these organizations believe we have a moral responsibility to protect the planet and the people who depend on it to survive. the spiritual logic, for some traditions, goes like this: god made the planet and people. god called them both “good.” therefore, actions that help the planet and people are good, and actions that harm them are bad.

one organization, interfaith power & light (ip&l), puts this logic at the center of its mission. ip&l has been working since 1998 to help religious congregations reduce their carbon footprints. ip&l has field offices in nearly every state, which offer free energy audits, bulk discounts on energy-efficient appliances, and educational resources.

if congregations can improve their energy efficiency, not only will they “walk the talk” on climate change, they will save money on their energy bills. this way, they can spend more money doing what they do best — inspiring hope in their community, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, etc.

ip&l, in turn, works with an unlikely source to help its partner congregations reduce their carbon footprints: energy star, a partnership program of the u.s. environmental protection agency and u.s. department of energy. just like schools, hospitals, hotels, and other buildings, religious facilities consume energy that contributes to carbon pollution. with an estimated 370,000 houses of worship across the u.s., the impact on the climate is significant. “energy star congregations” reaches out to religious organizations to help them save energy, save money, and reduce their carbon footprint.

houses of worship can track their energy use and associated carbon pollution using energy star’s free tracking tool, portfolio manager. this allows them to set targets and confirm progress. energy star also offers free technical assistance. this year, energy star “up’d the ante” when it announced that it would recognize top energy-saving congregations with the energy star label.

of course, religious communities have their own spiritual, moral, and even financial reasons to reduce their impact on people and the planet. then again, an extra nudge doesn’t hurt — whether it comes from an interfaith ngo or the government.

do you think these organizations, ip&l and energy star congregations, meet the “easy green, easy money” criteria for this blog series? make your case.

___________________________

peter fargo, mba candidate

the george washington university

a company called earth aid has a unique answer to this question: give people tangible rewards for saving energy in their homes and apartments. instead of just helping us avoid things we don’t want, such as higher energy bills, earth aid is offering us things we want, like free coffee, in return for energy savings.

they call it “earth aid rewards.” the program launched in washington, dc for the first time in the fall of 2009 with about 50 rewards partners, and the company plans to expand rapidly throughout the country with both local and national business partners. anyone in the u.s. can sign up for earth aid’s free services, but currently the rewards program is only up and running in dc.

this is how it works: you can sign up to be a member on earth aid’s website and begin submitting information about your utility bills—electric, gas, and water. earth aid then automatically extracts monthly data from your utilities, keeps you up-to-date on your latest trends and tendencies, and offers you tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint, etc. according to ken yarmosh, a web-based product strategist, “earth aid is basically mint.com for household utilities.”

earth aid rewards is not for everyone. some folks won’t be comfortable with earth aid digging into their energy data (even though it’s already publicly available). it’s also one more online membership program to sign up for, enter information into, and keep track of, so not everyone has the interest or mental bandwidth to take it on.

perhaps most importantly, it can take over a year of tracking your energy use before you really know that you’re saving energy and money. this will make it challenging for people who move often (such as apartment renters) to establish a baseline for future energy savings.

to keep people engaged, earth aid will need to find ways to reward its members for their good-faith efforts, even if their carbon footprints aren’t shrinking in the near term. while this approach may make business sense, earth aid must be careful to guard its carbon credibility.

in spite of these caveats, earth aid rewards has great potential to set off a virtuous cycle. businesses have an added incentive to promote sustainability in the community. households have another reason to save energy and reinvest their savings in the local economy. earth aid, meanwhile, earns advertising revenues from its business partners.

sound like easy green, easy money? you decide.

___________________________

peter fargo, mba candidate

the george washington university

why easy?

are you looking for ways to cut carbon pollution as the temperatures drop this winter? how would you feel about donning full winter gear instead of switching on the indoor heat? how about waking up to a nice, cold shower? sound invigorating? i tried it this morning…i can think of another word for it.

let’s be real: if we’re going to reach the uninitiated, we have to make it easy to cut carbon pollution—that means less time, less hassle, and in the case of the cold shower, less anguish.

most of us have so many demands on our time and attention that, on our daily to-do list, trimming our carbon footprint falls somewhere in line after starting that new diet or reorganizing the garage. that doesn’t mean we don’t care about the planet and the future of humanity. it just means we need help to break the problem down to a more actionable scale—ideally one with a slightly less paralyzing effect on our motivation.

why money?

alas, calculating and cutting greenhouse gas emissions is not just about doing the right thing. it’s about money too (the other “green”). no matter how easy it is to reduce our footprint, the classic question remains: “what’s in it for me?”

at first blush, doing right by the planet seems to cost more, but major companies are reconsidering that outdated notion. in fact, a growing number of organizations (both for-profit and non-profit) exist purely to make it easier and more cost-effective for us to cut carbon. for those of us who are not already inclined to go green, we look to these organizations to save us money, make us money, or at least offer a superior product/service.

make your case

who are some these organizations? why do they want to help us reduce our carbon footprint, how do they do it, and why should we buy what they’re selling?

make your case here on “easy green, easy money,” brought to you courtesy of planetforward.org.

pete fargo
mba candidate
the george washington university