Gone are the days when simply rallying around the elimination of oil spills, toxic dumps and pesticides was enough. Recycling and water conservation are no longer the end all and be all of environmental sustainability. It’s 2013 and our rapidly changing Earth cries out for a greater effort with a heightened sense of urgency. To take your environmental sustainability efforts to the next level and to spread the #GREENspiration, here are eight unique ways to go green this Earth Day (and beyond).

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

1. Dryer lint? That’s for the birds. No, seriously. Rather than throwing away your dryer lint, put it in the backyard for the birds – they use it to feather their nests. (Source: SheKnows)

2. It’s not re-gifting if you’re turning it into something even more awesome! Upcycling is a fabulous new trend which put simply means to “create new things with the stuff you already have” (thanks, eco-lifestyle expert Danny Seo). Here’s an idea – take those Wilsonart Laminate sample chips you picked up from your local hardware store and turn them into decorative accents for a gorgeous new serving tray. (Source: Good Day LA)

Transportation

3. Nonstop flights = a good time for everyone. Unless you’re a huge fan of the widely dreaded take-off and landing, or you get a rush from spending hours upon hours at airports, you’re probably pretty into nonstop flights. Good news – not only are they more convenient, they’re more sustainable. Take-off, landing and ground operations add a significant amount of emissions to a trip.

4. OK, so carpooling isn’t exactly a new concept… But, it’s ever-important. Did you know that carpooling just two days a week reduces CO² emissions by 1,590 pounds a year? Just TWO days per week = 1,590 lbs. saved. Talk to your colleagues who live near you to set up a carpooling system. (Source: One Block Off the Grid)

Energy Efficiency

5. The best things cookies come to those who wait. You know that feeling when your delicious chocolate chip cookies are taking what feels like an eternity to bake? Resist the urge to open the oven door to sneak a peek – every time you do, the temperature drops 25° F and requires additional energy to get back to baking. As it turns out, there’s an oven light for a reason. (Source: We Energies)

Food & Beverage

6. Kill two Earth-polluting birds with one stone. No, don’t actually kill birds. Step 1: start your own backyard compost. Step 2: grow your own produce in your new compost garden. Do this and you’re not only eliminating waste by finding a new use for easily decomposable trash, but you’re significantly decreasing the distance between your food and your table. This makes Mother Earth (and maybe birds) smile. (Source: SheKnows)

7. It’s 5:00 (am) somewhere. In order to better conserve, water your plants first thing in the morning. Mornings tend to be cooler and without strong winds, decreasing the amount of water lost to evaporation. It’s not technically a human beverage tip, but your plants will appreciate having more to drink. (Source: The Daily Green)

Green Competition

8. Who says it’s not easy being green? (Sorry, Kermit.) Get your company excited about Earth Day by inspiring some healthy green competition. At CRT/tanaka, we’re celebrating environmental sustainability all throughout the month of April with our Green Competition. Employees are nominating each other every time they do something green – whether that’s turning off lights in conference rooms when not in use, sharing tips for donating books, toys or clothes, eating meatless meals or powering down laptops at the end of the day – all with the promise of some rad green prizes like Whole Foods gift cards and multi-device chargers for the top-scoring Green Warriors.

I hope these eight unique ideas inspire you to go green this Earth Day. Please spread the GREENspiration by sharing this post and commenting with your Earth Day ideas below.

What makes a leader? Is it an innate trait within us or a skill that’s learned over time? Is it a carefully calculated risk or merely a happy accident? The answer is yes. All of the above.

True leaders emerge in various ways from various walks of life with various hopes, dreams, styles and personalities. And yet, there are qualities which all leaders possess: a true sense of self, passion, dedication and fearlessness. To celebrate the potential for leaders to emerge around every corner, we bring you a post saluting just a few of our favorites. Thank you for inspiring us.

Nora Ephron: The Uncompromising Leader

I’ve always loved Nora Ephron for When Harry Met Sally. She practically defined the Romantic Comedy genre with that film. She also wrote You’ve Got Mail and Julie & Julia. Before movies, Nora made a career as a prolific journalist writing critically and revealingly about the circles in which she travelled – from the feminist movement of the 1970s to the powerful wives of Washington D.C. politicians and personas (she was married to Carl Bernstein post-Watergate) to her own colleagues in the media.

She was fearless and smart enough to write about her own kind in a way that belied the eager admiration she felt towards her subjects. Often times that hopeful sentiment curdled into stark truths and uneasy admissions. After reading her articles, many of her subjects viewed her as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. But that she was so well-loved and grieved upon her sudden death last year shows the power of uncompromised truth – and not just truth with a capital “T,” but truth as she saw it and spoke it. She was admired and respected, even though she had not always been kind.

Nora’s life was her work, and to become a part of it was to become complicit; to agree to be material for her work. That is a dangerous contract, and yet so many powerful, important and famous people knowingly entered into it because they trusted her truth and her worldview; because they trusted her. She was fearless but not ruthless, she was honest, but not cruel and she was successful without compromising herself.

Jimmy Buffett: The Happy-Go-Lucky Leader

As odd as it sounds, a few months ago Jimmy Buffett became a hero of mine. I find that these days, people spend a lot of time striving – really pushing to make things happen, or even forcing them to. And our society lauds that. We reward people who have overcome the odds, but only after they have worked extremely hard to get there; only if they have pushed past every possible weakness. We rarely laud those who go with the flow, do what they love and let things unfold as they will.

About his work, Jimmy Buffett says, “I still consider it a summer job. So, I try to maintain that summer job as long as I can. But it’s exciting to be able to have the opportunity to do things I always dreamed of as a kid.” Buffett didn’t aim to be famous; he just aimed to do what he loved and those around him saw the value in it and were drawn to his songs and his way of looking at the world. Take a moment to consider creativity. Which attitude or state of being is more conducive to creation? Striving, arranging or forcing the given elements into place will never be. On the other hand, listen to Jimmy Buffett’s advice: “If you go with your instincts and keep your humor, creativity follows. With luck, success comes, too.” When too many of us are apt to look at our faces in the mirrors and see age, hard work, or our own failings, Jimmy says, “Wrinkles will only go where the smiles have been.” That’s the way we should aim to work – with joy, love and gratitude. Take a page out of his book. Smile.

Ellen DeGeneres: The Selfless Leader

While comedy and gay rights are both wonderful things and likely associations when one speaks the name “Ellen DeGeneres,” they are not the reasons why I admire this comedian, TV personality and humanitarian. I see Ellen DeGeneres as an admirable leader in the sense that she’s widely respected and loved, honest about who she is and wants to be, selective when it comes to the brands she endorses and a true advocate for the talents of our generation and those to follow.

She began as a stand-up comedian, widened her fan base through her talk show, truly became a household name when she openly admitted to being gay, suffered the trials and tribulations associated with doing so, then bounced back and in recent years has only grown in popularity. Ellen is funny, charismatic, lighthearted and charming. People love her because she’s entertaining, but also because she’s genuine. The fact that she stands up for what she believes in and stays true to herself is inspiring. It’s easy to conform and to get sucked into all the negativity in the world, so her honesty is especially beautiful.

One of the most inspiring traits Ellen possesses is the importance she places in helping others to grow and prosper. You’ve seen six-year-old piano prodigy Tsung Tsung and adorable and multi-talented Sophia Grace and Rosie. When Ellen sees a spark within someone, she goes out of her way to ignite that flame and help them skyrocket to superstardom. To have the ability to recognize the strengths in others and help them to grow into the leader they can be is a strength in and of itself that all true leaders possess. Through helping others, you help yourself.

What leaders do you admire, and why? Share with us your favorite leaders in the comments section.

Last week, I represented CRT/tanaka at Ragan’s PR Best Practices Summit at the Newseum in D.C. As can be expected from a Ragan event, the venue, the people and the presentations were excellent. (Thanks, @MarkRaganCEO!) Here are just a handful of the best practices as preached at the 2012 PR Best Practices Summit.

Don’t Even Try to Fake Core Values

The digital age has created an entirely new approach to marketing, dictated by relationships. As explained by Bob Garfield of NPR (@bobosphere), the curtain that had years ago obscured corporate activity from public view has been pulled back, leaving little to the imagination. This concept is what Bob calls the Human Element. No smart (or ethical) organization will attempt to fake core values in the era of utmost transparency.

Think Outside the Box for Blog Engagement

Southwest Airlines has done a stellar job of setting the benchmark for social media success with its award-winning corporate blog, Nuts About Southwest and recent employee blog, SWALife, as well as its Twitter, YouTube and Facebook pages. Over three million-strong, Southwest Airlines’ online community is certainly one aspiring social-savvy brands should try to emulate. Brooks Thomas of Southwest Airlines (@brooksethomas) shared one tactic for increasing engagement that Nuts About Southwest fans go, well, nuts about: SWA Stew. In the style of a “chat stew,” the SWA Stew offers a video round-up of the most popular posts of the week, reminding us that while reading a blog post is great, incorporating an interactive element makes it even greater.

Create a Brand Experience Through Advertising

Michael Litchfield of Doremus (@redwoodtiki) fired up the crowd with his bold and beautiful session title, “Advertising sucks and traditional media is dead.” To back it up, he shared with the group his secret for success in building a lasting and memorable brand experience with your advertising efforts: be any combination of provocative, entertaining, relevant, unexpected and remarkable. As explained by Michael, being provocative means only to provoke thought, entertaining to be funny and remarkable to be “remark-worthy.” This can be expanded to apply to not only advertising, but to any aspect of branding, marketing and public relations. His presentation displayed five out of five of these guidelines, leaving the crowd with a clear sense of the Doremus brand experience.

Stick a Gosh Darn Digit in Your Release Headline

The press release is not dead, according to Sarah Skerik of PR Newswire (@sarahskerik). I tend to agree. (Bring it on, Press Release Haters!) This said, far from the traditional release we once knew, today’s release has changed and evolved when it comes to format, structure, intended audience and shareability, thanks to social media. While it was good to hear what Sarah, the Press Release Guru, had to say about the tool, what may have been the most valuable tidbit from her presentation was all about the numbers. She shared with the group that the releases that find the most success include a number in the headline – not a spelled-out number (four, five, six, etc.), but a digit (4, 5, 6, etc.). This, as could Michael’s teachings, can be applied to blog posts and, I’d be willing to bet, award entries.

Be Live, Local, Personal and Social

Last, but not least, Patrick Stiegman of ESPN.com (@ESPN) set the stage for a successful modern day media platform by sharing ESPN’s strategy for engagement. A leading online media platform, ESPN.com is a great example of how to give consumers what they want, when they want it, where they want it. Offering multiple options for receiving sports news and updates, ESPN strives to be live, local, personal and social – a mantra we should all follow with the power of social media and mobile literally at our fingertips. On a somewhat unrelated note, Patrick also threw out a quite impressive statistic: 85 million Americans use TV and Internet simultaneously every day. Way to be ahead of the curve, ESPN.

There you have it – a quick and dirty list of the best practices preached at the 2012 PR Best Practices Summit. Summit attendees: what did you take away as the best practice from this year’s summit? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so tweet me @nikki_parrotte or shoot me an email at nparrotte@crt-tanaka.com.

Images courtesy of Enso Journey and Futurity.

Ahh, Millennials. The generation that wants, expects and needs. Sure, Millennials have received a lot of criticism over the past few years for the negative connotation behind these seemingly narcissistic traits, but consider the positive effects these driving forces of “wanting,” “expecting” and “needing” have on the way today’s corporations do business. Through the lens of Corporate Responsibility, you may reconsider the meaning of the stereotypes that label this generation, and even think twice about the potential this generation can contribute to your organization’s own Corporate Responsibility efforts. 

Image courtesy of CauseCast

 Millennials want transparency.

When it comes to purchasing a product, or investing time and energy in supporting a cause, Millennials want to know what they’re getting themselves into. They demand to know how and where a product was made, the extent of the impact the product has on the environment and just where the money they shell out for this product is going. It is the skepticism built by the open and flowing channels of free information that prompts Millennials’ desire to validate the source of their products and services. If a corporation is poorly communicating its business practices and procedures with its employees, partners or publics, there becomes a disconnect which sometimes translates to a hidden agenda. Transparency in today’s hyper-connected society is of the utmost importance. “Wanting,” in this case, serves as a motivator, and is actually a very good thing.

Millennials expect sustainability.

While responsible business practices include areas like economic, social and cultural sustainability, Millennials are usually pegged for their expectation of environmental sustainability. Aware of the rate of deterioration and depletion of our earth’s natural resources, this generation is more explicit than any in its expectations of corporations to use all available means to preserve and protect what we have left. As stated by my colleague in a previous Buzz Bin post, “It’s no longer just a good idea for businesses to instill sustainable business practices, it’s become an expectation.” To take it a step further, not only do they as consumers hold corporations to this expectation, but Millennials in the workplace highly value the opportunity for volunteerism and contribution to sustainable practices, as found by Deloitte’s 2011 Volunteer IMPACT Survey.

Image courtesy of Deloitte via VolunteerMatch

Millennials need accountability.

Accountability is phase two of transparency. While Millennials want corporations to be transparent in their business practices, this generation expresses a need to hold the same corporations accountable for staying true to these practices and their impact – during good times and bad.

Harness the want, the expectation and the need.

How will you harness the driving force behind Millennials’ wants, expectations and needs? Maybe you’ll task them with spearheading an internal Green Team or look to them for support in communicating your organizations strategic Corporate Responsibility plan via social media platforms. YourCause has a few additional ideas for reining in the power of Millennials’ expectations. In terms of tapping into Millennials’ potential to contribute to an organization’s Corporate Responsibility expertise, we’ve barely scratched the surface.

Share with us what has worked for you. We’d love to hear how your company is utilizing this power in the comments section or on our Facebook wall.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, you’ve probably heard about, and hopefully prepared your brand pages for the changes that come with the new Facebook Timeline. As a refresher, I’ve compiled these changes into a list of the top three things you’ll need to remember in order to effectively tell your brand story and fully tap into your potential with Timeline in the next few weeks and beyond.

Imagery, Imagery, Imagery

There is nothing more important for brands than populating a file of rich brand images. Timeline is a highly visual experience, beginning with a page-wide cover photo. Whether you’ve selected a powerful stand-alone product image or created a collage of storytelling snapshots, this cover photo should capture the interest of your fans, inviting them to enter into your brand’s online world. The photo we chose for our client, Rioja Wine is an excellent example of how best to utilize this new Facebook function. Not only is it colorful and captivating, but the photo tells the story of Rioja Wines. Nothing fancy, just a highly impactful, culture-rich brand image.

While the cover photo is the first thing a fan sees, brands should also tap into their file of rich brand images for regular Timeline posts – and often. Any true storyteller knows that sharing an image is much more powerful than any carefully crafted body of text. To stay true to this guideline, I’ll let each of the following images previously posted on our client, Early Mountain Vineyards’ Timeline speak for itself. 

Mastering Milestones

One of the most important elements of telling a brand’s story is celebrating its history. With the new Facebook Timeline, brands have the ability to do so via the new milestone function. Just select “milestone” in the sharing tool at the top of your brand’s page, then add a headline, location, date, description and photo to illustrate all the important pieces of your brand’s history. Check out how we’ve utilized this function to tell our client, Cambria Suites’ story.

Playing Telephone

Just as in the children’s game of telephone, Facebook provides a function for fans to pass along a story to their friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends and so on. In addition to the posting of engaging and “shareworthy” content, Premium Ads and Reach Generator provide new opportunities for brands for expanded engagement. As we make our way into the second quarter of the year, we will be experimenting with these new capabilities in order to ensure our brands’ stories are heard.

And now for your viewing pleasure, just a few more of our clients’ stunning cover photo selections. They’ve really taken to Timeline!

Last Monday, I attended marketing communications and social media conference, What’s Next DC hosted by Green Buzz Agency. The conference attracted public relations and social media enthusiasts alike, offering plentiful speaker sessions and opportunities for networking with peers.

Intended to ignite a social spark, much of the conference tied into strategic planning for 2012. As said by keynote speaker Major George Hood, chief communications officer for Salvation Army, “A river without banks becomes a swamp.” In the spirit of building the most strategic and sturdy of banks, here are my three key takeaways.

Humor = Humanization

Corporate comedian Tim Washer (@timwasher) shared this key to social video success. Contrary to popular belief, there is room for a little humor when it comes to marketing to B2B brands. In order to engage on the social web, a brand must keep in mind the fundamental reasons why social video works. As humans, we’re compelled to share content that is entertaining and relatable, so layer a laugh or two into an otherwise mundane promotional video. Here’s Cisco’s take on humanization through humor.

Click here to view the embedded video.

*Tip from Washer: Test your video concept at different stages of production. What’s funny to you may not be quite so entertaining to someone else.

Facebook Wants to Be Invisible

Well, relatively invisible – throughout the user experience, that is. The social network thrives namely because of the personalization of the user experience. Content strategist Amy Thibodeau (@amythibodeau) shared that Facebook is well aware of this delicate balance. Becoming too visible to users would detract from the experience for which the interface was built.

*To all of you proponents for the introduction of a “dislike” button, you might as well give it a rest. According to Thibodeau, “It’s not going to happen.” This would make negativity far too easy, something Facebook does its best to discourage. 

User-Generated Content is King

At least in the case of extreme fandom empire Dunkin’ Donuts. Public relations and social media manager, Jessica Gioglio (@savvybostonian) admitted that while “America runs on Dunkin’,” Dunkin’ social media is run by the fans. Rather than a continuous stream of branded content via its social channels, she attempts to provide these fans with the tools with which to express their passion. With more than 5.6 million likes on Facebook and high-level engagement to prove it, this strategy works.

*Disclaimer: I am by no means a Patriots fan, in fact, I’m am and forever will be an avid supporter of the Big Blue. One fun fact Gioglio shared with us at the conference is that Dunkin’ sponsors both teams in the Super Bowl this year. Guess they’ve chosen sides…

I congratulate Green Buzz Agency on a successful conference, and the numerous speakers and moderators on thought-provoking discussion. The case studies, tips and tricks that were shared are sure to assist all who attended in mapping out what’s next for 2012.