Green Hypocrites: The Cost of Doing Business

Last night Fox News ran a piece on hypocritical celebrities who preach environmentalism but practice wastefulness. The story claimed that John Travolta, Madonna, Barbra Streisand and other stars advocate green practices while indulging in extravagances like fuel devouring private jets, elaborate road crews and tour buses and heat-wasting mansions.

Fox is probably right. The green movement is filled with high profile hypocrites along with regular folks who follow double standards. So is real life.

Finger pointing can expose abuses and it makes great press. When the Pentagon buys $200 hammers or maintains obsolete bases, it reflects an inefficient bureaucracy that drains the economy and our national defense. And finger pointing targets are everywhere. Green hypocrites may permeate Hollywood but they practically infest the industrial world. Car companies make millions on SUVs but they talk up their hybrids. Fast food companies sell obesity burgers but they publicize recycled packaging.

What’s my point, that nobody is perfect? That some CSR is really just PR? No, the finger pointing may be accurate, but it can be counterproductive. The momentum of climate change, depleting resources, health hazards and social inequality is growing fast and we need loud voices to raise consciousness. The urgency of the message is more important than the piety of the messenger.

CSR needs its own momentum, not saints. The lack of real environmental progress will kill us. And that’s not PR. There is no shortage of hypocrites, but there is a shortage of time.

A fancy name for common courtesy

A well known CEO once said that labor unions were the result of bad management. He felt that his company was well run, so unions were unnecessary.

His self serving remarks actually reveal some truth. If workers were treated better through history, labor unions may not exist. Common sense and courtesy would be the guidelines in labor relations. Treat your workers as you want to be treated. Basic stuff, right from the Bible.

Is the same true for Corporate Social Responsibility? I often ponder these questions:

* If CEOs worked on their own factory floor, would the facilities be safer?
* If executives lived next to their manufacturing plants, would the air and water be cleaner?
* If publishers were fined for littering each time their subscription cards fell to the ground, would they continue to stick loose inserts into their magazines?
* If lenders lived in the same neighborhood as their borrowers of sub-prime mortgages or payday loans, would lending practices change?

Why even call it Corporate Social Responsibility? It’s really only “courtesy” with lots of extra syllables. I just wish it was more common.

Top 5 Reasons for Working at JustMeans

1. I’m being paid to create social change.
2. Instead of reading about world problems, I’m now talking to people about solutions too.
3. I’m learning that some people whose motives I distrusted actually do want to be part of the solution.
4. I’m becoming a citizen of cyberspace (not easy for a meet-and-greet type of guy).
5. I can be part of the green movement without being a scientist or engineer.

Oh yeah, and I like the people here.

Introducing Mark

Hello, I’m Mark Elis and I recently joined JustMeans. I am new to the world of corporate social responsibility, and this is my first blog. So here I am in a new company, a new industry and using a new medium. My triple bottom line. Nowhere to go but up. If you are going to start over, you might as well do it at every level. Welcome to my long, strange career trip.

When I graduated college my career ambition was to make the world a better place and get rich doing it. Pretty simple, right? So simple that it took me decades of jobs in public and private sectors, large and small companies, staff and management positions, free lancing, interning and volunteering before I realized that a socially beneficial and lucrative career is possible. Not only possible, but socially responsible jobs and industries are growing everywhere. A person can explore and compare careers on the internet in a few hours instead of months or years. Back then, my idea of “virtual” employment was working at a job that drove me virtually crazy.

That’s why I am here. Not long ago, if you told potential employers you wanted a non-polluting, non-wasteful, ethical, philanthropic work environment that was enjoyable, intellectually stimulating and financially rewarding, they would have laughed in your face. Not anymore. People can search for jobs that match their values and reach out to like-minded job seekers through networks. Companies not only compete for candidates demanding social responsibility, but they have to satisfy these same demands from consumers, the media and their own employees. They’re now called “stakeholders” and they’re not shy about raising the stakes.

Folks like me have always been around. We just didn’t know where to go or how to get there. At JustMeans I am in the middle of three growing trends. The internet is booming; an increasingly large share of it is social media and user-driven content; and socially responsible “green jobs” are a fast growing segment of the economy. Another triple bottom line. And nowhere to go but up.

Nice to be here.