TECHNOLOGY ECO-CONSCIOUSNESS

Rough Notes, Feb 2009 by Doucette, Nancy

Agencies are finding creative ways of reducing their impact on the environment

Part one of this series, which appeared in the December 2008 issue of Rough Notes, provided an overview of the environmental, social, and fiscal benefits of"e-cycling."In this second part of a three-part series, we will learn how four marketing agencies of the month are incorporating eco-awareness into their business practices.

People want to be aligned with good corporate citizens," says Steve Appel, vice president of corporate development for Gregory & Appel Insurance, based in Indianapolis, Indiana. As part of its definition of good corporate citizenship, the agency has "gone green" in a number of areas that positively impact employees, clients, and the community.

The 125-year-old agency opened its first office in downtown Indianapolis in May 1884 and has remained in the downtown area ever since. In 2006, the agency moved for the 10th time into an historic building that was the original factory for HCS Motor Cars, the second company founded by legendary Hoosier automaker Harry Stutz, who created the Stutz Bearcat.

After Gregory & Appel acquired the property, they embarked on an 18-month complete building restoration project that gave the agency the opportunity to ensure that they renovated their 30,000 square feet of space using postconsumer, recycled material.

One of the more unusual recycled materials that the agency used was old radiators rescued from the building. They were cleaned, refinished and designed into the center of the tabletop and as the legs for the agency's boardroom table.

Steve Appel says that his cousin Dan, who is the agency president, leads by example with respect to energy conservation. In 2008, for instance, he bought a fuel-efficient Vespa scooter for his daily commute in warmer weather months to reduce fuel consumption.

Internally, electronic scanning has helped reduce the amount of paper the agency stores. But for the paper that still arrives at people's desks, once it has been processed, it goes into a paper recycling bin that sits at each employee's desk.

Appel says the agency has begun offering policies on CD to various commercial clients. "Some clients who share our environmental goals are happy about that," he notes. "Others are just happy to replace a big binder full of policy information on their bookshelves."

When it's time to get feedback from the 107-person staff, Appel says that all of the agency's survey efforts are done electronically.

And in keeping with the agency's effort to use less paper, invitations to client or company outings are also handled via e-mail. "They're easier to track as well," Appel says.

"Even our NCAA office pool is on our intranet," he says with a smile.

With more than 100 desktops, multiple monitors and a fleet oflaptops, Gregory & Appel donates its outdated technology to Virtual Scavenger, a local charity that refurbishes and makes equipment available to individuals who cannot afford to buy a computer. Success stories at the Virtual Scavenger Web site tell of individuals rebuilding their fives by being able to work from home on computers they acquired from Virtual Scavenger.

In 2008, Gregory & Appel was named one of the top five best places to work in Indiana. "Everyone here is environmentally conscious and is proud of the efforts we make as a company to be green and good corporate citizens. We think that contributed to our receiving this honor," Appel concludes.

Thinking green

When Hoffman Brown Company, based in Sherman Oaks, California, was preparing to move to its new location in late 2007, the agency formed various committees to ensure that the move went smoothly, says Susan Contreras who is executive assistant to Steve Brown, the agency president.

One of the committees was the green committee. "Moving into a new space, we wanted to do things a new way," she explains. Early on, the committee suggested that all 45 employees add a tag line at the bottom of their e-mail signature block. It reads: "Hoffman Brown is a proud supporter of our environment. Please join us in thinking green before printing this e-mail."

"A lot of times, people do things without thinking-like printing e-mails," Contreras notes.

When Rough Notes first met Steve Brown, he was one of the honorees for The Rough Notes Company Community Service Award. A core value of the agency is philanthropic giving. So when Hoffman Brown ramped up its green initiative, the agency's employee council naturally looked for charities that could benefit from technology equipment that the agency no longer needed.

Cell Phones for Soldiers is one such organization. They send the old cell phones to a recycler that in turn pays Cell Phones for Soldiers enough to provide an hour of talk time for soldiers overseas. Contreras points out that the Cell Phones for Soldiers Web site (www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/ index.html) provides all of the information that an organization needs to begin donating old cell phones to this worthwhile cause.