Recently, my company, Porter Novelli, started a new concept known as “greenfluencer.” You can read about it here, and following is my post on it.
As an employee of Porter Novelli, I’m personally excited about the concept of the greenfluencer. It’s yet another term I can associate myself with, along with “green” and “LOHAS” and “environmentally conscious.” I wouldn’t go as far to say “activist” — I’m not chaining myself to any trees, but I do quite a lot to do my part for the environment.
As a husband, father of three, and friend to like-minded people, I can say that I have a lot of influence over their thinking and habits in this area. And I promise to use my power for good! 
I could waste a few dozen pages on things that I’ve done in my life to make a difference, but I think it’d be better to take them in chunks. More important to note is that the number of things that I do (or don’t do) doesn’t make me special. In fact, the reason I do them is precisely because they’re so damned easy. For instance, if you’re standing on the street with an empty water bottle in your hand in front of a trash can and a recycling can, the choice you make right there can have a lasting impact in how you think about your personal green choices.
Perhaps the choice I’m most happy with was the purchase of my Toyota Prius back in early 2006. At the time, they were just beginning to be in vogue and were still readily available at dealerships. We were at that point of replacing our Honda Accord, and I knew I’d be seriously considering the Prius, in part because my friend had one that he was happy with (again — greenfluence).
Now, I made all of the financial arguments of how the higher cost of the car would be offset by the cost of gas, but at the time, gas was only (ONLY?) $2.20 a gallon. I didn’t know at the time that today it would be north of $4.00 a gallon. Boy, am I happy with that decision now. We only fill up our car around one to two times a month, and with a 9-gallon tank (most are around 14 gallons), it costs a little more than $30 to fill it up. If you’re blasting me on the math, no I don’t drain the tank completely dry.
Recently, I’ve been getting more looks and questions about the car from people who are equally miffed by the high price of gas. About once every two weeks, the question I most often get is, “So how do you like it?” That’s usually followed by an inquiry about its fuel efficiency. I can honestly say that I’ve directly influenced the purchase decision of at least 3 people I’ve talked to and made probably another 30 or so at least consider it.
That’s the power of greenfluence. It’s not green-washed marketing but real people with real experiences. Make your choice, and do your part — if not for you then for your children … or my children
UPDATE: David Zucker, Porter Novelli’s head of Causeworks appeared on Fox Business talking about Greenfluencers.
