Amazon Drops Price on Kindle Version of ‘Tailoring the Green Suit’

Great news for Kindle readers!

Amazon.com has dropped the price of Tailoring the Green Suit: Empowering Yourself for an Executive Career in the New Green Economy. The new price–$8.99–reflects a 10 percent price cut.

Kindle is a big hit with executives-on-the-go. And now, many more will enjoy Tailoring the Green Suit for less!

UPDATE 8/9/10: For reasons we cannot explain, Amazon.com has restored the hardcover book’s price to the original $21.99. If you are as puzzled as we are, then we encourage you to contact the “big giant head” (a.k.a. Amazon) and vent your spleen! Tell them to restore the sale price to $19.79 or you’ll purchase elsewhere!

‘Green Office Challenge’ Expands to Several U.S. Communities

Cross-posted from The Green Suits:

Earlier this week, we reported about Green Spaces, a New York City-based facility that encourages ecopreneurs to “co-office” in its sustainable work environment.

Now, Arlington County, Virginia – already a nationally-recognized model for resource sustainability and urban renewal – joins Nashville, San Diego, and Charleston, South Carolina in a green office challenge pilot program sponsored by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability.

ICLEI selected Arlington County based on its large commercial business base and a record of success in encouraging businesses to use renewable energy and conserve resources.

In the City of Big Shoulders, the Chicago Green Office Challenge – a program started by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley to encourage that city’s commercial property owners and office tenants to participate in friendly competition, to improve the environmental performance of their business operations – has already met with great success.

From the program’s website:

“More environmentally efficient office buildings are critical to helping Chicago reduce its impact on the planet’s changing climate. As a strategy of the Chicago Climate Action Plan, the Green Office Challenge helps to reduce the amount of global warming pollution that Chicagoans produce.

The City of Chicago is looking to downtown commercial property managers and office tenants to demonstrate leadership in environmental performance. Participating in the Green Office Challenge allows your business — and Chicago — to get a head start on meeting these critical targets.”

Commercial office buildings account for nearly 40 percent of Chicago’s greenhouse gas emissions. And it is with great hope that the Green Office Challenge will help greatly reduce CO2 output in Chicago and the other participating U.S. communities.

As The Green Suits, we must encourage every city and community throughout the U.S. to adopt the Green Office Challenge.

Photo h/t Chicago Green Office Challenge.

Will This Be Green Marketing’s Breakout Year?

Cross-posted from The Green Suits:

Environmental Leader has partnered with MediaBuyerPlanner to study Green Marketing to determine if it is ephemeral (or here to stay).

Based on the study’s key findings, it looks like Green Marketing has got legs. Specifically:

• 82% of respondents indicated they expect to spend more on green marketing in the future. Among manufacturers, that number is significantly higher. At least half, if not more, of respondents plan to engage in online marketing efforts in the future.
• 28% of marketers themselves think green marketing is more effective than other marketing messages, compared to 6% of marketers who think it is less effective. Management is even more optimistic, with 46% of them indicating a belief that green marketing is more efficacious. Just 23% of those in operations think green marketing is more effective.
• Companies with smaller marketing budgets tend to spend more on green marketing. Firms with a marketing budget of under $250,000 spend just over 26% on green marketing, while those with budgets of more than $50 million spend 6% on green marketing.

The most popular medium for green marketing was the Internet, with

• 74.2% of respondents having spent money online, followed by
• Print (49.8%
• Direct (40%)
• Outdoor (7%)
• Radio and TV (7%)
• Mobile (6%)

• 29% of marketers with budgets between $10 million and $50 million, and 25% of those with budgets of more than $50 million, used outdoor, compared to 7.3% for all marketers.

About half of companies reported that they are consciously taking steps to become more green. The most popular actions are:

• Conserving energy in operations, at 59%
• Changing products to reflect greener values (such as changing ingredients, packaging or intended use), at 54%

• And, nearly half of respondents said the decision-makers at their companies hold green marketing in high regard, compared to just 15% who hold it in low regard. Companies with decision-makers who have a low regard for green marketing tend to be those with the larger marketing budgets between $10 million and $50 million per year, where more than a quarter indicated that their decision-makers held green marketing in low regard. Smaller companies, concludes the report, may believe green marketing to be more effective than larger companies do.

More green marketing will translate to more consumer spending via green marketing channels. More consumer spending via green channels likely means larger green marketing budgets. And we hope that larger green marketing budgets will lead to a big spike in green marketing executive hiring.

One would hope. So, let’s all keep a good thought!