It was Earth Day back in April, an annual event to raise people’s awareness of their behaviour and the affect it has on the planet. At https://www.earthday.org some 2,023,212,745 people have shared what they have done to protect the environment. It might have been something simple, such as not using their car for a day and taking public transport instead. Have you already done your part?
Now that we are halfway through the year, it is a good time to consider the sustainability objectives we have set for ourselves this year. Which ones have you already worked on? And which ones did you immediately abandon?
And what else has happened in the first half of the year? Last year there was a huge buzz around the book ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ and a year later, we’ve witnessed another buzz about its movie adaptation. To be honest I have neither read the book nor seen the film (honestly I haven’t). I’m more interested in something called Eight Shades of Green. In my previous blog, I built a case for The Sustainable World of Work rather than The New World of Work.
Research was conducted in 2014 into making existing real estate more sustainable. As a result of this, a key role was assigned to the end-user. How do we translate this end-user’s ambitions, motivations and information sources into sustainable buying behaviour and results? This study was published in IFMA’s technological journal FMJ, amongst others.
Eight different sustainability types were identified following this research: Eight Shades of Green. It turns out, for instance, that 40% of end-users can be categorised as ‘Rich Green Cost-cutters’.
These end-users invest in sustainability, ideally if it delivers cost savings. They actively seek out information using a variety of channels. Only 9% are ‘Green Dreamers’ or ‘Unchangeable Green Cheapskates’. They see few opportunities to invest in sustainability in their organisations. The good news is that sustainability and cost-savings often go hand-in-hand.
You can test this statement by answering three multiple-choice questions at http://shadesofgreen.eu. After completing the questions you will also receive some green tips that match your own shade of green.
In my case, I’m a ‘Persistent Green Frontrunner’. What about you?
