Austin, Texas:  Last week, President Obama announced an “all of the above” energy strategy, which would include more drilling, a new look at the Keystone XL pipeline project, as well as alternative forms of energy.

Although energy has become politicized over the past few decades, I think a realistic approach like this is the only true way to make progress.

Life is all about compromise, and if we can increase drilling in a safe manner, improve fracking technology, reduce risk of nuclear accidents, then the “all of the above” strategy is ideal.  But safety must come first.

We need to quit blocking projects just to please one party and start looking at the various options with a more open mind.

America will not stop using oil for many decades, so we must consider drilling in addition to solar, biofuels, wind power, nuclear, natural gas and other options.

Let’s challenge our country’s brightest minds to find ways to increase output of all these energy forms, while reducing costs and increasing safety.

Let’s not pick winners and losers.  Let’s hope that they can all succeed.

After all, today, railroads and ships still compete with airlines and trucks for commercial freight business. It doesn’t have to be a winner take all.

All of the above? I think it makes the most sense.

Here’s to a greener tomorrow, today.
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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Austin, Texas I saw T. Boone Pickens speak a few years back on the importance of water as a natural and national treasure and his concern for its growing scarcity. In Austin, Texas, for example, our lakes are down about 20 feet from their typical depths due to severe droughts over the past few years.

When it comes to thinking about water, there is often some confusion between renewable and unlimited resources.

Water is a renewable necessity, yet humans treat it as an unlimited resource, which it is not.

People use excessive amounts of water every single day, making it difficult for water to replenish itself at the rate that we use it. Although 70% of earth’s surface is water, 97% of that is salt water. Only 3% is fresh water.

A company called elocal, shared with me this accompanying image and facts.

Between doing dishes, washing clothes and watering our grass, thousands of gallons of water is wasted each year. For example, one household in the U.S. uses 127,000 gallons of water per year.

However, if a family used low-flow fixtures on the faucets, washing machine, shower head and toilet, a household could save 40,000 gallons of water per year. If every home also adopted these same fixtures, we could save 2 trillion gallons of water, worth over $4 billion dollars! As the population continues to grow, we need to think smart and start conserving now before it is too late. We encourage you to start the change in your community.

Think before wasting water.  Encourage your family and friends to use it wisely.

Water is not an unlimited resource.
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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Austin, Texas: I’ve been blogging about green issues and green marketing for nearly four years and the dialog and discussions I have received have been invaluable.  I seem to “get” more thaan I “give” — that is the power of social media.

I encourage all my followers to start their own blogs  – or at least continue to reply to my blog postings and to keep informed of green issues.

With Earth Day less than 2 months away, I look forward to increased conversations on eco marketing issues and how to best promote environmental outreach.

To open up more channels, I encourage everyone to also keep up with me on Twitter and on Facebook.

I welcome ideas, thoughts and comments from my Twitter account, which you can get to here.

Like me on Facebook so we can also have a dialog on that platform.

Thank you for continuing to read my blog posts over the years — and I look forward to continuing to reach you on this blog, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Five Ideas to Consider to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint While Doing Direct Mail

Austin, Texas: As a marketing person who promotes environmental causes and education and is also aware of our role in corporate social responsibility, can we utilize direct mail in our marketing mix?

I was doing a self-promotion piece for our company when this quandary came up.

We are totally against “junk mail” — which in our definition is any unsolicited mail that has a high probability of ending up in the trash/landfill.

Therefore, we reduced our print catalog to a digital catalog with page-flip technology several years ago, as I had mentioned in a previous blog post.  This has saved thousands of trees from being destroyed and prevented countless thousand of catalogs from ending up in a landfill.

Sure, we give out bamboo USB drives to our better clients with this digital catalog burned onto it. But this is too expensive for direct mail.

In the end, after much deliberation, we decided to send out a series of three 4″ x 6.25″ postcards made from recycled paper to our top 2,500 clients, one every three weeks, the first one shown to promote a new website.

We looked at FSC-certified postcards, but decided to use recycled materials, as no new trees had to be destroyed for this marketing effort.

In addition, we are giving away 1,000 live tree seedlings to a non–profit organization for Earth Day, to help offset the carbon footprint of this campaign.

As a green marketer, it is important to consider your entire carbon footprint  - but also to understand that we must continue to build our businesses in order to succeed and grow.

Growth and profits should not be dirty words in the green community.

Good stewardship is crucial– and there is a fine balancing act that must be done to on a continuous basis in order to be true to your core values.

Before doing your next marketing campaign, consider its impact on the environment.

Ask yourself the following questions:

1) Can you reduce the size of your print catalog?

2) Are you using recycled or FSC-certified paper?

3) Are you mailing only to a select group of pre-screened customers and prospects — or are you using the shotgun method, where a majority of your pieces will end up unread in the trash?

4) Can you use a postcard mailer instead of a full print catalog?   You might even be able to use this postcard to have recipients scan a QR code or go online to request your full catalog.

5) Are you using lumpy mail?  Lumpy mail is a direct mail piece that is packaged with a promotional product or sample that makes the package feel like there is something inside of it, which often increases open rates.  If so, is the promotional item made from recycled materials and is the packaging recycled and/or easily recyclable?

Don’t stop promoting your business.  But do consider all alternatives before embarking on your next campaign.

Otherwise, your direct mail pieces will be viewed as poorly as the unused phone books that are tossed on your front door step each year.

Here’s to a greener tomorrow, today.

PS Please share with me how you have reduced your direct mail and the impact it has made on your bottom line.

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Austin, Texas: As the year comes to a close, it is time to take a look back at your marketing efforts to see if you met your green marketing goals.

As an eco-marketing company, you must be at the forefront of green technology,  waste reduction, recycling and other green initiatives.

Take a look back to see if you can pinpoint measurable reductions in paper usage, miles driven by you and your fellow employees, energy reductions in running your business, supply chain mandates, etc.

Talk to your employees about other areas where you can achieve energy savings, whether it be as simple as thermostat changes and weatherization or more profound and deeper changes.

As the new year approaches, take time to see where you can lead on environmental causes, promote green outreach programs and motivate and inspire your employees, your customers, your vendors and the general public.

Look over your marketing materials to see how you can educate your audience both on the value of your greener product or service, but also on environmental issues in general.

Be sure to practice what you preach in terms of using recycled paper for print, as well as using recycled promotional products to carry your branded message.

Going green cannot be a one-person plan. Be sure your employees are actively behind your green initiatives and agenda.

Did you reach the goal of 10% energy reduction in 2011?

If not, let’s double down and make it happen in 2012.

If so, can you achieve 11% reduction this year?

Keep striving for a greener planet.

We’re all in it together.

Happy New Year!

May 2012 be the greenest one yet.

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Austin, Texas: Noted author Seth Godin wrote a blog post today talking about how a movement actually happens one person at a time.

He says, “Products and services succeed one person at a time, as the word slowly spreads. Customers defect one person at a time, as hearts are broken and people are disappointed. Doors open, sure, but not all at once. One at a time.”

Too many people view the green movement as a whole, as an entity, without thinking about how people come to join the movement — one at a time. Or how they leave a movement.

The key to a greener planet is education and outreach.

As young children are taught more about the hazards of climate change and understand how decisions they make can impact their carbon footprint, they will tell others. And lead by example.

Other students will catch on, as will some of their parents and grandparents.

After time, the movement snowballs – as it gains momentum.

Resistance will fade over time, just as other movements, such as Civil Rights, Women’s Suffrage, etc. have ceased to be the major wedge issues in this country.

But always remember, to promote the Green Movement, one needs to practice outreach and education.

One person at a time.

As Seth Godin says, “One at a time is a little anticlimactic … but one at a time is how we win and how we lose.”

Are you continually practicing green outreach?
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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Austin, Texas:  Companies of all sizes are talking about corporate culture these days.

But are your employees all on the same track? If not, how can they positively shape your brand?

As more and more companies open up their social media to all employees, it is imperative that each employee buys into your agenda, so that your corporate culture can be expressed freely, but with a clear understanding.

For green businesses and organizations that are going green, it is crucial that when hiring, you seek employees that understand and appreciate the green movement, and understand global warming, sustainability and how mankind impacts these issues.

Ask questions to uncover their thoughts on these important green issues.

What are their thoughts on global warming?

See what kind of car they drive.

Discuss your corporate culture and be sure the buy into it.

A company is only as good as their weakest link.

Without complete buy-in, this employee might engage with customers online, in person, at a trade show or on the phone or with peers — and their message may not be in sync with your own.

Each employee must truly understand and believe in your green mission in order to spread your culture.

Take time before hiring your next employee.  Instill in them your green mission, your corporate goals — and make sure they are in alignment.

This is true from everyone from the shipping clerk to your bookkeeper, and everyone in between.

Corporate culture shapes brand culture.

Keep training and instilling your green mission and culture into your employees. Brand it into your employees as much, if not more, than you brand it to your customers.

A green corporate culture must be nurtured.  It cannot be a one time event, or mentioned and promoted only for your annual Earth Day celebration.

It must be a part of how your company does business. It must be a part of your company’s footprint and brand identity.

And it must be part of your employees personal beliefs.

Shape those already on board for buy-in.

And make sure all new hires understand and agree with your corporate green mission and stance on sustainability and environmental agenda.

I am all for diversity in a workforce.  Political parties, race, religion, age — variety is the spice of life and it is good to have a broad mix.

But if your employees do not believe in your green agenda, they can unintentionally subvert your mission and show your company in a poor light during customer interactions.

What kind of questions are you asking your new hires to make sure they want to be a part of your green business?

Please share them with me.  I’d like to know.

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Robert Piller, president of Eco Marketing Solutions, is experienced in green marketing campaigns and recycled promotional products.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Austin, Texas: As I watch the Republican Presidential debates over the past few weeks, I am amazed at  the lack of commitment by any candidate on most major issues.

Answers  by all seem to be vague, ambiguous and wishy-washy.  There is certainly no passion that comes across to the viewing public.

Is this like your company’s stand on the environment–vague, ambiguous and wishy-washy?

People can easily cut through this B.S. and tell that you are not truly committed.

Green Washing?  No, too many companies do Green Lying, where they knowingly are not green but pretend to be.

If you are a green marketer or an organization going green, how are you living that commitment?

Jut by having the word “green” or “environmentally-friendly” on you packaging or in your mission statement doesn’t make you a green company.

Where is your passion?

How is your company reducing its energy consumption?

How are you reducing packaging waste?

How are you encouraging car pooling by your employees, inspiring greener procedures at work and changing your green lifestyle?

Going green is like fitness….. you need to be committed to it in order to be successful.

Show some passion to the green movement and get involved.

Practice what you preach.

Live the lifestyle.

Your organization will gain a great deal more credibility..and your commitment will show.

I’ll vote for that!
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Robert Piller, president of Eco Marketing Solutions, is experienced in green marketing campaigns and recycled promotional products.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Going Green: An Interesting Tale

Austin, Texas: I get an email the other day –which I thought was hysterical about th previous genrations understanding of “going green”.

It was very humorous.

Here it is–verbatim:

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.

The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”

The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment.”

He was right — our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right.

We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw-away kind.

We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.

Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn’t have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power.

We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right; we didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances.

And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

Just goes to show, that everyone’s point of view of what comprises “green” or “conservation” may be in the eye of the beholder.

Let’s all find ways to be greener – without any name calling or without the passing of judgment.
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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, is experienced in green marketing campaigns and a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.

Business should both Buy American and Go Green at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive.

Austin, Texas: Marketers are constantly looking for the next “big thing” to help promote their brand or message.

For the past five years, it has been green.  

Who hasn’t heard the term “going green” or “sustainability” bandied about in sales meetings, on websites and print ads, in direct marketing campaigns, in mission statements–everywhere.  

Many of the companies that have been going green have been truly working to reduce their carbon footprint and reduce energy consumption.  Kudos to them.

Others liked it because “green” was hot and a way to differentiate themselves from their competition.

Now, with being and acting “green” the cost of entry for most companies, eco marketing, or green marketing, may not have the impact that it once had.

So, what is next?

Red. White. Blue.

That’s right. Buy American.  Old Glory. Patriotism.

Like going green, buying American is a good thing.  It will create more manufacturing jobs in this country, which our economy really needs.

It has already begun.

Personally, our company has seen a tremendous uptick in the number of American-made tote bags, wearables and water bottles that we have been selling these past few months.

As more and more factories produce these goods, prices will surely drop and the difference in cost from an overseas product will get closer to the cost of an American-made product, especially when you add in such other costs as ocean or air freight and turnaround time.

I am all for the Buy American mantra.  I, like most businesses here, prefer to support American jobs and grow our economy.

But, in five years, after the American flag emblem appears on everyone’s products and websites, what will be next?

Is red, white and blue the next green?

I hope so. I think so.

But please don’t abandon green.

Whether it is your marketing niche, unique selling proposition, or just the way you do business,  let’s continue to reduce climate change and continue to Think Green.

We should be able to be green and patriotic at the same time.

After all, what is more patriotic than leaving a greener planet to our families and neighbors?

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Robert Piller, President of Eco Marketing Solutions, has over 25 years of experience in running and implementing green marketing campaigns and is a leader in the recycled promotional products industry, including offering one of the largest selections of reusable and organic tote bags, recycled and biodegradable water bottles, recycled pens and pencils in the country.

His company’s website, EcoMarketingSolutions.com, features over 25,000 eco-friendly promotional items in all price ranges, for any business or organization interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find biodegradable, organic and recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame.

You can also reach him by email (robert (at) ecomarketingsolutions.com) or comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com or below at his Twitter link.