the doctor's Sustainability Solution: The 10% Blogger Challenge
the doctor is a big believer in sustainability. He's one of the few bloggers in the space who's been blogging about green since before it became a hot topic. That's why, even though he is not in the position that you are as a buyer to enforce the production of sustainable goods and services (because your money speaks louder than words to a supplier), he wanted to do something anyway.
So what's the doctor's solution? Donate 10%* of all current and future sponsorship and advertising revenue on the Sourcing Innovation Blog, web-site, and future on-line properties to charitable causes that are pursuing sustainability options. Every quarter, after the sponsorship and advertising cheques come in, the doctor is going to take 10% of the gross revenue and immediately donate it to one or more charitable causes - and then tell you which causes, and how much, he donated.
This quarter, the doctor chose to make two $525 donations. One to the David Suzuki Foundation (acknowledgement), which works to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that sustains us, and one to Doctors Without Borders (receipt), known as Medicins Sans Frontieres en Canada, which endeavors to find ways to respond rapidly and effectively to public health emergencies, with complete independence from political, economic, and religious influences. I'm a big fan of both of these organizations. David Suzuki is a tireless crusader on behalf of our planet Earth, and Doctors Without Borders recently started trying to mass produce Plumpy'nut, a very simple food that does wonders in keeping young children in third world nations healthy. (There are lots of videos on YouTube that describe its success.) I look forward to being able to make additional donations to both of these charities on behalf of Sourcing Innovation in the future.
Unfortunately, the doctor is not as dim as he looks (or, at least according to some trusted colleagues) and realizes that, on his own, he's not going to make much of a difference. Even if this site was fully sponsored, at what the doctor perceives it's market value to be, he'd only be donating thousands a year. A nice number for an individual donation, but peanuts in the grand scheme of things. But the doctor has a solution!
The Solution: The 10% Blogger Challenge!
the doctor is hereby challenging all bloggers who generate advertising or sponsorship income off of their sites to donate 10% off the top (off the gross for you financial types) to sustainable charities of their choosing from all advertising and sponsorship income they receive, and to do so at least yearly, with quarterly donations being preferred. Furthermore, each blogger should advertise the charities they are donating too, and why, and try to convince their readers to persuade their companies to also donate 10% of at least one revenue line, off the top, to sustainable causes.
Just think of the difference it would make if every organization in the developed world took 10% of their revenue and applied it to sustainable causes (charities, community programs, green energy investments, etc.). And since you can supposedly take 10% off the top of everything when buying, there's no good reason you can't spare 10% yourself. (Maybe your company would have to do away with the private box at the track, or cut back on it's over-priced private art collection, but does it really need those?) So join me, and let's show them that us bloggers are the future, on-line and off.
*The fine print. 10%-off-the-gross of all sponsorship and advertising revenue from the Sourcing Innovation Blog and the Sourcing Innovation Website in 2008 will be donated to registered charitable causes on a quarterly basis, after the revenue is received. This excludes any revenue that is due to a partner through a joint effort or due to an individual or enterprise that sells sponsorship or advertising on behalf of Sourcing Innovation. So, if a quarterly Sourcing Innovation sponsorship is sold for $10,000 by itself, $1,000 will be donated to a registered charity within 3 months of receipt of the funds; and if a partner, with a 30% gain-share agreement, sells an advertising slot for $1,000, then $70, or 10% of the $700 net, will be donated to a registered charity within 3 months of receipt. Furthermore, the doctor is open to having his books audited by any sponsor or advertiser who makes a minimum $1,000 donation to a registered charity of the doctor's choosing, as long as they agree to a rigid non-disclosure agreement and make the donation up-front.
Hi, I must first admit that I haven't read your posts on green. But regarding your idea in this post, it's a nice idea but doesn't it just perpetuate the outdated notion that sustainability is someone else's responsibility? Philanthropy isn't how you become more green - it just makes you feel worthy (nothing wrong with that, but it misses the key point - change)
Why not invest that $1050 in greening your own operation? E.g. buying (sic) low energy, recyclable IT kit with minimal packaging? (or at least provisioning for when your exisiting kit expires) Or even posting on a black screen with white font (e.g. see Blackle.com). You should get the longer term ROI benefits too.
These examples may not be exactly relevant to Sourcing Innovation, but hopefully you get the point?
Once you can't do any more to your own business and you are a green as can be, then you can assuage your conscience by making charitable donations.
Good luck, and regards!
Jon:
It's quite obvious you haven't read my posts, including:
http://blog.sourcinginnovation.com/2008/08/19/green-your-data-centers-and-keep-more-green-in-your-bank-account.aspx
http://blog.sourcinginnovation.com/2008/08/20/green-your-desktops-and-keep-even-more-green-in-your-bank-account.aspx
... because I think that you missed the point completely.
This solution is directed at forward thinking bloggers and sustainable practitioners, who I assume, like me:
* primarily use lower power laptops with low-power LCD screens and not mega-gaming-desktops and old power-hungry CRT monitors (and who whole-heartedly support thin clients and power-efficient virtualization-based servers in office environments)
* who turn off lights and equipment when they are not in use
* use fluorescent bulbs
* only print when they need to
* try to buy only products in recyclable containers and recycle everything they can
* drive fuel-efficient cars
* take public transportation when it's a reasonable option
* etc.
The point is, we're little guys who CAN'T do very much on our own. If you read my green and sustainability posts and get the facts, you'll realize that businesses in North America are responsible for much of the damage we are doing to the environment (energy requirements could be trimmed, depending on who you believe, 25% to 40% if businesses were just more economical in their energy uses) ... not average little guys like us. The only way we can make a difference is to band together through organizations that are trying to find solutions to help businesses clean up their acts.
It's not about getting a "good feeling" from philanthropy. Note that I'm not advocating donating to just any charity - I'm advocating donating to those that are researching and working towards ways to make business and our way of life more sustainable. The truth of the matter is that there are some charities I absolutely disdain, and will never, ever, ever give a single red cent to - because I believe that charity for charity's sake is stupid. Only charities that try to help people help themselves, and society as a whole, are useful.
Alone, we can't make much of a difference because we're not big organizations with big budgets that can force a supplier to change their environmentally unfriendly ways (because money speaks louder than words). But if we band together and support organizations that, with our contributions, grow in size, and clout, maybe we can.
It's true that some of us might pick the wrong causes, but at least we will be perpetuating the notion that sustainability is ALL of our responsibility, and that if we can't do much on our own, and have reached the limit of what we can do, then we need to support a larger organization that will take it to the next level.
Now, hopefully YOU get the point (because, I would argue that you are trying to perpetuate the notion that sustainability isn't our responsibility once we've done all that we can do on our own).