Working Women: Key to Promoting Energy Efficiency - A blog by Andrea Learned

How women buy and how they work/lead is big news these days – no matter what brand, category, industry or organization.  When you think about how to start to change the culture around sustainable life and business practices, women also appear to be worth serious consideration.  This is particularly the case when you examine the “household manager” role and how women keep those responsibilities in mind all the time.

Let’s connect some dots: One of the reasons people begin to think seriously about sustainability is that it literally hits home- in terms of household energy use.  There’s nothing like the rising costs of winter warmth and lighting, for example, to shake us out of our blase-ness.  Working to keep those costs low is likely particularly compelling for those who manage the “operations” of the “facility.”  Whomever sees and arranges for the payment of those bills is at the front line.  If that person is also very conscious of daily family comfort, energy use becomes that much more important – and challenging.

This person sounds suspiciously like a woman and is probably a mom, but what else may be influencing her awareness and decisions?

If figuring out how to engage more citizens on sustainability is important now, and I firmly believe this is the case, beginning with the “facility management” minds of working women, in particular, should be a focus. A Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research study, commissioned by Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment (WCEE), is worth note on that front.

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