photo: George Riley

One of the founding principles of earthscreen is that saving the planet should not be viewed as a sacrifice: that we need to underscore the benefits of a sustainable planet and go about seeking change from that perspective. We've been stressing this point since 2004.

NPR today released an article about how quick we are to reduce gas consumption when prices are high but that we jump right back into our SUVs once the prices come down.

Instead, they say they need something more fundamental to motivate people. So efficiency boosters are turning to social marketers to find out how to change energy consumption habits. Social marketing is the use of public media to get people to make the right choices for society.

 

But what works? One effective tactic: fear of death. Social marketers give themselves high marks for getting people to stop smoking. But energy is different. As social marketer Merrill Shugoll of Shugoll Research explains, Big Oil is not the same as Big Tobacco. People need energy, she says — they don't need cigarettes.

The article wraps up with:

Social marketers say there are some things to avoid when you're trying to make people change their energy appetites. A big one is the idea of sacrifice. President Jimmy Carter tried that when he put on a sweater and told Americans to turn down the thermostat. It didn't work.

We couldn't agree more.

Image courtesy of Chiefport

While the U.S. News is dominated by auto company bailouts against the backdrop of a President-Elect who campaigned on investing taxpayer dollars in green technology, it is important to give a hat tip to industrial leaders who have already seen the light.

Treehugger has done just that by profiling 5 CEOs who have led the way in changing business practices from wasteful, dirty, and unsustainable and are now becoming evangelists, at a very high level, for the green movement, not as mouthpieces but by changing their industries.

Topping the list is carpet maker Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface, the largest modular carpet manufacturer in the world. After reading Paul Hawken's The Ecology of Commerce, he completely changed the way Interface does business with the goal of becoming completely sustainable.

The thesis of the book is that businesses, more than anything else, are responsible for the future of the environment. Either they could profit by finding ways to renew resources, or they could destroy themselves along with the earth as they maintained a plunderer’s attitude towards creating profits.

 

Shortly after, he vowed to move his company towards complete sustainability—no easy task for a billion-dollar-a-year factory based company. But by implementing intensive recycling programs, turning to energy-efficient computer controlled boilers, using corn to create carpet, and utilizing solar and wind power, Anderson has made some serious strides towards his goal. And the conserved energy and reused materials have helped Interface’s profits rise.

 

Just as important, Anderson showed the business world that even an international, multi-billion dollar company can go green without dipping into the red.

 

The other four profiled are: Sir Richard Branson, Brad Hole, Rupert Murdoch, and T. Boone Pickens.