Register Now!

Register now for the Net Impact North America Conference The Sustainable Advantage: Creating Social & Environmental Value, to receive an early registration discount of $50!!

Not sure if you want to attend? Let us know! We had such an amazing time last year and would love to share with you our stories and answer any questions you may have. 

-Lisa

The Never Greens

So we all know that not everyone has jumped on the green bandwagon. In fact, according to findings released by the Pew Research Center, only 47% of Americans believe global warming is a result of human activity.  

The Green Rush's harshest critics have gotten the attention of some big companies and market researchers who have now created a new buzzword, The Never Greens. 

According to Mintel, and as reported in the recent issue of BrandWeek,  10% of Americans are part of this new group of consumers who not only distrust green products and initiatives, but find them downright irritating. 

This of course will mean different things to different companies, depending on what you're selling and to whom. Take a look at the article (or sign on to Mintel for the actual report!) and see who these Never Greens are and what they're saying.

-Lisa

New Findings on Green Tech Spending in the US (1 point for the ladies)

Market research firm HANSA/GCR released findings from their first Green TECHpulse survey which examined green tech spending in US companies.

There were some interesting finding including one showing female decision makers are more environmentally-conscious than males.

Another interesting finding showed that decision makers placed more importance on direct and active actions as opposed to indirect, passive ones:

It'll be interesting to see how these finding, and the others, compare to next year's numbers. I have a feeling we'll see a jump in that 39% ranking for "Education public on limiting environmental impact from product/services." With growing individual interest in reducing personal and household footprints, I think we'll see a greater push for companies to offer complete product life cycle solutions such as recycling and donation programs. 

Check out the rest of their findings here and let us know where you think we'll see big changes in the coming year.

-Lisa

Internship Opportunity with Meals on Wheels

Meals on Wheels is a 501-c3 organization that provides meals to people who are homebound.

They are looking for an MBA intern to manage and implement a grass-
roots communications program for Meals on Wheels

The organization is looking to expand their client base, and also
needs someone to talk to the media and strategically implement their
client expansion plan. The intern will report directly to the CEO,
Executive Director and Communications Directors.

Hours and compensation:
Under 30 hours/week, $1200/month starting in August (or earlier).

Contact:
Bob McKim, Board Chair
(310) 876-0706 (H)
(310) 930-0066 (C)

Thanks to Kristin Strange at Pepperdine Career Services for this opportunity!

Isn't it about time we Grow-Up?

*photo from Treehugger

Check out this interesting clip from CNN on Vertical Farming here.  Then read about it here.

Cause-Related Marketing: 4 Common Mistakes

Here’s a very interesting post from one of my favorite Cause-Related Marketing bloggers, Paul Jones, regarding the 4 common mistakes small businesses make when it comes to cause-related marketing: Interview on Small Business Cause-Related Marketing with LA Times Reporter 

This is a very important topic, whether you plan to start your own business or work for a large CPG. It’s becoming more commonplace for companies to partner-up with a charity or other non-profit, which makes sense considering 72% of consumers say they have purchased a brand because it supports a cause they believe in.   

-Lisa

Wednesday's Mixer at Marix

Net Impact's first mixer of the year was a great success with about 50 incoming, second year and FEMBA students making it out to Marix last Wednesday night.











Thanks to everyone who came out, and make sure to stay tunned to the blog for announcements of future mixers! Also, big thanks to Frankie Warren for lending his camera.


-Lisa

Net Impact makes Feature Article in Pepperdine Career Network Newsletter!

Check it out here!

-Lisa

A Super-Sized Effort

While there is definitely a discussion to be had about the role of  McDonald's (among other fast food companies) in the rising rates of childhood obesity, McDonald's seems to have taken some impressive strides when it comes to their sustainability efforts.  

You can read about their self-proclaimed Top 10 Green Laboratories here, but here are my favorites: 

Waste-to-Energy Pilot in the UK
In August 2007, McDonald’s UK began using refuse from its restaurants to heat local buildings. Eleven UK restaurants are participating in the pilot program and will be the first of their kind to send zero waste to landfill. Each restaurant will avoid sending approximately 100 tons of waste a year to landfills, and energy generated will provide heat for approximately 130 local buildings.

Sustainable coffee and teas
McDonald's Europe is buying Rainforest Alliance and Utz Kapeh certified coffee. McDonald’s Australia has recently announced a similar move to Rainforest Alliance certified coffees, and McDonald’s UK is adding Rainforest Alliance certified tea to their menu.  We continue working with all of our suppliers on sustainable supply issues.

Biodiesel from McDonald's used cooking oil.   Since July of 2007, McDonald’s UK has been implementing a plan to recycle all of its cooking oil into biodiesel fuel for its delivery trucks, replacing nearly six million liters of diesel fuel with used cooking oil. Other McDonald's markets are doing this as well, with more than 70% of McDonald’s recycled cooking oil in Europe being converted into biodiesel. Markets including the U.S. and Brazil further exploring this opportunity as well.

What do you think? 

Do you think McDonald's should focus on one or two initiatives and tackle them worldwide or do you think this localized approach is the way to go? 

Maybe you think no amount of effort to be sustainable should overshadow the issues surrounding the poor nutritional value of McDonald's products. 

Either way, it's an interesting discussion that I expect we'll hear more and more as increasing number of companies enter the race to be green. 

-Lisa

Welcome!

Welcome to the Pepperdine's Net Impact Chapter blog! As your new leadership team for the 2008-2009 year, we want to welcome you and thank you for joining Net Impact. We had such an eventful past year, and we're very excited to carry that same momentum into the coming academic year.


One of the first things we wanted to do was create a destination point for our members. A place to share articles, observations and insights on the issues affecting us as Net Impact members, MBA students and future business leaders. We will also use this site to post upcoming events, so please check back on a regular basis.


Some of the events to look forward to:

• September 3 Informational Meeting (Malibu)
  
• September TBA Company Visit to QuantumSphere
  
• November 4 Social Entrepreneurship Panel
  
• November 13-15 N. America Net Impact Conference (Wharton)
  
• March 2-5 Social Enterprise Week (Malibu & WLA)
  
• March 6 Magill Symposium (Malibu)
  
• March/May 1st Annual Surf Competition & Beach Clean-Up
  

We are also planning on some great speakers and company tours so it's going to be a busy year.


If you haven't already, check out netimpact.org and sign up as a member to gain access to the job board, career newsletters, career training and online membership community. It's the best $25 you'll spend all year. And please, feel free to email me with any questions.

Best,

Lisa Warnock

co-president

lisa.warnock@pepperdine.edu

Your 2008-2009 Net Impact leadership team:

Lisa Warnock (co-president)

Winnie Khoo (co-president)

Santiago Giraldo (co-president/FEMBA)

Erica Lutzker (membership chair)

Alexis Martin (finance chair)

Shruthi Rao (marketing chair)

Adrienne Cohn (campus greening chair)