The tide of sustainable initiatives continues to shift rapidly.  Over the last few years, as we have all been working to create strong, authentic and lasting initiatives, I have watched what was once the cutting edge of conversation become the norm.   Two years ago, we were all scrambling to put programs in place to track our carbon footprint, energy output, water usage, etc...   Today, having a tracking program in place is “table stakes.”  I recently went on a sales call to a major hotel chain’s corporate office and was asked specifically to report on our company’s environmental goals and reductions achieved.    This information won us the bid.   Soon, those numbers will be expected reporting as a part of government compliance.  Green will be the new OSHA.  

The next wave of sustainability is around the social/ community component of how corporations operate and the stakeholders they influence.   We will soon add a system to track our social initiatives.  Programs such as Pharos Lens (Healthy Building Network’s rating system for green/ sustainable building products) have already begun to not only include the social / community meter as a component of a corporation doing good business for the planet, but they even weigh it as heavily as other categories (such as fiscal and environmental) of green.   http://www.pharoslens.net/.   

As I am watching the landscape evolve, I see that our data tracking for carbon, energy, water, etc.  is soon to become an issue of government compliance.   There are many carbon tracking and reporting systems out there today, but those who are evolving to help companies maintain volunteer hours, or in-kind contributions, or other social initiatives will be the ones who have a leg up on the competition.   I recently met with the president of a company called MetricTrac, who is doing just that - creating a user friendly reporting system which captures all of the environmental variables the government will soon be expecting us to report (above and beyond current EPA regulations) and moving more swiftly into the area of tracking social compliance.    While MetricTrac is currently in beta, they expect to launch in early 2010 with their full suite of environmental and social / tracking reporting tools.  

What this means is that we are evolving to a greater level of expectations of our products and services.   The “good for me, good for others and good for the planet” filter I have described before is a reality.  

Over the next few weeks I will be attending and speaking at several conferences on the green movement, including Sustainable Brands 09 and the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) Forum.  Each of these conferences will explore areas of sustainable growth and marketing from companies of all sizes.   The past year has seen tremendous growth and a more earnest understanding of sustainable initiatives, coupled with a very tough economic climate.   Our new administration has raised the conversation and the funding levels to new heights.   I will look forward to reporting back to you on what I see and learn.