Shift Way You Use Resources

• Marketing firms are notorious for generating mountains of paper. That's because the product is creativity, which has to be presented, revised, refined, finalized, documented, produced, distributed and finally, measured. And those hours burning the midnight oil are hard on energy bills.
  
  Shifting resource usage can begin with paper. Discourage the endless storage of paper documents. Move to online billing, including backup documentation, which will cut both paper and postage costs. Turn from documenting and communicating on paper to electronic conference reports, traffic reports, creative approvals, budget agreements, production estimates and campaign measurement. Post agendas rather than print them out. Encourage meeting attendees to take electronic notes.
  
  Become recycling fiends--from copy-room paper to lunch-room aluminum cans. Save and recycle shipping supplies. Take your company off junk mailings and if you want the info, sign up for electronic delivery. Bravely ask: "how many phone books do we need?"
  
  Cut out unnecessary dining waste for work days and client entertaining. Stop using paper plates and napkins, plastic forks, disposable water bottles. Use instead, real coffee cups, glasses, plates, silverware and cloth napkins and wash them in low-phosphorus detergents. Put your brand on them and make a 21st century style statement.
  
  

Adjust How You Work

• Reconsidering running your office where everyone either shows up or is on the road somewhere. Allow staff to telecommute at least one day a week. According to Go Green.com, IBM estimates that 25 percent of its workforce worldwide telecommutes full or part time. The company claims a $700 million savings in real estate costs and 50 percent more productive employees.
  
  To cut air travel to clients' offices, use more teleconferencing tools. New electronic meeting options like "Go-to-Meeting" and Skype now allow face time without the airport hassles.
  
  Encourage your staff to ride-share and depending upon where your office is located, consider a bike-to work-day once a week during the summer. Every gallon of gas burned dumps an estimated 20 pounds of carbon into the atmosphere.  Average gas mileage of 23 miles per gallon for a round trip commute of 50 minutes per day, releases 40 pounds of carbon per car, just going to and from work, according to Green.com.
  
  Change your presentation style: try electronic creative presentations instead of storyboards or pasteboard mock-ups. If it must be on a board, recycle the board.
  
  

Find Green in Strategy

• Consider the green impact on the media strategy itself. Instead of traditional newsletters or paper-intense direct mail, recommend e-blasts and e-newsletters. It's easier to measure them anyway.
  
  Lead the way, by recommending a campaign that provides a donation to green/environmental causes. Include campaign measurement of the client's carbon footprint reduction and product market share growth.
  
  

Keep Green Company

• Commit to associate with "green" partners. Focus on printers who develop good recycled paper products and production companies that use green video and film habits. Establish corporate travel policies that put your people at green hotels and restaurants. If you lease your office space, ask if your landlord is green, and if not, offer to provide suggestions on how you can work on this together.
  
  When you entertain clients, do your part to reduce shipping pollution; make a point of using local producers who don't have to ship local foods, such as produce, breads, cheeses, craft beers or wines.
  
  The ultimate green statement is a brave one: to commit to working only with clients who share your environmental commitment.
  
  

Communicate Stance

• Becoming a green marketing company practically requires you to speak up. Communicate your position to your staff, your suppliers and your clients. Begin to document and measure your business carbon footprint. Develop a green reminder phrase like..."Do you really need to print that?"
  
  As Ben & Jerry's has done, consider starting a foundation or at the least, contributing time and money to environmental activities. It tells the world what your values are.