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By Kirilileigh Lynch

At our work, the peer green pressure is intense. Our daily bread is reducing emissions and getting other businesses to do the same, so as you can imagine, our team is very passionate and sometimes even verge on the brink of 'ecovangelical' in our approach to reducing emissions. So we're super glad that the ABC have made such great sustainability commitments, and were wondering, as one bunch of greenies to another, how do you deal with the Skeptics?

You know the ones, they flat-out refuse to pull their heads out of the sands: printing reams of paper, driving 4km to work, flying as if aeroplane food was as good as Tetsuya's restaurant, and coming to work each day with a fresh bottle of water. As much as we'd all like to give them a little smack, there seems a need to get change going at a cultural level, and as the custodians of Australian culture (the ABC has after all, bought us Summer Heights High, Seachange, Roy & HG, Australian Story and The Worm) we would love to know how the ABC deals with the skeptics and creates a green culture at work.

-warm regards, Jessica

Hi Jessica - A question from a woman after my own heart! I too have been known to be quite 'ecovangelical' in my time as an eco warrior (although many of my friends would say it in rather less kind terms! Enviro Nazi being one term bandied about) and I know the pain of doing everything you can to walk gently on this earth only to see people driving around in Hummers while wearing baby seal fur - or whatever the equivalent of that is in a workplace. Taking the lift one floor whilst holding a disposable coffee cup after driving 2km's to work perhaps? So what do you do with these people? Well the answer is complex, as the solutions to the most important problems often are.

1. Don't be afraid to kill them with kindness. As easy as it is to think that nagging someone to do the right thing will make them change IT WON"T! Chances are it will just make them hate you. So stop it. I'm a big fan of being nice to people for as long as it takes for them to come around to my way of thinking. By which time we're usually firm friends. Chances are that if someone is a skeptic they won't change their behavior because they suddenly see the need to be environmentally sound but they may just change their behavior because they like you and want to help out.

2. Try a different angle. Joe in finance doesn't care that leaving the lights on is melting the polar ice caps? I bet you he cares that it's costing the company a fortune and he'll look like a hero if he can be the one to reduce usage and save money. Personalize your approach to making the office green so that the person you are trying to change can feel a connection with what you're saying.

3. Make it fun. Give out prizes, hold dress up days, establish an eco warrior award with a great prize, and get some friendly competition going. Offer people chocolate (fair trade of course) for turning off the lights. As Bart Simpson would say - "You don't make friends with salad". But you do with chocolate.

4. Institutionalize as much of the change as possible. Set printers to print on both sides as a default, only buy recycled stationary, ban bottled water, invest in sensors to turn off the lights after 9pm. Make it so that the skeptic can't avoid being environmentally responsible. They'll hate it! You'll love it! It's hours of entertainment.

5. Do everything you can to support the change. If you want someone to ditch the car then make sure your bike facilities are up to scratch and that you have a system worked out for car pooling. If you want them to turn out the lights make sure the lights are properly configured so that you can turn them out office-by-office, and not so one switch plunges the whole floor into darkness. Out-think their lazy ways at every turn and take away as many excuses as possible

6. Accept that change takes time and it's hard and it doesn't always work. Take joy in the little victories and let them energize and reinvigorate you. Sure the stakes are high and when it comes to the planet we're playing for keeps but don't let that get you down.

7. And if all this fails? Then accept the skeptic for who they are. Accept that they are on their own journey and you cannot guide them through it. Understand that some battles can be won and some can't. Ultimately the goal of the environmental movement is to save humanity - in all its stubborn, skeptical glory! So love that skeptic as you love the true believer and keep doing what you know is right.

Sounds easy huh? It isn't. Have we at the ABC been 100% successful in changing the behavior of our employee's using these guidelines? Nope. Do we plan to be? You'd better believe it! And we'll keep you updated through our journey. Please also keep us updated through yours and we'll share tips and tricks. And please also share your chocolate :).

Best regards, Kirileigh Lynch, ABC Green Futures Co-ordinator