Communication and Sustainability with guest, Bonnie Daneker

posted, um, in the Facebook, uh, website. All right, um, that, that will be available online as well.

Hello and welcome to Shedding the Bitch Radio, where you can discuss, debate, and get advice on how to discover and shed the bitches of fear, insecurity, self-doubt, and negative mindsets so you can realize your dreams and life purpose. And create and accelerate the riches you want in life. Join us here live every Tuesday at noon Eastern and dialogue with us at 818-572-2910. You can also chat with us at blogtalkradio.com/sheddingthebitch or share your stories on our website at sheddingthebitch.com. Whatever the bitch is that's holding you back from living your life to the fullest, it's not worth giving up the riches in life that you deserve. So call in now and let Bernadette Boas know what's holding you back.

818-572-2910.

Good day, good day, good day everyone. Happy, happy, happy August 15th. Ah, oh, it's killing me. Well, actually, what I think, uh, does, does fall happen in August? Isn't it like August 21st, or am I confusing it? August, September, October, November, December, January. Yeah, I think it is. Oh my God, where did the summer go? Oh, it is September?

Yes, September 21st.

Ah, thank you very much for giving me another month of summer. I really needed it. And that's Deborah Parker of Parker House Virtual Services saving my butt once again. But happy August day, everyone. I do hope you're getting ready for the eclipse. The solar eclipse next week. I'm still looking to figure out where to buy the glasses, so if anybody has any ideas— I'm in Atlanta, as you all know— if you have any ideas of where I get glasses, um, because my fear is I live in a house with tons of skylights, so I'm going to have a hard time avoiding, uh, seeing any type of, uh, radiation or, or illumination let alone looking at it straight in, which I know we all don't want to do. So if you have any ideas where I can get glasses, because I can't seem to find them, I'd love to hear about that. But it is August. It is now— we're definitely in the second half, everybody. And as fall does approach us, just be giving thoughts to where you've been and where you're still wanting to go. And if you didn't have a plan to begin with, no time like the present. And, you know, there's still a good chunk of change left in the year. Also, we will start seeing Christmas— Christmas ornaments and all that kind of good stuff very soon, I'm sure, especially at like Costco. And we'll just have to hold on for dear life that the year is disappearing. In front of us. I want to thank all of you, and I'll apologize again up front for any hacking that might occur during the program, but I want to thank you for all your well wishes and for all your kind words as I was dealing with pretty much being face down in bed for about 8 or 9 days. And the couple of times I did get up and attempt to do something, especially from a business perspective. I learned to regret that, and the people around me weren't real pleased and happy, although I wasn't contagious and all that kind of good stuff, but they were, you know, wanting me to be taking care of myself. So a lesson learned for all of us is when your body's screaming at you to, you know, sit still, be quiet, and allow it. To do its thing, do it. There's nothing that's so, so important that you, that you risk your health, you risk other people's health, and that you just don't take that opportunity, um, to kind of sit still and heal. Now that said, I was kind of disappointed. I'm going to put it right out there. I was kind of disappointed that after 8 or 9 days quiet, still, yet miserable I have to admit Monday morning I kind of woke up feeling 95% better, and yet I actually have to admit I just didn't find that I took any quality opportunity to kind of listen and realize or think about kind of why I was given that 8 or 9 days to process junk through my system. And jumped through my head maybe. I just couldn't come up with any new clarity, any new focus, any new plans, which I typically do. So I will acknowledge that that was quite frustrating for me because when I look at what I actually did for those 8 or 9 days, all I can really say is I did heal, and maybe that's all that it was meant to be is just physically heal. There was no mental, spiritual, emotional healing done. I was miserable. But, you know, it is past. Thank you for tolerating our replay program last week. I don't— I try really hard to be live and not have to hit that replay button. However, I have to admit, man, kudos to Karen Rand and the whole topic of conversation that we had a couple weeks ago. In regards to angel investing, because that happened to be the one that we triggered for the replay, and it continues to get a lot of listening— listening and listens, is that right? Listens and downloads, and even on both iTunes and YouTube, because we happened to videotape that particular episode. So obviously I'm taking cues from that, and you all want to know a little bit more about upleveling, upping your game when it comes to finances, when it comes to investment, when it comes to expanding your own business or company or career maybe. So, you know, I'm definitely going to take cues from that and bring you more experts and more discussions around those areas. I'm dropping news all over the place, mind you. My microphone just fell off. So anyway, moving on. My medicine is still causing me to be a little bit rambly. I apologize. We do have other guests that kind of have shows that are getting a lot of listenership. Michael Moore talking about networking, net weaving, and how to use kindness to increase your profitability in your business and/or your success in your corporate career, so take a listen for that as well. And then always go back to our archives on Shannon DeVitz Radio and on BlogTalkRadio for all of the past shows that we have done because we definitely have some great, great guests like our guest for today because we are talking— I love this subject and I even more so love the is the fact that our guest saw not only a need out there where she can make a difference, but she also saw something within herself that said, you know what, around social responsibility, sustainability, I need to recognize and acknowledge the impact that in her world, because she's in the writing world and we're going to talk all about that, But the impact of publishing, the impact of what that means environmentally when it comes to producing books and content and whatnot. And she saw that she may not be doing everything that she could be doing when it comes to sustainability and social responsibility within her own world. So she totally kind of shifted and made a change in her business and her approach and in what it is that she's doing. Always grounded though in her foundation, and we're going to talk all about that. And I want to ask her about making these type of changes because we all kind of struggle sometimes with not feeling right or congruent with where we're at in the work that we do, yet not sure about how to make those shifts. So to speak. So our conversation today is all going to be about sustainability because every part of the business, employees, customers, partners, suppliers, and even competition in your own business or in the corporate business that you work for, they want to know what we're doing, what you're doing. They want to understand what you're doing to be socially responsible and environmentally aware. And if your company places a priority on people and the planet as well as profit, profits or statistics, it shows that employees are more engaged and— I'm sorry— and customers are more likely to use your service or buy your product. Suppliers and vendors enjoy working with you and partnering with you better, and you— it definitely is more financially rewarding, especially as it pertains to even relationships that you're— that you would be building. And as business professionals, we need to be able to talk about what we are doing to build sustainable companies by taking care of the people on our teams and the communities that we serve. And in doing so, our businesses become a force for good. Yet, if you do all of those things and yet you're not messaging it and communicating it and marketing it appropriately out to your stakeholders, as they're called, then you're missing a huge, huge, huge opportunity. So that's what we want to talk about today is not only getting socially responsible or sustainable, but also how do you leverage that within your daily messaging to your stakeholders. So the 3 things I want you to be listening for today as we talk are what are those hot topics in green sustainable— efforts that companies are making, and what can you do even one step at a time? What are some easy ways you can start getting the word out about the efforts that you're making? And of course, it's not about patting yourself on the back. It's just making people aware of how you and your organization or your team are working toward, um, being socially responsible and having a sustainable strategy. And then this is interesting because once I booked our guests to be part of the show, all I've heard is B Corps. All I heard about is B Corps. B as in, let's call it B, B as in bumblebee. B Corps, do you know what they are? Because I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised to learn something new. And then you're also going to hear examples of business as a force for good. So we always give you a rich question to consider and think about regarding the topic for the day. So as we kind of go— break off on the break and then we'll come back and introduce our guests, I want you to be thinking about the one thing that you or your company is already doing and the impact that it's having. Or what is that one thing you could be doing individually or part of a team or even part of your company or business to enhance sustainability and being socially responsible. So you can hashtag with us and you can hashtag sustainability. You can hashtag social responsibility or, of course, you can always hashtag #ShedTheBitch. All right? So when we get back, I am so excited to be getting into this conversation so we can all kind of find that one thing we could be doing to change the world, so to speak. But in the meantime, we're going to take a short break, come back, and we'll get into this whole subject of sustainability.

We'll be right back.

You are listening to Shedding the Bitch Radio with Bernadette Boas. We are inspiring individuals around the globe to discover, confront, and shed their bitches of fear, insecurity, and negativity so they can create the riches in their career, business, and life they deserve. Be sure to check out Bernadette Boas' book, Shedding the Corporate Bitch: Shifting from Bitch to Rich in Life and Business, available on Amazon and sheddingthebitch.com. We also want to thank our sponsors, TSR Consulting, who offers a broad range of tax services for small to corporate-sized clients. Go to TSRConsulting.com to learn more. And Parker House Virtual Services, who provides virtual assistance and social media support for small to medium-sized businesses. Email Deborah Parker at deborahparker78@gmail.com for more information. To become a sponsor or advertiser on our program, email us at mediarelations@sheddingthebitch.com. Shedding the Bitch Radio airs every Tuesday at noon Eastern time. Be sure to go to blogtalkradio.com/sheddingthebitchradio and follow the program for all of the updates and announcements of our guests and show topics. Now let's return to Bernadette and Shedding the Bitch Radio.

Welcome back everyone.

Alright, let's get into this.

For the past 8 years, our guest, Bonnie Denniker, has led Write Advisors, helping her clients achieve their dreams of publishing in the nonfiction areas of business, biography, and health and wellness. She has become aware of the impact of publishing on the environment, and in her own efforts to become more eco-friendly in the publishing world, she has earned the Sustainability Associate Certification, excuse me, from the International Society of Sustainability Professionals, and is apprenticing with Cradle to Cradle Environmental Program. Additionally, she has been volunteering with environmental programs such as Trees Atlanta, Piedmont Park Conservancy, and On— I'm sorry, Hands On Atlanta for multiple years. This fall, she will be launching Waste Line Sustainability Communications, leveraging her background in content management and program management. Her goal is to help companies define their sustainability efforts for increases in the triple bottom line and effectively communicate them. Well, excuse me, welcome to the program, Bonnie. I'm so happy that you're here to join us.

Thank you for having me. I'm delighted to be here as well.

I'm excited about this new focus that you have because I've known you for quite a while. You're here in Atlanta, Georgia as well. I know you definitely from Write Advisors and the great work that you've done with future authors and current authors. Explain to us how this transition kind of came about, and then what changes and what efforts did you need to make in order to make this shift? Because I know there's something still in the process of work and getting launched. But kind of help us understand for those that might be considering a shift in their own business, and then we'll dive into the whole conversation about sustainability.

Right. Well, that's a great question because a lot of people have looked at the past 8 years of my life and said, "Annie, you've had such success in publishing with with right advisors, why are you changing your winning hand? I really have given this a lot of thought, Bernadette, because publishing and communications has been such an important part of my life, and it's such an important part of every business. Like you said in your introduction, if you're doing something wonderful but you're not communicating about it, the world won't know. In our busy world with a lot of social media, a lot of the communications can get lost. Even if you're not communicating, you're not going to be seen. If you are communicating, even less. So when I was watching the different changes in publishing and seeing how fewer people were reading full-length books and more people were depending on social media for their information, I started to look at book production and book costs as well, because I thought probably it was partly because of the cost of publishing. It's, you know, $5 to $25 for a book versus Online is free in most cases unless you're paying for your internet service. I looked at the cost and I delved a little deeper into why publishing costs so much. It came down to the physical production of books where you're talking about the paper. You're talking about the inks. You're talking about the presses and of course freight and distribution and so forth. Adding all of those different costs up was really enlightening to me because I also saw how much damage there was to the environment, to employees' health working with dangerous papers and inks. I saw that there was a lot of waste where there was extra copies of books being just thrown into landfills and so forth. And so I really had to take a step back and say, I'm suggesting that people continue to write books. Am I suggesting that we continue to do these harmful things for the environment? And When I saw that there were opportunities to make a change, to really utilize digital media more forcefully and appropriately, then I also saw that there was a way to kind of limit the harmful effects in publishing that we have. So by doing some things like using resource-specific recycled paper or sustainable sourcing paper, soy-based inks that are right for the environment and so forth. These are efforts that, you know, I started doing in my business that slowly led me to a total change of mindset about getting the message of sustainability out. So not only helping to promote the communications that I had been doing in the past, but doing it in a way that was a force for good. Right.

And so you're also finding that there's a lot of companies, big or small, doing great things, but they're not really leveraging that and they're not optimizing that within their brand awareness out in the community. Is that right?

That's right. Well, specifically in the publishing industry, nobody knows what's going on, right? So if I ask someone on the street, "What kind of paper does Simon Schuster use?" they wouldn't know, right? But consumer-wise, outside the book industry, a lot of people are starting to pay attention to that. So for example, TOMS Shoes have done a fantastic job of talking about their sustainability efforts and their philanthropic efforts. So most people know that every time you buy a pair of TOMS Shoes, they give a pair to a person in need. And that is a tremendous message, but we wouldn't know about that unless there was a specific communications program in place to talk about that.

Right, right, right, yep, okay, great. So help us all because we have a— there's a lot of buzzwords out there, right? There's sustainability, there's social responsibility, there's being green, you know, you even mentioned the concept cradle to cradle, which we want to talk about. Define sustainability for us, just so we all are on the same page, and what other buzzwords should we be aware of?

I'm so glad you asked that because a lot of people are confused about what sustainability is. In general, sustainability means how are we sustaining ourselves and our businesses. So, you know, one of the reasons I wanted to be on your show, Bernadette, was that we talk about shedding the the things that we're afraid of and the things that hold us back. And when we can talk knowledgeably about sustainability, it will build our confidence and strengthen our business because we know what we're doing is not only good for our business, but it's the right thing to do. And sustainability is kind of broken down into 3 areas. We call it people, planet, and profits. We look at what's going on with the people in your business. Your employees, your shareholders, your partners, your customers. And we look at what we're doing to treat them well, to make sure that they're engaged, that they're developing, that they're, they're wanting to do business inside and outside the company. Then we look at the profits. You know, what kind of product or service are we developing? Who are we using as our partners to develop that, and what are their business processes? So we can say this affects our profits. And the third piece is planet. We are taking care of our people in the beginning. We look at our profits for the products and services that we generate, and then we look at our community and planetary impact. So this is where a lot of the confusion of the terminology comes in. When we talk about eco efforts and green efforts, and what is socially responsible, and where does the recycle, renew, reuse, come into play. Well, actually, these are all the same concepts, they're just described a little bit ways that we can reach different audiences. Some things are done inside a business environment, and that can be described as a healthy environment and healthy environmental efforts. And the same for the external, where you say, how are you putting your waste water out in the environment to the water table? How are you disposing your trash? So we want to look at the external impacts to the environment as well as the preparation and maintenance of your internal environment. So sustainability, again, is broken down in 3 parts: people, planet, profit. And all of that can be quantified, especially when you're looking at cost savings for doing things that are more cost— that are more streamlined and more efficient. So you're using less products and services, and you're really realizing financial gain. And when you talk about corporate responsibility, you can think about it as what your company is doing for—

Hello?

Hello, I'm sorry.

I'm here. I actually put myself on mute because I was hacking, and I was talking to myself for the last 30 seconds.

Okay, okay.

Yes, sorry about that. My question that I was asking myself— excuse me— the question I was asking myself is, so you have people and planet and profits, and I get, you know, I get all three of them, but help us understand. We got the people and the planet, but what is making up profits? I mean, other than the end result being profits, are there decisions, are there strategies, are there things that we need to be looking at when it comes to the bucket of profit?

Well, certainly. You know, right now we are looking at a plethora of products that have a certain percentage of recycled product in the end product, right? So if we can be using some of the recycled product in our product productions, you know, oftentimes those recycled products are less expensive than full original products. So if we use something like a recycled product that is less expensive, our costs are down, and so if we price the same for the end market consumer, we'll realize a greater margin, right? So there are other ways that we can do— with packaging, this is a big area of concern where we may not need 2 or 3 levels of packaging if we're using one for the outside that is more durable than a thinner interior and a thinner exterior. So it would be half the processes in packaging, half the materials for the same amount of protection for the product and the same price point for the end consumer.

Yeah, right. Well, yes. And so that makes me think, and it's a good segue into explaining Cradle to Cradle because that immediately got me into thinking of process from start to finish. Everything that, you know, we do in a business, you know, from the time we turn on the lights to the, you know, to the very last, you know, moment of the day, all the different things that can be adjusted and shifted in order to be more sustainable. So help us understand what Cradle to Cradle means because we've certainly heard it as far as kind of a product life cycle. What does it mean from a sustainability perspective?

So Cradle to Cradle is a concept that originated in the late '80s, and it was created by Bernadette Boas and Michael Brinkgaard. And one of them is an architect and the other is a designer. A chemist. And what they decided to do is evaluate what happens to a product when it is birthed, and then where does it go. And their first concept was cradle to grave, because what they determined is when a product is born, it's used once, and then it's thrown away in our consumer society. So it's given a grave of a landfill or a water table. And what they wanted to do is have us become aware of that because what we were doing is damaging the environment every time we use something and threw it away. And I was in London one time when there was this big billboard that said, "Every time you go to throw something away, remember there is no away." And that really impacted me because here I was on the island, you know, Great Britain, And where was it going? It was going in the landfill in Great Britain, but it wasn't away. You know, this is a landfill that we can visit, that's interacting with our air and our water and so forth. So it really, again, it pushed me towards more sustainability efforts in my own business. But back to Cradle to Cradle and Cradle to Grave, you know, what we need to do is think, is there another useful life for the product that we create so that it's not just used once and thrown away, right? So how can we recycle it to either upcycle or downcycle to have that product have a second useful life and not just end in the water or the land? So a couple of examples of this would be— Yeah, I mean, it's very important, and I'm sorry to cut you off there, but an example would be we have some fibers from different couches that were made by one of the major upholstery companies in Georgia here, Dalton Fabrics, where they were creating these couches for, you know, regular consumer use and so forth, and they had extra fabric. So they discovered that there was also a need for the upholstery on wheelchairs. But on wheelchairs, the needs are greater because there's humidity, there's sweat, there's sometimes the need to be waterproof and so forth. So they, they created new material for their couches that they could also use in wheelchair coverage that also, once the people were done using the wheelchair cushions, they could safely put into the ground and it would dissolve and biodegrade without any toxic aftermath. So it was kind of a secondary use of that, right? So this stuff happens in nature all the time. If you think of biomimicry, like we are imitating nature, whatever passes through an animal can be, it can be upcycled or downcycled as the case may be, for fertilizer and replace the nutrients in the soil and so forth. So everywhere in nature there's this second or third or fourth use, and it continues on this cycle, and it's called the circular economy, the circle of life. And really what, what those two gentlemen were thinking about when they, when they defined the cradle to cradle and cradle to grave ideas is that as humans, we need to not be so linear in our consumerism, but we need to think about it more cyclical in the cycle. So we're not putting our products from the cradle just to the grave, that we're giving them a chance for a second life, and then have that second life again be that cradle and continue to again recycle, reuse, and renew in either upcycling or downcycling ways.

Yeah, that is so cool. And before we go to break, I just want to ask, are you seeing this really get elevated in our conscious because of the millennials, that they just happen to jump out at me when I visualize who is really trying, you know, who is really working to drive this. Do you think, have the millennials had a significant impact on this whole—

Yes. Well, if you look at the development of our civilizations and the generational behavior, what's happened is, you know, we went from economies in the '20s and '30s, the 1920s and '30s, There was the Great Depression and people were really fighting for their survivalship, right? So there wasn't enough food to go around, there wasn't enough money to go around, and then we were at war, so we were fighting for survivalship in a different way. And then things kind of settled down a little bit, and then we had the energy crisis of the '70s, and we had a lot of growth in business in the '80s, and now we're living in this age of abundance where we can say, Are we doing the best that we can with what we have? We're not fighting for survivalship anymore. We're really prospering, so we have the luxury of saying, "Let's do better. Let's stop wasting. Let's do more for people, for planet, for profits. Let's take care of each other. Let's produce good work, and let's really take care of our Mother Earth." Wouldn't that be a beautiful thing with all the crap that's, you know,—

have to be exposed to the minute you turn on the radio or the television. Wouldn't it be nice to just all hold hands and sing Kumbaya and just take care of each other and the planet? Wouldn't that just be a wonderful thing? And we're going to talk more about how—

go ahead. And I think millennials are really attuned to that because, you know, they see how hard their parents and grandparents have worked and they're celebrating. They're in a really happy place, a good place, and they're ready to hold hands and do some singing. And I think that's a wonderful example that we should all follow.

Right, right, right. Yep, I absolutely have to agree with that. And let's look at all these positive things, shall we, as opposed to all that other drug, you know, drama and junk. Not that it's not reality that we have to confront. But at the same time, there are things that each and every one of us could be doing to make this world a much better, happier, and livable place to be. So when we get back, we're going to continue talking. We have a lot more to talk about with our guest, Ani Daneker of Wasteline— excuse me— Wasteline Management Communications. So we will be right back.

Thank you.

You are listening to Shedding the Bitch Radio with Bernadette Boas. We are inspiring individuals around the globe to discover, confront, and shed their bitches of fear, insecurity, and negativity so they can create the riches in their career, business, and life they deserve. Be sure to check out Bernadette's book, Shedding the Corporate Bitch: Shifting from Bitch to Rich in Life and Business, available on Amazon and sheddingthebitch.com. We also want to thank our sponsors, TSR Consulting, Consulting, who offers a broad range of tax services for small to corporate size clients. Go to TSRConsulting.com to learn more. And Parker House Virtual Services, who provides virtual assistance and social media support for small to medium size businesses. Email Deborah Parker at deborahparker78@gmail.com for more information. To become a sponsor or advertiser on our program, email us at mediarelations@sheddingthebitch.com. Shedding the Bitch Radio airs every Tuesday at noon Eastern time. Be sure to go to blogtalkradio.com/sheddingthebitchradio and follow the program for all of the updates and announcements of our guests and show topics. Now let's return to Bernadette and Shedding the Bitch Radio.

Welcome back everyone. We are having an awesome conversation about sustainability, communications, social responsibility, and so much more with Bonnie Dannecker. And she is heading up a new organization, new area of her focus and concentration called Wasteline Sustainability Communications. You can check her out.

Go to her website.

LinkedIn profile. Just go to LinkedIn, Bonnie Dannaker. She will be rolling out her new website and a couple of other things. I want to bring up her book in just a second. Later in fall, so stay tuned for that. It will be called waistlinesustainabilitycom.com, standing for communication. So certainly stay tuned for that. And at the same time, she is working on or has worked on and is launching her new book October 15th. Put it in your calendar. It's called It's in There: The Innovation, Dedication, and Determination Behind the Birth of Prego Spaghetti Sauce this fall. She's co-authored this with the product developer Bill Hesselberg. And you have got to explain, Bonnie, what the book is all about, because you weave in examples of sustainability practices. So help us understand what It's in There: The Innovation, Dedication, and Determination Behind the Birth of Prego Spaghetti Sauce is all about.

I'm so glad you're asking me about this because we have been living, breathing, and eating this book for about 6 months to a year now. Yeah, well, Prego is one of the main brands within the Campbell's Soup portfolio, and it has been for the last 30 years since its inception, its launch in 1981. But a lot of people don't know the story behind what we take for granted today as an easy-to-buy spaghetti sauce, right? So we don't have to spend hours in the kitchen. We can just buy this wonderful, tasty, nutritious product. And it's really a privilege to be part of the team that is writing this book. I have a co-author, as you said, Dr. Bill Hildebolt, and he was the product developer that had the idea for Prego spaghetti sauce and really spearheaded its development. So there were several people, as you can imagine, involved in the whole effort. But it takes place environment of Campbell Soup Company, obviously, and Campbell Soup was kind of ahead of its time in sustainability efforts. Campbell Soup knew how important its people were. It really addressed what was happening with the unions. It addressed what was necessary for retirement. It had a hospital and medical site for the employees that might be injured or sick on the job. And in that way, it really took care of its people. And it took care of the profits. You know, this is a company that's been around since the 1800s, and it really has reinvented itself, and it has kept its costs low so the consumer could always buy. Soup at 10 cents a can for many, many years. And it's really, really been able to create a lot of new wonderful products like the Prego spaghetti sauce. So it's also good for the planet in the sense that it was recycling and renewing before its time. So really understanding what was waste and, you know, putting the tomato seeds back into the, into the river, which was instead of putting them elsewhere, it was back into part of the wonderful fields of New Jersey. And, you know, a lot of things like that where it took into consideration how it was bringing food from the earth, the tomatoes from the earth, and how it was creating the product and bringing it to the people. So, you know, wonderful, wonderful examples. Yes, Campbell Soup Company is just You know, one of my very favorites, and it's one of the granddaddies in our country, and it's certainly a role model for those in food manufacturing.

Right. Fabulous. Well, and at the same time, everybody, she's got a nice gift. She's going to be giving 2 of you, 2 of you, copies of the book if you were to email her. I'm assuming this is how you want it done, Bonnie. Emailing her at— Yes. —bbdenneker@wastelinesustainabilitycomm.com. That's wastelinesustainabilitycomm, C-O-M-M, .com. And she'll give 2 of you free copies of the book. Now, the rest of you have an opportunity if you want to preorder the book, because again, it doesn't come out until October 15th. If you want to preorder this book, and I'm going to say to do so, not only because it's a great subject and it's something that can help you and your company and/or your career in really understanding sustainability and also understanding the Prego spaghetti sauce story, which sounds fascinating. She'll be offering you 20% off the retail price if you email her and mention Shedding the Bitch Radio and her appearance here. You might as well just do a shout out and give her a little brief review of how— what a great guest she was also on the program. Those all kind of play in nicely to entrepreneurs and business owners and corporate professionals to message a market and promote their brand out there. So, 2 free books if you email bbdenniker@wastebusters.org. Sustainabilityconf.com, and she'll notify you whether or not you received one of the two free copies. And the rest of you will get 20% off the retail price, mentioning Shedding the Bits Radio. And as a favor to me, if you will just write a brief little, you know, what a great job and great guests and great information that she shared on the program. That would be awesome. Congratulations on the book. You know, being an author— published author myself, I know how hard that is.

It's so difficult, but I think everybody that reads it will understand it's a labor of love. You know, there's a lot of innovation in there, and it's a wonderful story of the people that were involved and the challenges that they had to overcome. So foodies and business people alike will just really love it.

Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome, awesome, awesome. The book again is called It's in There: The Innovation, Dedication, and Determination Behind the Birth of Prego Spaghetti Sauce. Check it out. Look for it. Get pre-ordered. And then it will be out on October 15th. All right, we're going back. Let's see. Tons of more questions to ask about sustainability.— and also communicating that out. But before we get into the communicating that out piece, help us understand— oh, I mentioned it in the opening, all around triple bottom line and effectively communicating that triple bottom line. What makes up the triple bottom line in business? Right.

So everybody has heard of the bottom line, like what are your net profits? How much money did you make? For your product and services. And you know, that's something straightforward in business school. You look at how much things cost, what you sold it for, and subtract the difference, and that of course is your net profit. Well, there's a lot more to doing business sustainably than just one bottom line, your profit bottom line. The two other profit— the two other bottom lines, which are your people and your planet. So you actually can quantify those efforts You can quantify your churn of employees, how many are engaged and stay. So you have, you know, good influx of new ideas, but you also have that longevity and intellectual capital when employees stay with you. You can also see what their productivity and so forth and quantify some of that. So you've got a productivity associated with your people as well. And the third, the part, Third part of the triple bottom line is, of course, the planet. So, are there ways that you can experience energy credits, or that you can get LEED certifications and tax breaks, or you can look at Energy Star efficient appliances and save on your power bills? Things like that that have a different bottom line that actually do feed into your main bottom line of your net profits. The triple bottom line is really quantifying your efforts in sustainability, again, with profits, people, and planet.

And the specific metrics that make up those three areas of sustainability that we talked about at the top of the hour, right?

Exactly, exactly. And you know what? You were so good to ask about, you know, what can people do, and we'll talk about that more later. But part of the reasons I'm starting this new effort in Wasteline Sustainability Communications is Why are you actually looking at doing these sustainability efforts? It's because it's going to help your business be an ongoing concern. And that is, in accounting terms, the going concern is an accounting term that says you are a stable organization. People want to work for you. People want to do business with you. People want to buy from you, and you're doing things right by the community and by the planet. So, you know, you can quantify these things. Things, and My Business will help you do an assessment of what is your effort, what is your intention behind your effort, and who you should be communicating your efforts to, so you see things like positive impacts to the bottom line and more engaged employees and more people buying your products because they like what you're doing as a company.

Right, right. And, you know, because of the fact that I mentioned at the top of the hour,— you obviously, based on the listening of previous shows, recent shows about angel investing and investments, this type of effort in sustainability also makes you more attractive to not only those customers and those vendors and those partners and those suppliers, it makes you more attractive to financial arms, banks, angel investors, venture capitalists, kind of just your community investor who want to build and grow and even buy or purchase, acquire your company. So all of these efforts and talk— going back to the triple bottom line that she mentioned, you know, what you measure grows. What you measure changes. What you measure gets done. What you measure shifts. So not only having those 3 areas of sustainability locked in, the people, planet, and profit, but then the triple bottom line of measurements, what are those metrics that you and your company are going to start paying attention to and quantifying, even if it's qualitative, is all going to influence you being able to change, get things done, shift, and grow in your business.— is that a fair conclusion on that subject, Bonnie?

Absolutely. Couldn't have said it better myself.

All righty. That's what I'm here for. So what kind of companies— we've talked about the Campbell Soup Company and Prego. What companies are using these strategies and these environmentally conscious type of initiatives?

Initiative? Well, being Atlanta-based, I think of some of our biggies that have done a lot in the sustainability space, and they've also done a great job in promoting it. So your listeners will probably be familiar with some of these, but I'm a fan of Delta and Chick-fil-A and Coke, mostly because they have a tremendous, tremendous commitment to our communities. Delta is always They are present at parades for diversity. They really support development of their people. They have educational initiatives. They sponsor Junior Achievement. They have a lot of medical interests. They're a really good company taking care of their people that way. And then they're very innovative when it comes looking at how they can be more fuel efficient in their planes, how they can better utilize technology. Technology, so they are not having as many situations with delays or lost baggage and things like that. You know, every company can improve, but they're doing a great job of growing and utilizing everything that's at their fingertips. One of the really neat stories that I heard about them recently was that they were talking to the nanotechnology department at Georgia Tech for different options on painting their planes. So that it will be thinner and have less drag and resistance in the air and help the planes be more fuel efficient. So that was, that was a pretty exciting story. Right. And then there's Coke. You know, you hear about them with the local water supplies and how they're really trying to integrate in all the communities. And the same for Chick-fil-A. You know, they've got their Winship camps for kids, and they've got They're also— they're Junior Achievement and Young Business Winners, and they do a lot to take care of our highways and put people back in school, and they're just sending a great message about their commitment to the planet and to the communities.

Right, right. So those are big companies, right? And they have a lot of manpower and resources, including money, to to kind of help them kind of formulate these plans and go and engage like Georgia Tech to look at their pain and to engage this, you know, resource to help them identify further improvements. What can we do whether we're employees or business owners, what can we be doing to actually be more sustainable in our day-in, day-out life?

Well, there are a lot of things that we can do that don't that don't cost a lot, but do require some effort and some thought. And we really need to think about this as doing things that we're doing more good. We can't beat ourselves up for not being "perfect" because the world is always changing and we always need to do more. But if we want to take a look at volunteer opportunities, how we can help in specific industries related to our business, So for example, I volunteer with Trees Atlanta. We plant trees. That's one thing that's important to me because in publishing, what do we do? We cut trees down and we make paper and paper pulp products. So how can I help replenish what we've done? Same for ink supplies. I volunteer in the urban farms to help our soybean production and so forth. What can we do for that so we can have soy-based inks? So it's a small thing that I can do individually, but I encourage people that I work with and that I partner with to do with me. But hopefully, if more people in the publishing industry do that, we'll see greater effects. So volunteering is one idea. Sponsorship is another idea. You can sponsor financially, or you can sponsor in-kind by donating some of your products or service to a worthwhile cause. In Atlanta, there's— the Park Pride group, and they're putting on a Platta Palooza event in November. And they're asking people to dress in plaid and form a team, and it's $15 a person. But they have plant projects and park projects throughout the day where you take care of the plant— excuse me, the plants, yes, the plants in the parks around Atlanta. So, you know, you can volunteer for a couple of hours, donate $15, and just feel really good about having more green space in our communities. So volunteering is the second way— sponsorship is the second way. Then the third way is actually spearheading some innovation. If you can do some work on how things can be done smarter, better, faster, in a way that's relevant to your processes, but maybe not directly to your company. For example, We partner with people in publishing to make sure that we always look at digital work before we do printed work, so that we can have fewer pieces printed, fewer pieces mailed, fewer pieces delivered, and less packaging that's involved in the whole process. So, take a look at what innovation you can do within a process or within an industry to have less impact in the environment. So, and of course, the big piece of all of that after you thought about volunteering, and sponsorship, and innovation, is how are you talking about it? So get the word out and ask people how they're volunteering, sponsoring, or innovating, and then see if you can apply that to your industry. So sharing the word and emulating good ideas are always good as well. So again, you don't have to spend a lot of money, but it does take some time, and it takes a lot of effort, but really it's worth it in the end. Right.

Well, anything, anything worth doing or having is, is going to take work and effort. So, uh, you know, we can't, we can't expect, we can't expect things to be different, things to be better if we're not willing to, you know, roll up our sleeves and get a little dirty, uh, figuratively and not so figuratively. Uh, but, but how can we help spread the word? How can we, you know, you, you kind of, you said we could, you know, spread the word. What are some tips or strategies that you use to get the word out?

Obviously, we have to use social media. And it's important to set up a social media calendar, digital calendar that's going to keep informing people of regular commitment to sustainability. So, you know, what are you going to talk about, when, to whom, and why. Making the effort specific to one area of your business. So, you know, if you're looking at the people part of your business, you know, which part of the people part of your business? So, let's focus on vendors. Take a look at their business operations and, you know, talk about them. Talk about what they're doing right, what they're doing for their industry, what they're doing for their people, showcasing their efforts Then you get some positive press and PR back to you because you are partnering with them. You look like you're a responsible business owner by working with people who care about their impact to the environment and to their people as well.

Right. Awesome. Awesome.

Great tip. Go ahead. You can do all of that, and then you can— not only work on a subset of each of the planet, people, profit initiatives, but you can also package them up at the end and say, because we've got individual efforts in each of these areas, it has this total effect on our industry, on our business relationships, on the products and services that we offer to our consumers. So it's really giving small amounts to your listeners and your audience members, and then also giving them a larger piece to show how it all fits together and to help them understand the network of sustainability partners and services that you work with and present, and how you yourself will be a more sustainable company because you're doing that.

Right, right. No, that's awesome. And it's not that hard, that, you know, even just spreading the word could be a first step, let alone anything else. I think— and spreading this radio program. Share it. I'll be sharing it on LinkedIn and Facebook and Twitter and whatnot because it's an important subject and it's an important area for individuals as well as teams and companies to be aware of. So even help spread the word by spreading the word and spreading the program. Replay that will be available immediately upon the end of the show, but also we will, you know, send the links and whatnot out and about as well. Well, Bonnie, I so appreciate, and I'm so excited for you and for this new area that you're getting into and the impact I know that you will have on companies, on individuals, and even on yourself. So I'm very excited for you. So thank you so much for being part of the program.

Oh, my pleasure.

Thank you for having me. Absolutely. So everybody, I want to remind you of a few things. First off, you can get a free copy of her book that's coming out on October 15th. It's called It's in There: The Innovation, Dedication, and Determination Behind the Birth of Prego Spaghetti Sauce. And she co-authored this with the product developer of Prego spaghetti sauce, Bill Hildebrand. So look for that October 15th, but send her an email, debbie_dannaker@wastelinesustainabilitycomm.com, and say, hey, I listened to you on the Shit and the Bitch radio program, awesome job, great tips. Give her a little, you know, review along with it.. And you'll either get one of the two copies that she's giving away free, or you're going to be able to preorder the book with a 20% discount. Woo-hoo! So we always appreciate that. I want you to link in with her. Link in, Bonnie Daneker. You can go out there right now and link in with her. And then she'll also be able to then reach out to you as she gets closer to her launch of her new website wastelinesustainability.com. She'll be able to keep you informed of all of that. It's a great subject. It's an important one, and it's something that we can all do a little bit, if not a lot, when it comes to making this world and our lives a much better, better place. So thank you, Bonnie, for that, and thank you everybody for being part of the program today, and I'll look forward to having you right back here next Tuesday at noon Eastern time for another episode of Shedding the Bitch Radio. Thanks everybody.

Thank you for listening to Shedding the Bitch Radio with Bernadette Boas. Join Bernadette every Tuesday at noon Eastern as she helps you shift your bitches to riches, and the dialogue is always going on at sheddingthebitch.com. See you next week.