. Environmental issues only rarely make it onto the team sheet. Here are a few direct significant aspects that football collectively needs to immediately deliver improvements on:

• 29.9 million journeys to and from stadia, with many by car. Clubs don’t care how fans get there, just how they spend their cash when they do.

• Millions of pies warmed, beers chilled and match-day programmes & tickets printed, plus undersoil heating and floodlights all burning fuel.

• Millions of litres of water required for a 92 stadium pitches in addition to hundreds of acres of training and Academy facilities.

• 29.9 million people all flushing a toilet (but not at the same time – although sometimes the queues suggest otherwise).

• Thousands of tonnes of beer bottles, pie trays, soft drink cans, waste food, used tickets and merchandise wrapping mostly sent to landfill.

…and that is without considering the impact of suppliers and contractors, local authorities, Police, and hundreds of match day staff.

 

The biggest problem for the environment from football is that nobody is taking responsibility. The Clubs themselves should but I’ve already touched on the lack of foresight at most managerial (of administration not playing staff) levels. To avoid getting a yellow card here, I have to say that some clubs have taken their first steps, but not many at all, and not far enough. You’re lucky to unearth a basic environmental policy, so don’t bother looking for ISO 14001. Clubs only care about the traditional revenue streams not the ones with water in them.

It isn’t high on the strategy radar of the governing bodies either, and it can get quite confusing who does what (or would like to) out of the Premier League, Football Association, Professional Footballers Association, Football League and other peripheral organisations. As footballs largest single financier, SKY TV does proclaim carbon neutrality, so maybe they should give the clubs a half time roasting in the changing room. I’d pay to watch that in HD.

Business in the Community tried to influence the sporting world with their ‘Clubs That Count’ programme, which I advised on during the early stages but alas, that sadly fizzled out after only a couple of years due to a lack of interest from the clubs. I was always keen on a community / environment / ethical league competition but the rest of the clubs didn’t want to be on the bottom of any table!

Somebody needs to grab those running the game by the scruff of the neck and enforce improvement across all environmental areas. Football is mistaken to think that by doing, in real terms, a mediocre job of community engagement (which could be so much more inclusive and effective) it can offset their other responsibilities.

There is no extra-time for the enviroment, only penalties.

Update – Green Denial Amongst Smaller Business

To further reinforce the small business denial / avoidance of environmental management here is further evidence. This time legislation and taxes are surveyed as incentives to improve impact:

 

“Small businesses are divided over how effective green taxes are at promoting good environmental practices, a new survey has revealed.

The study, ‘Business and the Environment’, was carried out on behalf of the UK200Group by Middlesex University.

Almost a half of respondents (45 per cent) said that they agreed or strongly agreed that green taxes are a good way of encouraging businesses to adopt policies protective of the environment.

A similar split occurred on the issue of environmental regulation. Some 53 per cent agreed or strongly agreed with creating additional legislation to improve the environment, while 42 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed.

Many firms, however, only have a broad idea of the existing environmental legislation as it applies to their business operations. While about half could recall the general thrust of environmental laws, only 45 per cent could name the relevant regulations.

Acting on their environmental concerns also appeared problematic for many firms.

The priority given to staff training (51 per cent) and to health and safety (46 per cent) outweighed reducing energy costs (a priority for 28 per cent of the firms polled) and cutting waste (21 per cent).

Asked whether they had green policies in place setting out their environmental aims and procedures, almost six out of ten (58 per cent) reported that they did not.”

 

Ok, hitting peoples wallets, or company finances is one way to reduce environmental impact, and yes, the other half will always shout vociferously about additional red tape and administrative burden,  but any successful approach has to be carrot AND stick.

For me the heart of the problem lies in the question. If you ask an entrepreneur about the risks of environmental legislation you can guarantee a defensive response. The question (and therefore prompt) should be about environmental opportunities, i.e. how can your business tap into emerging green markets, can your product be a example of low carbon good practice, how can you exploit your environmental credentials to improve your brand position, etc.?

As I said in the initial post, entrepreneurs are by their nature immensely creative types, so why isn’t more effort centred on using this wealth of talent? Yet another example of the clash of cultures between private and public sectors.

Green Denial Amongst Smaller Businesses

Houston, we have a problem, and I mean we ALL have a problem.

The UK Environment Agency yesterday reported that more than 50% (from a sample of 7000) of small and medium sized businesses said “an environmental policy was of ‘no use’ to their business in the current climate.” The same research also showed a fall in the appreciation about their environmental impact.

Did you know approximately 99% of businesses in developed countries are small or medium sized? In the UK that means 59% (14 million people) of private sector employees and 52% (£1450 billion) private sector turnover in the UK. The potential scale and therefore impact of this problem, if such apathy within UK small and medium enterprises (SME) is similar around the globe it would be too depressing to comprehend. How much scarce energy, water and materials are being wasted in the name of economic survival?

Instead of blaming China and the rest of the developing world for all the future environmental damage how about picking on your neighbourhood hairdresser, restaurant, printers, taxi cab or plumber?

I’ve been banging on SME doors for a few years now trying by hook or by crook to plant ethical seeds by pushing a entrepreneurial approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (only very quietly whispering the C word, if at all) with the environment right at the top of my get-a-foot-in-the-door benefit list and it’s been bloody hard work. “You can save on costs, avoid fines, reduce waste, inspire employees, improve air quality, enhance energy security, appease investors, differentiate, save the planet, JUST DO IT”, you name it,  I’ve tried every possible approach to every personality type to sell the green message with mixed results. Unfortunately in the real world there are too many people who just don’t care, or those with too much on their plate that very second to see the bigger picture unfolding across today’s media. To be fair most people don’t yet have the ability to translate the abstract concept of climate change to their own local scenario but that shouldn’t allow a breeding ground for apathy.

In SME speak it’s about answering the same old question, “What’s in it for me?” and in particular, this week. I know that times are hard for businesses of every size and survival is key, but I fear too many individuals are using the struggling economy as their latest excuse to avoid environmental responsibility. I’m also fed up with the majority of public sector business support agencies and their employees trying to engage with time poor entrepreneurs with little or no effect. They simply don’t communicate in the same language.

Now here’s the good news…

SME’s could save us all! The sheer volume of creativity, passion, invention, risk taking, innovation and stubbornness available within smaller businesses is ideal for finding solutions to difficult problems. We are already seeing SME fruit beared across the environmental technology sectors, but how do we inspire those who feel no daily tangible connection to our communal environmental woes such as the plumber, hairdresser, taxi driver or printer? Smaller businesses are a very tough audience but in my experience the biggest cynics can become your best champions, they just need a little personal attention.

You mission should you decide to accept it, is to challenge one local small business to take one extra green step and here’s a few ideas from an earlier blog from the series on CSR for Smaller Businesses.

Let me know how you get on, the economy and the planet depends on it.

CSR for Smaller Business – Getting Organised

A few months back I decided to summarise Coethica’sexperiences of supporting smaller business using CSR to help their bottom line.

The idea at the start was to demonstrate how you can quickly and inexpensively add value to your business by using concepts found within the CSR agenda.

The suggestions have been practical, easy to understand and requiring minimum financial and time investment. I’d like to bring it all together to begin to look at a more strategic approach and widen your business radar. This is where the real value of being an ethical and responsible business lies.

Initiatives are great but by understanding the bigger picture a little more you can start to embed a more efficient and profitable ethos across your company, your supply chain and to your customers.

The previous posts focused on:

• 10 Top CSR Tips
• Environment
• Suppliers
• Community Engagement
• Employees
• Communication

 

To take your own CSR journey to the next stage you need to begin to properly coordinate your efforts:

Step 1

Create an internal working group of enthusiastic and talented people. Ideally you would include combinations of the following formal responsibilities dependant on your organisation; A senior manager (Chief Executive or Managing Director), financial, health & safety, human resources, and marketing.

In addition to these formal roles you would benefit with people with the following skills, experience or passions: Environment, charities / non-profits, people (company gossip can be a good choice – but be careful!), AND somebody from the coal face of your company i.e receptionist, warehouse, sales floor, call centre, etc (great opportunity to identify and nurture talent).

Even if your group only has two or three of these don’t worry it’s a start.

 

Step 2

Ensure the company has a realistic value / mission statement. If not, create one.

This is important as you need to be able to demonstrate your motives. It will also help you formulate your plan. It can be as simple as a list of keywords or short sentences important to the business, even the over used ones like honesty, integrity, people focused, transparency, eco-friendly, accessible, good neighbours. Pick those that are genuine and applicable both internally and externally.

 

Step 3

Get the group to list all potential commercial risks and opportunities (maybe already available) and then look again through environmental and social eyes to explore any missed or undervalued issues.

 

Step 4

Prioritise stakeholders, issues and appropriate training for your employees.

 

Step 5

What would you call success in 6 months? Set basic targets, i.e. measure energy saved / used, record volunteer hours, log media coverage, cost reductions, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, productivity, accreditation etc. Choose data that is relevant and appropriate to your plan and your business.

 

Step 6

Get on with it for 6 months (maybe a bi-monthly working group meeting to start with?) Keep basic records that you will find useful to measure your return on invested time and finance but don’t get hung up on too much detail for now. Just do it.

 

Step 7

Evaluate what worked and what wasn’t as successful, review and start again from Step 2.

 

Step 8

Enjoy benefits and communicate all the way along!

 

As you become more organised and attempt to better manage your environmental and social impacts you’ll need to look at additional investment of time and money. Like any other commercial decision always use a return in investment approach, BUT try to use longer term planning periods and consider the bigger picture. It really isn’t all about the money.

 

If you’ve enjoyed these posts please click the RSS button on the top of  right menu bar.

I’d also love to hear from those that have used these suggestions and the benefits you’ve seen. Either leave a comment on here or send me an email direct to david.connor@coethica.com