Nature of Business radio, created and hosted by Chrissy Coughlin, is a weekly show on business and environment.
This week I speak with Susan Hunt Stevens President and Founder of Practically Green. Practically Green is a consumer-based web site that provides its users with green resources and recommendations creating opportunities to make individual decisions while sharing with friends.
Through a point system based loosely on the LEED point system, users are able to create their own path towards a more sustainable lifestyle. No preaching, just gamification at its best and fun. CBS has referred to Practically Green as "giving you the confidence to change." Clearly, that is where it all starts.
Sparked by her curiosity about environmental health issues, Susan realized early on that there simply was not a framework out there to understand what choices existed, what made the most sense, and what was impactful. So she boiled down all of this complexity into something that people get.
In our conversation, she talks about the power of her work so far as well as Practically Green's expansion into the corporate world. Currently they have licensed customized content to NBC Universal, Eileen Fisher and the Seattle Mariners, to name a few. She points out that companies increasingly see the value in engaging employees and making it personal by learning where their individual passions lie. They also see the value in using their brands to motivate and inspire both employees and customers alike. (And increase their bottom line.)
As she puts it, "This is not a movement of 10 percent of consumers anymore. The data is showing that 65 percent to 70 percent of people are actively changing their behavior to embrace something that is more sustainable. It's a real sea change ... And when the employees and customers of the company share their actions and motivate and inspire each other ... that's just a really powerful combination, especially for sustainable brands."
Practically Green does motivate and inspire. And in this economic and political climate I must say that is pretty refreshing. I see little to quibble about with a site based on being straightforward, non-judgmental, and fun. Go take the quiz and see what I am talking about.
For more on the methods companies are using -- including innovative techniques like gamification -- to make sustainable innovation happen, check out our upcoming GreenBiz Innovation Forum, October 11-13 in San Francisco.
George Papoulias edited this podcast.