Delivering with a Lighter Footprint

In a recent interview with Mitch Jackson, the senior director of environmental affairs and sustainability at FedEx, Doug Barry from the U.S. Commercial Service was told a few ways that companies can not only reduce their environmental footprint, but also increase the standards of living for all. I personally took quite a few things away from this interview. I learned the following:

• It is important to involve and have participate all sections of your company in this social resonsibility effort. You cannot have the engineering group work on new efficient products and not use them because they aren't the most profitable.
•  It's typically easy to comply with government regulations. However the hard part comes in balancing environmental sustainablity, economic viability and social good.
•  As companies grow more global, they have to be a good corporate citizen just as much around the world as they are in the U.S. As your brand gets more global, this becomes increasingly important.
•  In these countries, governments may be behind in getting the regulation together, but there is business incentive to be ahead of the governments. Making the systems in these countries efficient especially in transportation can be key to a corporation's success. Efficiency is important in reducing greenhouse gases, and you can achieve this in delivering by doing simple things such as carrying more tons per load and flying non-stop.
•  In the developing world, towns are being powered themselves by renewable energies. FedEx even uses bicycles with baskets or electric scooters where needed in these countries.
•  Most importantly, we must remember leaving less of a footprint is a team sport. We all have the responsibility as people who live on this Earth to take care of it.

If you'd like to learn more about these types of issues, please join us next week for our Go Green! blog series. We'll discuss many topics dealing with going green, from social responsibility, to sustainability, to efficient products and new technologies. We hope you join us next week.