The Glaring Need for a Sustainability Info-rum

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As consumer demand increases for green products and companies continue to embrace sustainability as a business strategy, it’s glaringly apparent that there is going to be a need for solid, data-driven information that can help companies make smart decisions. The Fortune 500 has started adding the Chief Sustainability Officer as an official C-suite position, but it’s not yet common, leaving the strategic direction of many companies’ sustainability initiatives typically in the hands of a dispersed group of motivated employees (a green team), or with someone who is juggling double duty, like a CFO.

In order to make the best business case for sustainability, it’s imperative that these individuals get the most relevant and on-target information and help they need, in the least amount of time, and with the least amount of effort. So if this was your job, where would you go to find this information?

Right…..

So it is that the internet is full of information, just a Google away. But the internet is also full of something else: misinformation. And the potential for incredible wastes of time.

For people in a company looking to make sustainability successful at their company, then, it is apparent that there is a glaring need for an informative forum and resource that curates the best possible information. So it is that some very bright students in the green MBA program at the Presidio Graduate School have come up with a solution: AMP.

AMP is a platform that is being developed by Sarah McKinney and Presidio colleague John Lehnert to help drive optimal performance of sustainability initiatives for companies everywhere. Professionals will be able to upload resources for other people to download and use, such as market reports, how-to guides, and case studies. By using peer review, AMP will allow users to see a rating of these resources, such that the best of the best will naturally float to the top and therefore best practices will become clear.

AMP will provide collaborative bookmarking and file sharing without cost to members, and an opportunity for sustainability professionals to make money by sharing their work and helping other companies follow in their footsteps. Think about it this way: if you do a waste audit at your company and cut your waste sent to landfill by 40% (and save your company money on waste hauling costs), and you decide you’d like to help other companies do the same, you can upload your how-to onto AMP and set a price for it. If others use your resource, you’ll make money from it, while also helping to drive sustainability at other companies.

It’s a great win-win, and, of course, a huge time saver for people looking for resources that really work. Compare that to the odds of something you find on Google doing the same job, and you will start to understand the value of AMP as a resource for businesses.

It’s worth checking out this crowdfunding campaign for the video alone–it’s so flipping cool.

At the moment, AMP is crowdfunding money on IndieGogo. If you’re looking to make an impact in the world, it’s hard to imagine a more powerful force for positive change. After all, as McKinney points out, “The top 3,000 publicly traded companies cause $2 trillion in environmental damage every year.” By having peer-reviewed resources that work, employees within those companies will be much more likely to show the business case for sustainability initiatives…and thus get approval from their bosses. On top of that, these proven methods will also be more likely to succeed within companies, helping to mitigate that $2 trillion in damage.

AMP has raised more than $18,000 on its IndieGogo campaign. If you’d like to see this powerful resource come to fruition, check out their campaign and pitch in if you can. There’s some great rewards there, and one of the coolest videos I’ve ever seen on a crowdfunding site.

White paper photo from Shutterstock

 

 

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