by Brenda Cordwell

(Reprinted from the July/August 2007 OPASTCO Roundtable magazine)

It seems like everywhere you look these days, another big corporation is touting its efforts to "go green" to protect the environment.  Wal-Mart is promoting how it is redesigning its stores to use more natural light and solar panels to save energy.  General Electric Co. has a whole advertising campaign focusing on how Earth friendly the company and its products have become. 

In today's market, the perception that a company is socially responsible is a competitive advantage.  In a March 2007 Gallup poll, 83 percent of Americans said that a company's environmental record is important to them when deciding whether or not to buy a product.  Companies like Ben and Jerry's, Patagonia and The Body Shop have long capitalized on the goodwill generated by being seen as pro-environment.  Now with consumers' increased focus on environmental issues, other companies are changing their ways to improve their images.  And for many of them, the same actions to be more green can help them save money on energy costs, waste disposal and materials. 

One Sheet at a Time
Plain old paper makes up as much as 40 percent of landfill space in the U.S.  Last year, Sierra Telephone in Oakhurst, Calif., started a recycling program in its office to help reduce that figure and now any waste paper generated in its office is collected, shredded and recycled by an area shredding company.  Sierra Telephone also invited its customers to bring their paper to the company's business centers for shredding and recycling.  In 2006, Sierra Telephone's efforts alone earned it a certificate from the shredding company stating how it saved 48 trees from destruction.  The telco started the program because it didn't want to send all of this waste to the landfill, said P.J. Grant, Sierra Telephone's safety director.  "We're paying a little bit more," she said, "but we wanted to be better to the world."

Mid-America Computer Corp. in Blair, Neb., is another OPASTCO member working to protect the environment.  In 2006, MACC collected 48 tons of scrap paper as it prepared and printed the bills of its rural telco clients, according to Ryan Thompson, MACC's marketing and advertising specialist.  If you figure that each ton of paper recycled saves seventeen 35-foot tall trees, MACC saved a small forest through its program, along with 158 cubic yards of landfill space, 17,280 gallons of water and nearly 200,000 kilowatts of electricity.  

Paperless billing and online bill payment are also helping telecom companies save on paper usage and disposal.  Verizon reports that its online billing saved more than 400 tons of paper last year.  And British Telecom estimates that it saves $20 per customer each year with paperless billing alone. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
More than just paper can be saved from clogging the landfill.  Most local governments collect bottles, cans, glass, newspapers, magazines, cardboard and other consumer goods for recycling.  Recycling has become commonplace for many Americans already - a May 2007 ABC News/Washington Post/Stanford poll found that 75 percent of households recycle. 

Perry-Spencer Rural Telephone Cooperative in St. Meinrad, Ind., has partnered with its local solid waste district to institute a widespread recycling program in its office.  The company collects office paper, cans, newspapers, magazines and cardboard.  Since starting in 2005, Perry-Spencer employees have recycled nearly 10 tons of paper, magazines, newspapers and cardboard, saving almost 170 trees from destruction, said Colleen Smith, Perry-Spencer's directory of marketing.  

To promote the program with employees, the company distributed six-inch tall trash cans that say "This is all the garbage I make."  "Everyone has one of these little cans at their desk," Smith explained.  The tiny cans are for any non-recyclable trash, i.e. items that have touched food, paper clips, staples, etc.  Anything that is put in the larger office trash cans must be recyclable.    

Sierra Telephone also has expanded its recycling program to include bottles, cans, batteries and toner cartridges.  The company also makes a point of responsibly disposing of its computers.  Those that are still usable are donated to local schools and non-profit agencies, Grant said, and those that aren't are taken to the local waste facility for recycling.  There's a cost involved with recycling some of these items, but that's a cost of doing business, she explained.

Bucks for Books
According to Los Gatos, a California-based recycling company, if all Americans recycled their telephone directories for a year, it would save 650,000 tons of paper and free up 2 million cubic yards of landfill space.  A number of telcos are working within their communities to limit the amount of waste generated by out-of-date telephone books.

Sierra Telephone works with a local non-profit group to recycle telephone directories each year, Grant said.  The group, which uses the directory program as a fundraiser, collects the old books from local residents or customers can drop them off at the telephone company for pick-up.  The non-profit group then carts the books off to the closest recycling center 50 miles away.

Rural Telephone Co. in Hays, Kansas, had a similar directory collection program for several years.  The company paid local schools 25 cents a directory to collect the books and a local shingle manufacturing plant used them in its process. The program recycled more than 83 tons of paper and saved more than 1,415 trees. 

Not Your Father's Oldsmobile
With average gasoline prices nationwide topping $3/gallon, companies with large fleets of vehicles are looking at cars and trucks that run at least partly on alternative fuels such as hybrid electric power, ethanol and natural gas. 

Since 2004, FedEx has rolled out a fleet of 93 hybrid-electric delivery trucks in several cities.  The new vehicles decrease particulate emissions by 96 percent, reduce smog-causing emissions by 65 percent, and travel 57 percent farther on a gallon of fuel, reducing fuel costs by over a third.  Not to be outdone by the competition, United Parcel Service (UPS) recently added 50 hybrid electric vehicles to its current 20,000 alternative fuel fleet which includes trucks powered by natural gas, propane and electricity.

Sierra Telephone also is looking into phasing out some of its older trucks and replacing them with those that run on alternative fuels.  "We don't have any yet, but we are heading in that direction," Grant said.

A Delicate Balance
It is easy to say that your company is "green," post some information on your website, include it in your newsletter, and maybe issue a press release.  But be careful not to jump on the green bandwagon just because everyone else is doing it.  Make sure your company and its employees are truly committed to the cause and not just paying it lip service.  Otherwise savvy customers could see through your efforts and accuse you of "greenwashing."

Although eco-friendliness can make consumers feel good about their purchases, it must go hand-in-hand with providing quality products/services, excellent customer service and a competitive price.  No amount of green goodwill can overcome stumbles in those areas. 

Rural telephone companies have long been seen as cornerstones of their communities through their support of local schools and organizations and other economic development efforts.  Making your company more eco-friendly is part of this responsibility you've taken over the years to improve your communities.  And as more and more companies are seeing, being socially responsible just makes good business sense.

Easy Ways to "Go Green"

• Recycle paper in the office and promote online billing and bill payment to reduce the amount of paper used.
• Recycle newspapers, cans, bottles, batteries, print cartridges and other items used by company employees.
• Donate or recycle computers and other electronic equipment.
• Replace incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs.
• Print direct mail on recycled paper.
• Buy Energy Star appliances.
• Collect old telephone books for recycling.
• Start a handset recycling program for your wireless company.
• Consider alternative fuel vehicles when replacing company trucks. At a minimum, keep truck tires properly inflated.
• Plant a tree.