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PR Fuel: Green PRA thunderstorm just swept through New York City and dropped the temperature more than ten degrees. Thank goodness.The past few days have been hellish for folks on the East Coast. Record temperatures and record gas prices are not a good mix. Electricity bills are going to be ugly this month. Sitting in my home office today I was sweating up a storm because I had turned off my air conditioner. I decided this week to use it only a few hours a day at certain times to conserve energy and reduce my own costs. I was physically uncomfortable, but I felt better about myself and my wallet. While a lot of PR firms are currently pushing the "green" initiatives of their clients, I wonder whether the firms themselves are practicing what their clients are preaching. Compared to other businesses, PR firms probably expend a fairly minimal amount of energy. Still, there are plenty of ways PR firms can cut down on their environmental footprint and in the process save themselves and employees money. Offer TelecommutingTen years ago I was living in New Jersey and working in New York City. If I had that same job today, my commuting costs would be more than $5,500 per year. I would also burn through gas, add to the energy costs of my company and take up space on and use mass transit energy despite not physically needing to be in a workplace.Public relations firms are the perfect type of business to allow telecommuting. A lot of PR involves distance communication, be it via phone or email, and that's something that could be done from home. Internal meetings can be replaced with web meetings or conference calls. Mundane tasks such as media list building can be done in your robe instead of a suit. Telecommuting cuts down on individual - and company - energy consumption and costs. Employees save money on things like dry cleaning and eating out, and employers gain valuable human energy because employees don't have to waste time commuting or watching the clock at the end of the day. CarpoolSeveral years ago I got my next-door neighbor a job at my company. It turned out great because we carpooled to work every day and saved enough money to make a habit of stopping for a good meal once each week on the way home from work. When my neighbor moved a few miles away, we kept up the carpool by having him drive to my home each morning and either pick me up or park. We added another worker to the pool eventually and further cut down on costs by picking up and dropping off a fourth employee at a train station along our route. (She kicked in for gas each week.)While a company can't control a carpool, it can help employees form one through message board postings and emails. My neighbor and I found our other two carpoolers because our company's HR person took the initiative to plot where each worker lived and then went about making carpool connections for everyone. Recycle EverythingI've got a cabinet full of plastic grocery bags that will soon end up at a special recycling center. All of my plastic, glass, cardboard and paper is recycled. The few times a month I bother to use my printer, I use recycled printer paper. My old computers and electronics - they went to a special recycling program a few months ago.The amount of waste I see in a typical office is disgraceful, and I can only assume lazy and ignorance is behind it all. Recycling programs are easy to design, implement and maintain. The best way is to empower employees by creating "recycling officers" who help ensure that employees understand and follow recycling rules. In addition, much of what I'm handed on paper in a meeting can simply be thrown onto a projector screen or emailed. Cutting down on paper use cuts down on the need for recycling. Turn Off the LightsLast month I checked into a hotel in Manhattan while some work was being done on my apartment. I spent the weekend lounging on a terrace. The view was great except for the fact that many of the offices in the buildings across the street had lights on 24/7. Was it someone who forgot to turn off the lights or some sort of security measure? Either way, I did not see any reason why lights on the 23rd floor of a Manhattan office building would need to be on all day on a Sunday.It's not just lights that are left on. Workers routinely keep computers turned on overnight and keep chargers for gadgets plugged in despite the gadget being in their pocket. (Yes, the charger alone utilizes electricity.) Likewise, offices with ample natural light are often flooded with electric light for no reason. You shouldn't need to install timers on lights to cut back on energy costs, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. It needs to be hammered into people's heads that leaving lights on burns energy and increases a company's costs. There really is no simpler task in the world than flipping a light switch. Ditch the PizzaMy friend was ecstatic last week when her office manager sent a memo ending "Free Pizza Fridays." Instead of buying pizzas at the end of every week, the company had decided to buy locally produced fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses and breads and treat employees to a healthier and more eco-friendly meal (no cardboard pizza boxes or electric-burning pizza ovens). The response was overwhelmingly positive at my friend's workplace.Help the Environment With Team-Building EventsWhether it's cleaning up a stretch of highway or pitching in at a community garden, PR firms can help the environment and conservation causes by designing team-building events around volunteering. It's simple, fun and effective, not to mention you may make some contacts among the other volunteers.
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