environmental solutions

What is Environmental Literacy and is it Missing in the Workplace?

What is Environmental Literacy and is it Missing in the Workplace?

The word environment is defined as the natural world in which people, animals, and plants live. Environmentalism is the concern about our natural environment and how to improve and protect it. An environmentalist is a person interested in the natural environment and who wants to improve and protect it. The natural world is defined as all the components of the physical universe — atoms, plants, ecosystems, people, societies, galaxies, etc., as well as the natural forces at work.

Once we begin to understand that everything is connected, it’s inevitable for us to start thinking about the environment as not something “out there” but as something that impacts the world around us and, more personally, our workspace, our homes, our health. Moreover, interconnectedness helps us critically think about the world we interact with every day, such as how the products we love are made, where they come from, and where they end up once we’re done with them. Do employees from Fortune 1000 companies understand how the pollution from coal-powered boats bringing in our clothing, food, building materials, furniture, etc. affect the air we breathe, our water, our health, the economy, and entire ecosystems? How would corporate sustainability decision-makers benefit from environmentally educated staff? So that we may pave more impactful sustainable pathways, investing in employee environmental literacy will be a vital next step.

For successful corporate decarbonization, employees will need to understand society’s heavy reliance on finite resources such as fossil fuels for transportation, energy, and manufacturing. Also important is making it clear the transition to a decarbonized economy can easily be made with a diverse array of innovative sustainable materials. When we educate employees on sustainability initiatives, we deliver a bigger more well-rounded vision of our company to them, whereby we go far beyond immediate monetary profits, and into long-term profits that include health of people, pesticide-free organic foods, reduced pollution, properly managed waste, well-managed resources, increased biodiversity, and cleaner oceans that supply the oxygen we use to breathe.

At this point in human history, everyone needs to have a working knowledge of the natural world, to make valuable short-term and long-term decisions for building sustainable foundations and protecting natural resources and ecosystems. This requires basic environmental literacy, so we know how to value resources and organically create a circular system, as we see in nature.

Companies with environmental solutions and sustainability initiatives have a window of opportunity to educate about environmental stewardship, impacts of our environment on health, and how all of these factors tie into taking action in the workplace. Educating employees about environmental solutions is a way to fill the knowledge gap and help build a more engaged workforce. Many Fortune500 companies invest in employee environmental literacy, to give muscle to the entire company, rather than solely relying on the efficacy of the company’s green team. When you charge your workforce on sustainability, initiative success is cranked to the max, which is essential for long-term business development.

Education is the new marketing

Education is the new marketing | A.R. Marketing House

Until environmental science and climate change are mandated curriculums throughout global educational systems, many environmentally conscious companies who solve environmental problems will have to deliver knowledge gap information via marketing efforts.

At A.R. Marketing House, we have a running motto; education is the new marketing. That’s why we make sure that our marketing team has the environmental background knowledge, they need to see communication opportunities, accurately interpret science, and in general, outperform in their roles of promoting sustainable solutions.

As the stakes for cleaning up the planet grow, we see innovative companies in LED lighting solutions, plastic-free choices, reusable packaging, air quality monitors, etc. worthy of top-shelf ranking, but unable to make the mark entirely. One significant factor of this communication shortfall is companies not knowing how to communicate sustainability in a helpful, full scope way to their community of customers and employees.

A silver lining of such a horrible infectious disease like SARS-CoV-2 has become a time to reflect, learn, improve, and incorporate new environmental initiatives, plans, policies, educational platforms, and ventures.

What is Environmental Literacy?

What is Environmental Literacy | A.R. Marketing House

We define Environmental Literacy as the ability to understand and recognize the conditions of our surroundings, where we operate and where we live, and the impacts our individual, community, and corporate actions have on the entire system that sustains life and commerce.

Why we need employee buy-in for sustainability initiatives and business growth

Why we need employee buy-in for sustainability initiatives and business growth | A.R. Marketing House

In a Nielson study, 81% of global respondents feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment.

81% of global respondents feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment.

When employees are educated and engaged through company-wide sustainability initiatives, it has been shown to increase environmental programs’ success. It is a win for energizing your workforce by connecting them with matters they care about. Improved employee performance is another benefit gained from engagement on environmental issues, and will generate long-term economic value for staff and c-suite leadership. Ultimately garnering employee support through environmental literacy proves to be a value to the immediate community and society as a whole. Companies who partake in environmental literacy see an increase in employee loyalty, efficiency, productivity, and engagement on company sustainability initiatives. These factors all help to improve company HR scores.

How employee buy-in impacts the success or failure of sustainability initiatives

How employee buy-in impacts the success or failure of sustainability initiatives | A.R. Marketing House

“When employees understand environmental issues and their impact on health and quality of life, they act in allegiance with initiatives that serve the planet, business, and their personal life. People make smarter buying decisions, and know the difference between genuine sustainability and greenwashing” – Denise Anderson-Rivas, Educational Director & Co-Founder of A.R. Marketing House

Employee Brand Loyalty

When we support employee buy-in on sustainability initiatives, we see an increase in brand loyalty. Part of the reason for this is a concept called psychological ownership. Psychological ownership of a job or organization by an employee is a feeling of having a stake in the entity as a result of commitment and contribution. Psychological ownership leads to greater job satisfaction, engagement, productivity, and profits.

If given a choice, most people would choose to eliminate disease, cancer, and premature death. When empowered with the right tools and knowledge, they can participate in environmental change by taking action on air pollution, smog, and poison plastic that deteriorates health. When a company provides communication and engagement around environmental solutions, they fill voids of the absence of knowledge and miseducation around sustainability and important climate action. Environmental literacy is the litmus test for environmental commitment. With newfound knowledge, the people who work for you become closer to the company mission; their newfound learning and efforts serve as an extension of the good that can be produced.

For example, do you remember your favorite K-12 teacher? Did that teacher make you feel special and remind you of your unique place in the world? Did they help you rise to your best self and help you recognize your purpose? You may likely have adopted some values that your favorite teacher thought were important. Perhaps that was gardening, eating healthy, picking up litter, becoming politically active, or simply being a more conscientious, caring person.

When a company takes on sustainability initiatives and invests in educating, you embody a similar role to our impressionable teacher. People who work at your company become better, more well rounded employees as a result. That means a happier, more fulfilled workforce with improved productivity that delivers toward broader business objectives.

Environmental literacy vs. Environmental illiteracy

Environmental literacy vs. Environmental illiteracy | A.R. Marketing House

What does environmental literacy and engagement mean for a company with sustainability initiatives? Unfortunately, environmental science is not a staple in our education system (we hope to see this change). Without the understanding that everything is connected, it is hard for anyone to relate to the overwhelming word, environment. The environment becomes just a word out there and framed only for “tree huggers” and “environmentalists.” While nothing could be further from the truth, environmental literacy can mean the difference between life and death for an individual and the success or failure of a company.

Starting with a company’s initiatives, education around the who, what, where, why, and how employees are connected to actions that impact air quality, water, health, and food systems. Communicating on environmental education means connecting people to the systems they rely on for sustenance and how those systems relate to sustainable initiatives. Initiatives become a springboard for improving employee health, wellness, longevity, and wealth. Delivering reliable, relatable environmental training makes for a more informed employee base who will make better choices for the company at each step throughout their workday and beyond into their personal lives, which becomes a societal WIN-WIN-WIN.

Environmental illiteracy is a current disease of humanity; it holds us back from making educated decisions and taking action on essential measures like climate change. We need to commit to eradicating environmental illiteracy because our lives and our businesses depend on it.

What does environmental illiteracy mean for a company with sustainability goals?

What does environmental illiteracy mean for a company with sustainability goals | A.R. Marketing House

Currently, there is a lack of substantial, relatable education about climate change and the major environmental issues society faces today. Many media outlets copy and paste watered down information based on imperfect interpretations of scientific studies. Environmental news has become a regurgitation and a dangerous game of telephone. When misinformation is widespread, it creates doubt within people, and the result is a lack of care for the future. In turn, this indifference leads to poor decision making at work and personal decisions that could be detrimental to life and the environment.

Distrust and frustration that emerge from a lack of foundational knowledge on environmental issues make people easily fall victim to greenwashing, believing unsubstantiated claims that set back the scale on important workplace initiatives. Without a strong commitment to employee development on sustainability, employees will not have a foundation of knowledge and will lack interest in the company’s sustainability initiatives. We want employees to adopt new ideas, and your company initiatives could offer a successful framework for understanding. A lack of literacy means a lack of actionable adoption for company sustainability goals.

Employees properly educated in sustainability adopt sustainable measures across their personal and professional life

Employees properly educated in sustainability adopt sustainable measures across their personal and professional life | A.R. Marketing House

Three years ago, our Environmental Content Director decided to run a company contest to see if our team could go the entire month without buying any single-use plastic. We started on Earth Day, and most of us quickly realized how difficult this challenge was. Most of us refilled our glass and stainless steel reusable bottles. Ernesto, one of our fantastic graphic design artists, found himself on the road parched and looking for water at a convenience store. He looked for an aluminum can and was pleased to find a reusable aluminum bottled water at 7-eleven, which he kept for at least a year before recycling it.

The plastic-free challenge was a big realization that while many plastic-free choices exist when you do a simple google search, in a pinch, those options are far fewer on the shelves. The challenge also proved another point, the importance of having enough knowledge to choose the best materials for something as simple as a bottle of water. That requires some background in material recycling and the importance of seeking reusable options first.

Teaching employees skills in sustainability helps them know what to look for when seeking alternatives to environmentally damaging products. However, employees that don’t have this background won’t know enough to make a better choice or will flail and rely on marketing tactics by less than sustainable companies that greenwash.

The NO single-use plastic bottle beverage initiative still stands at A.R., and we continue to educate new members of the team on the importance of sourcing more sustainable beverage containers like reusable glass and aluminum.

Building personal frameworks are the success cursor for teaching Environmental Literacy

Environmental learning initiatives cannot help but be personal if you’re looking for genuine adoption. For example, if we want staff to stop wasting plastic, we have to teach about the toxicity plastic packaging has on our family’s health and food systems. Topics become a part of conversations, seeping into the psyche. We become aware of how one issue of plastic packaging affects our quality of life on a grander scale (affecting air, water, food, farming, and short- and long-term health). Environmental literacy as a staple part of your company’s culture makes for an even more significant impact on bottom-line measures.

Be the change that sparks a revolution

One of the most effective and empowering measures of environmental literacy is that when we train staff, they take their lessons home. It’s especially impactful when you see the fruits of environmental literacy seep into your company’s culture. When businesses take their sustainability initiatives seriously, they take education on those initiatives seriously, and we see that play out in employees, their families, and their civic engagement. A commitment to providing employees with Environmental Literacy is the spark needed for impacting real world shifts on sustainability and is the direction for businesses that plan to be around for decades to come.

Next steps to implementing Environmental Literacy Certification for employees

Linking employee values to sustainability breed long-term success. Bridging the gap in knowledge for those with little exposure or knowledge of the environmental issues we face today can make all the difference to explosive success for company-wide sustainability initiatives.

If you’re looking to start the journey and increase the Environmental Literacy of your staff, we invite you to connect with the A.R. team.

Resources

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/environment?q=environment

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/environmentalism?q=environmentalism

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/environmentalist?q=environmentalist

https://undsci.berkeley.edu/glossary/glossary_popup.php?word=natural+world

https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/mql_sars-cov-2_-_cleared_for_public_release_2020_05_05.pdf

https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2018/global-consumers-seek-companies-that-care-about-environmental-issues/

https://hbr.org/2016/10/the-comprehensive-business-case-for-sustainability

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/ethical-practice/pages/employeesandsustainability.aspx

https://eom.org/content-hub-blog/psychological-ownership

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1059601104273066

https://pacinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/bottled_water_factsheet.pdf

CB Bhattacharya, Sankar Sen, and Daniel Korschun, Leveraging Corporate Responsibility: The Stakeholder Route to Maximizing Business and Social Value, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

https://ssir.org/articles/entry/engaging_employees_to_create_a_sustainable_business#

https://hbr.org/2018/02/how-to-make-sustainability-every-employees-responsibility

https://www.thomsonreuters.com/content/dam/openweb/documents/pdf/corporate/Reports/global-500-greenhouse-gases-performance-2010-2015.pdf

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/ethical-practice/pages/employeesandsustainability.aspx

https://www.neefusa.org/sites/default/files/assets/elr/NEEF-EnvironmentalLiteracyReport-2015.pdf

Posted by ARMarketingHouse in Blog
It’s Eco Brands’ Time to Step up, Step out, and Educate

It’s Eco Brands’ Time to Step up, Step out, and Educate

Eco eCommerce stores have been popping up since the early 2000s and have grown with the high demand for more environmentally conscious products. It’s easier than ever to source the items you need for a cleaner, greener lifestyle. Here are 5 of the Top Eco eCommerce stores that have created a loyal following, some of which might surprise you.

 

1. Tiny Yellow Bungalow
Ecommerce Email Content Marketing | Tiny Yellow Bungalow

 

 

2. Wild Minimalist

Ecommerce Email Content Marketing | Wild Min

 

 

3. Package Free Shop

Ecommerce Email Content Marketing | Package Free Shop

 

 

4. Tesla

Tesla Eco eCommerce Store

 

 

5. AltE Store

AltE store | Solar ecommerce

 

Products with harmful eco footprints that have been dominating the markets are finally seeing a dip in sales as consumers demand healthier, more sustainable products. People are starting to question if the items they buy are contributing to the harm of the planet. Product packaging is also under some well-deserved scrutiny, leaving the scientific world to examine the health and ecological footprint on our environment; see the CIEL Plastic & Health Report. However, while we wait for science, the collective sentiment on plastics in our environment is that we now assume they’re having unknown and damaging impacts on our health and ecosystems. Major brands are starting to pick up on this consumer dissatisfaction with the destruction of our planet because of wasteful packaging. This is why labeling and marketing products as green are on the rise. However, consumers are in the middle of deciphering, what is the truth and what is greenwashing.

 

The shift from big brand greenwashing to emerging green brand education

According to a 2017 consumer market study released by Unilever, ⅓ of consumers are taking charge to actively seek and purchase from brands based on their environmental and social impact, see more in the white paper 2020: The Future of Environmental Marketing. More governments are implementing policies to get rid of toxic products, as well as incentivizing companies, to comply with environmental standards and create healthier products. Brands that are creating and selling harmful and toxic products know they need to either (A) adjust their profit model to include externalities currently thrust on to the public (B) spend a lot of money on greenwashing. Unfortunately, many of these big brands are doing the latter. As new, genuinely sustainable solutions arise, and toxic brands see more failure in their greenwashing and toxic lobbying tactics, we will see a massive shift in people turning to green products. Emerging brands will realize the need to adopt a powerful educational green marketing strategy for their sustainable brand to become the norm, and for toxic products to disappear from our stores.

 

The buy less movement’s chance to leverage Black Friday and Cyber Monday

reusable bottle | armarketinghouse

Black Friday and Cyber Monday used to be huge one-day-only sales events associated with big-box lines, crazed shoppers, with admittingly controversial beginnings. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have now become a week-long sale event where most people wait to get great deals. Like REI who encourages people to go outside for Black Friday, many eco brands know it’s time to step up the competition and grab market share from their greenwashed counterparts. A recent study by BlackFriday.com and Offers.com shows that consumers start holiday shopping as early as September. The same survey revealed that November is just as big of a shopping month, as December. This means eco-brands who are genuine about helping people switch habits, will be competing with the unsustainable brands, during the holiday months.

Since people start their holiday shopping up to three months before, nurturing your leads, as well as current and past customers, means educating them around your product and its environmental solutions. More studies are finding that consumers don’t want to be sold to, especially those who are interested in eco-products. People want to be educated and engaged in making a genuine difference. Especially for eco-brands, education is a huge opportunity to make people who follow you, the smartest people in the room. Show off your sustainability chops, and help people determine the genuine eco-claims. Providing content that educates consistently, and messages that start during the weeks leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday can set your end-of-year sales up for success, eh hem, and the planet.

 

 

when do consumers start holiday shopping?

 

Eco brands’ time to step up, step out, and educate

In a Nielson survey, 66% of people surveyed about new consumer expectations, said they would pay more for brands that commit positively to the environment. However, it doesn’t stop there; consumers are becoming more aware of the misleading claims many unsustainable brands are boasting about. Greenwashed and unsubstantiated environmental claims have led to a general sentiment of distrust in eco products. Once consumers are educated and shown proof, people quickly become loyal evangelists and promote their favorite eco-products proudly.  And an excited, happy customer that believes in the same mission as you is marketing gold that most big brands can’t touch. In fact, 62% of consumers surveyed, said trust is the most significant factor for determining whether they click the ‘buy now’ button. This means that to gain trust and sales, brands will need more than just a label that says your product is “eco-friendly,” it needs facts and scientific proof.

Eco eCommerce Black Friday Cyber Monday Campaign 4

“Consumers want greener goods from greener companies. This focus on sustainable values has superseded a focus on product, lifestyle, and many other previous marketing methods. Consumers buy green for a reason. Companies need to understand what motivates the consumers so they can align their operations and communications to emphasize these values. True success comes not just from using a green message, but from applying all of the wisdom from the marketing discipline.” – Duquesne University, 2014.

Educational content is the golden ticket, especially for eco-companies. An ongoing study at A.R. Marketing House proves that people make purchasing decisions based on if a product improves their environment or health, almost 77%.

Have you ever changed a purchasing habit based on health or environmental factors

Big brands are very aware of this and spend their marketing dollars on greenwashed content to highlight their charitable contributions and fluff stories to distract from their toxic products.

ecommerce armarketinghouseHow eco eCommerce brands can execute intelligent marketing for the Holidays

Creating environmental educational content that leads up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the December holiday shopping season is the way eco-eCommerce sites can have a leg up this holiday season, and into 2020. It’s especially crucial for green businesses to educate all year round. If earnest environmental education isn’t currently a part of your marketing strategy, now is the time to jump ahead of the green educational content curve.

Educational, environmental content is the first step, and dissemination is step two. Where you share this informative content is vital. The 80/20 rule of creating amazing cornerstone content is spending 20% of the time creating different types of content and 80% of the time getting it to many audiences.

 

[su_pullquote align=”right”]”A $1 trillion market opportunity exists for companies that can successfully explain their sustainability efforts to consumers, according to a new study from Unilever.” – Baldino, 2017.[/su_pullquote]

 

Where to place and how to promote your educational content

There are many ways to start educating your audience. Starting with your website, you can create website content that is transparent and educates on things like our plastic crisis, solutions to climate change, and collective action your audience can take. The more you provide your audience with valuable, actionable content, the more they will trust your brand and be encouraged to share their new-found knowledge.

 

Creating a hierarchy of content where you develop one cornerstone piece, and multiple offshoots are helpful in the process of creating various pieces of educational content. These different types of content, i.e., videos, SlideShares, infographics, etc. can be tailored to all the platforms your audience is on.

 

Emails are a strong vehicle to deliver educational content that nurtures your list. It’s also a way to lead into Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Holiday sales, and your 2020 marketing strategy. As for the 2019 holiday season, it’s predicted that consumers will spend more than $12 billion, and 61% of shoppers will spend their money online. Leveraging your email list and creating content consistently will generate leads and nurture the people you have now, to shop with you.

renewable energy education

 

When to start your Eco eCommerce holiday educational and sales campaign

The time to start building your holiday campaign was yesterday. The next best time to start is today. Most deadlines for a cohesive holiday campaign will need to begin by November 7th. The deadline is because Black Friday and Cyber Monday are no longer a one-day event, as most shoppers are too bombarded these days. You want lead-in and connection building content before offering up your sale.

 

Education done all year long creates educated consumers who are hooked on and align with your brand. The more we know about our customers, the more we can tailor education to their needs, and the more they will share that information creating brand loyalists.

CorpSumers on the Rise

 

 

Conclusion 

Distinguishing between big-box greenwashing and emerging eco brands who are genuine is important to Millennials who are now the biggest and most educated of all U.S. generations. Millennials are not buying the greenwashed pitch anymore, no matter how hard companies swing an environmental angle for their campaigns. The more educational content eco-products create and disseminate, the harder it will be for the toxic brands to keep up with savvy consumers.

 

Email, website content, social media content, engagement campaigns, video content, and Green PR, are some of the best ways to incorporate education into a holiday strategy that you can carry into the new year. People are wary of brands with sustainable claims, tired of greenwashing and looking for real solutions. The new climate for green products and services requires brands to prove that they understand environmental issues, teach on those issues, and show that they are genuinely part of the solution. Consumers want to be taught to ensure they are making truly sustainable and healthy choices.

 

Knowing that consumers and their actions are changing is especially important information to take into the planning stages for holiday promotions. It’s no longer feasible to go into Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a one or two day sale if your brand wants to meet and surpass Q4 goals and sales, this is especially true for eco brands. The name of the game is building genuine relationships where your brand embodies your mission to improve the planet and help others along the way.

 

If you need a hand, our team can help get you started on your Holiday Strategy now. Hurry time is ticking. Contact the A.R. Team.

 

About A.R. Marketing House

  • The first and only green content marketing company to raise the integrity of “marketing”
  • We actively solve the challenges that environmental companies face
  • Offer new and different approaches to marketing as environmental companies have: different pain points in sales journey; up against greenwashing; new ways to approach Public Relations, educational approach to marketing strategies
  • Educational forms of content marketing strategies

 

Resources:

https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Plastic-and-Health-The-Hidden-Costs-of-a-Plastic-Planet-February-2019.pdf

https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/report/2015/the-sustainability-imperative-2/#

https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/04/global-sustainability-report-oct-2015.pdf

https://www.outboundengine.com/blog/content-marketing-and-email-marketing/

https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/black-friday-ecommerce/#why-black-friday-is-a-big-deal-for-businesses

https://blackfriday.com/news/holiday-shopping-survey-data

https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-black-friday-3305710

https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/consumers-will-spend-41-percent-more-last-year-during-winter-holidays

https://sustainablebrands.com/read/behavior-change/the-new-black-how-new-breed-of-consumers-will-spend-money-energy-this-friday

https://www.mww.com/corpsumer

https://www.inc.com/dakota-shane/96-percent-of-consumers-dont-trust-ads-heres-how-to-sell-your-product-without-coming-off-sleazy.html

https://armarketinghouse.com/1-trillion-market-share-for-companies-who-educate-on-sustainability/

https://armarketinghouse.com/do-consumers-really-care-about-the-environment-survey-says-100-yes/

Posted by ARMarketingHouse in Blog