Idea Details
Our nonprofit energy efficiency & renewable energy business of 170 people adopted a %u201Cbig hairy audacious goal%u201D (BHAG) to offset our carbon footprint by 10,000-fold in 20 years! By 2027, we%u2019ll be avoiding 10,000 pounds of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for every pound we contribute, and we'll be avoiding 20 million tons annually of GHG emissions by 2027. We%u2019re not just as a business, but we%u2019re a community, so in calculating our carbon footprint, we included our personal & household impacts. The personal decisions we make %u2013 the foods we eat, where we go on vacation, the cars we drive - have great impacts. We%u2019ll use a toolkit to achieve our BHAG, including software to track emissions & progress, social networking (contests, brown-bag discussions) & incentives from the business to inspire & motivate us, and we'll explore other ideas like internal carbon trading. We think that acting as a community is a powerful model that can work and that we%u2019d love to share with other businesses!
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Recent Comment
Rachel Jolly | Posted: 12 April 2009
Way to make a big, hairy, audacious impact!
Katherine Fligg | Posted: 9 April 2009
Love the idea...I'm all for it.
Joshua Schwartz | Posted: 8 April 2009
I'm down with BHAG.
Anna Nielsen | Posted: 8 April 2009
Sounds fantastic - I'm all for it - now more than ever. It also sounds like something that could be expanded to my community, a coastal town with heavy seasonal resort use and a solid year-round citizenship. Good luck!
Bobbi Rood | Posted: 7 April 2009
This sounds like a great idea and a terrific way to get a who community working togeter to make the transition to a new age of carbon awareness. Power to you!
ben falk | Posted: 7 April 2009
Great idea... and you could even do some carbon flow reversal too by making biochar here and there and building soil in your gardens...
Jess Killebrew | Posted: 7 April 2009
MUCH SUPPORT AND LUCK!
Jess Killebrew | Posted: 7 April 2009
I too support this - great work/innovations!
Stan Ward | Posted: 7 April 2009
I strongly support the proposed Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC) program and believe it could be quite successful and impactful for mitigating climate change at VEIC and its employees, as well as other organizations across the world.
I base this opinion on my recent experience as Vice President of Product Management at Carbonrally http://(www.carbonrally.com) . Carbonrally is a web service providing a positive, fun and social way for people to reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions with over 24,000 users and over 700 teams spread out over the United States. Carbonrally was recognized by TIME Magazine as a Best 50 Website for 2008.
Here are some of the reasons I believe the program could be successful and impactful:
- Market Demand. At Carbonrally, we have been approached by several large organizations to use Carbonrally to support programs very much like what VEIC is proposing. So, there is clear market demand for such a service.
- Places of Work as Community - I believe the VEIC concept that businesses serve as communities for their employees, and in particular as it relates to climate change mitigation is sound and compelling. Some of Carbonrally%u2019s most passionate and consistently dedicated teams are company teams.
- Change Management - I have also found the VEIC proposal convincing given my background in corporate change management. I see in the proposed VEIC program, some of the important attributes of a successful change management program, including face-to-face meetings, executive sponsorship, employee incentives, behavior change strategies and the tracking of quantifiable results.
- Sharing With Other Organizations %u2013 Given VEIC%u2019s mission as a company is to help organizations reduce the costs, both monetary and environmental, of energy use and their national and international focus, I see this project as a fantastic opportunity for VEIC to start by leading by example and then sharing with other organizations their lessons learned and the tools developed along with the way.
Sincerely,
Stan Ward
Waitsfield, Vermont
Barbara Austin | Posted: 7 April 2009
Great idea!
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