I’m not a coffee drinker, but today, my hat goes off to Starbucks.  Not only are they serving free coffee to anyone who votes (at times like this I wish I actually liked coffee), but they’ve also used a clever tactic to engage consumers with their brand.  Starbucks enthusiasts can go to http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/ and submit any idea they have for the coffee mogul.  Not surprisingly, many have chimed in on the environment….Responding to the demands for more social and environmental awareness, the company announced its new Shared Planet program recently.  According to PSFK, Starbucks senior vice president Michelle Gass posted on her blog the following goals the company wants to reach by 2015 through this initiative:

  • Environmental stewardship: 100% of our cups will be reusable or recyclable, and we will significantly reduce our environmental footprint through recycling, energy and water conservation and green construction.
  • Ethical sourcing: buy and serve 100% responsibly grown and ethically traded coffee.
  • Community involvement: contribute one million community service hours annually.

Trends such as this will only increase as companies realize the vitality for community engagement–and it will be the responsibility of the greenfluencers to share their vision of a better world, and support those who are making an effort.  We’re entering an era where social responsibility is no longer a luxury, but a growing necessity, and our job as greenfluencers will become increasingly important as we capture more opportunities to work with major corporations to affect positive change.  Starbucks is making a genuine effort in this arena, and I have an optimistic prediction that there will be many others who will follow suit.

Yay for the power of greenfluencers!