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title: Celebrating sustainability
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How tech is making our future on Earth better (and brighter)

| View in browser April 19, 2022 👋 rethINK PR is our weekly newsletter filled with useful PR, content marketing and digital media advice. We tell you what works, what doesn’t and why. OFF-MUTE 🔈 🌎  Climate change is the existential threat of our time.    🙌  But it’s not all doom and gloom.    🛠️  People are making real changes to help fix this crisis. For example:    🛒  85% of global consumers indicate that they’ve shifted their purchasing behavior towards being more sustainable in the past five years;   💬 The SEC proposed mandatory disclosure from public companies to provide estimates of both direct and indirect greenhouse-gas emissions;    💰 And environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is skyrocketing — with an estimated $120 billion invested in ESG-focused funds in 2021 (more than double the year prior)!   👀  Which greentech industries are well-positioned for growth even amid climate uncertainty?    📝  Our Vice President Bristol Whitcher Rice – a key member of our climate tech and corporate sustainability practice – is keeping tabs on these top five:    🌱 Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA). Controlled environment farms can be built virtually anywhere, providing 365 days of continuous production. This is an important and viable solution given the decline in arable land, geopolitical crises disrupting supply chains, and increasingly severe weather events. Vertical farming companies like our #client, Crop One, grow safe, local and nutritious produce in any climate.   🥗 Plant-based everything. From milk alternatives to vegan leather, if there’s an animal product you like, you can undoubtedly find a plant-based dupe with ease. Love bacon for instance? Try our #client MyForestFoods' plant-based bacon alternative. Making these lifestyle changes can help limit GHG emissions.   🏢 Green buildings & systems. Did you know that building operations and construction make up 38% of total global energy-related CO2 emissions? Commercial real estate developers and owners have a massive opportunity to invest in new technologies—both on the construction and operations side—that work to make buildings more sustainable.    🌊 Water innovations. Our water supplies are becoming increasingly stressed, competing with rising populations, industrialization, and a depletion of freshwater resources. Both the public and private sectors are pushing the envelope when it comes to developing new technologies that preserve and treat our global water resources.    🚗 Sustainable transportation. Advancements in technology have made alternative fuels an increasingly viable and accepted solution. Last year, San Francisco debuted a hydrogen-powered ferry; virtually every major carmaker has ambitious electric vehicle (EV) roadmaps; and EV infrastructure is a top priority, with municipalities working to eliminate “range anxiety” and bring EVs even more mainstream. THE NEWSROOM 📰 🎙 Nearly everybody is aware of climate change now. And the media can finally dig into more nuanced stories beyond recycling 101. We recently interviewed Lisa Jenkins, senior climate reporter at Protocol and Barb Moran, environment correspondent for WBUR on separate occasions to learn how climate journalism is changing and what stories excite them. Here’s an overview of what they’re covering:    💸 The money trail. “Trying to follow where the investments are going and how the money is getting used” is a big part of Barb’s reporting. And Lisa’s staying on top of the funding news and interested in “what kinds of investments technology companies are making when it comes to climate.”    🆒🆕 Local solutions. Barb said, “I look for stories about what local people are doing around me…These types of small, low tech, personal solutions that can become widespread and make a difference really excite me.”    📊 Data, data, data. “All aspects of society need to be resilient to the climate crisis. The more data we have and the more technology we have to take advantage of that data, the more resilient we’re going to be,” said Lisa.    🖼️ Visual storytelling. Lisa also spoke about the future of news reporting. “As journalism continues to evolve and people’s attention span gets shorter, the ability to convey information quickly and through multimedia is going to be really important.”   ICYMI: Check out our list of 15 climate tech media influencers you should follow.  JUST FOLLOWING UP 🙋 📝 Companies are setting more aggressive goals and using corporate sustainability reports to communicate their progress. A lack of communication around climate action can be damaging to your brand. Here’s what we recommend:    👊 Make a commitment. If your business is not in a position to publish a comprehensive sustainability report, consider releasing a statement from your CEO that shows a commitment to creating change within the community and provides a list of actionable steps you’re taking to increase sustainability.    ⚖️ Be accountable. After the commitment comes the progress report. Provide regular updates about what you’ve done and how you’ve fallen short. This transparency will make key stakeholders feel at ease and help with brand awareness.   ✍️ Sustain your content. Consider using graphics to show your company’s sustainability goals, strategy and progress on social media or a microsite. Turn success stories into case studies for the website. This content will help supplement yearly or quarterly sustainability reports and can help attract and retain talent.   💯 Engage employees. You can’t make widespread progress without buy-in from employees. Sustainability can’t be relegated to operations. It requires a culture shift. Create trainings on how to help reduce the company’s footprint, share regular updates, and encourage staff to make eco-friendly decisions throughout the workday.  SAVE THE DATE 🗓️ 💬 Food Edge, a leading summit bringing together the industry’s foremost innovators to discuss the latest trends and developments that are shaping the future of food, is taking place virtually and in Boston May 3-5, 2022. We’re cheering on several #clients who are speaking at the event, including:  Julianne Stelmaszyk, director of food strategy at Rhode Island Commerce joining a panel on aquaculture 🎣 Craig Ratajczyk, CEO at Crop One speaking about controlled environment agriculture as a means of sustainable food production 🌱 ⏰ Register now before it’s too late.  OPEN TABS 📱 📌 15 Climate Change Media Influencers To Follow  📌 The Top Greentech Industries Ripe For Growth In 2022 📌 Q&A With Lisa Jenkins, Senior Climate Reporter at Protocol 📌 Q&A With Barb Moran, Environment Correspondent For WBUR  📌 5 Ways To Effectively Communicate Corporate Sustainability Commitments  📌 Q&A With John Fialka, Founding Editor Of Climatewire   📌 Q&A With Jeff St. John, Editor-In-Chief Of Canary Media 📌 How Newsworthy Is Your Story?  📌 How To Place A Contributed Article  📌 Crisis Communications 101: Not If But When  📌 Media Relations 101: On & Off The Record & Embargo Vs. Exclusive  OUT OF OFFICE 📫 😎 We are taking next week off from the newsletter. But we’ll be back in your inbox on May 3.       “It’s not all doom and gloom. While humans may be a leading cause of climate change, we’re also the only ones who can fix it, and people are doing just that.”   — Bristol Whitcher Rice, vice president, Inkhouse       💬 Tell your friends to subscribe here 📕 Bookmark our newsletter archive 🐦 Tweet now about this week’s topic Inkhouse, 260 Charles Street, Suite 200, Waltham, MA 02453 Unsubscribe Manage preferences |
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