Imagine working in a company, which decides to “go green”. No more plastic cups beside coffee machines, no more printing of e-mails, new waste sorting bins, etc. The first challenge would be to overbear the inner you saying “no” to all these changes. The second challenge would be to spread eco-habits on a voluntary basis, rather than imposing them through corporate rules in a company employing over 3000 people. The final challenge would be to prove that the corporate shift to environmental friendliness is not just because of “green fashion” or another cost-cutting campaign. All this was true in TEO, Lithuania. Campaign “Save Resources and Change Yourself” has been implemented because the company and its’ employees shared the same values and wanted the corporate culture to be more environmentally friendly. Results have proved that internal communication can improve the way we work.

Eco-seasons:SPRING (March- May 2008) - dedicated to water and paper issues;SUMMER (June- August 2008) - waste and air pollution issues;AUTUMN (September- December 2008) - energy and noise issues;Evaluation (January 2009) – Survey and Thank-You Awards.Each eco-season consisted of:- New set of eco-obligations (Intranet);- Employee – oriented events (such as Al Gore’s Movie “Inconvenient Truth” screening for launch);- Initiatives taken by company (trash sorting introduced; bicycles purchased, etc.);- Information, such as reasons to save resources (videos/ facts/ articles/ links), actions taken by TEO, tips & tricks for family/ home (Intranet);- Eco-section in the inner newspaper (weekly).All of the above were in correspondence to the theme of the season.Specific tools: Dedicated part of the Intranet based on web 2.0 principles; logo and visual style connected with national culture.Strategy implemented as planned. Before the start of every eco-season the tactics were refreshed according to feedback on the previous season and results achieved.

In January 2009 after the first year of the campaign, an internal survey was conducted for measuring impact. It revealed that 88 % of employees were aware of this project but only half were active participants.85 % of the employees confirmed “Environment protection is important (value) for me” and at least 51 % encouraged their family and friends to protect the environment.83% started printing less, 71% began saving electricity, and 70% started sorting out the trash at work. Environmental concern at the workplace has now increased by 23% in comparison to 2007.

In consequence, the use of office paper decreased by 19 % and fuel consumption by 5.8 % in total in comparison to 2007.To conclude, the goal “save resources and change yourself” has been reached.

TEO decided to continue the project, as 84.7 % of the employees stated that the company should continue encouraging going green.