From their humble beginnings, the Elemental Impact (Ei) Blogs - Zero Waste in ACTION (ZWA) & The IMPACT - evolved into respected media and valuable industry resources.
The ZWA Blog was launched on January 20, 2009 with a one-sentence post and 11 pageviews! As of today, the ZWA Blog boasts 325 articles with over 240,000 pageviews - quite an accomplishment from the humble beginning!A year later a sister blog, The IMPACT Blog, was launched on May 17, 2010 with a three paragraph post (two paragraphs were one sentence) and 11 pageviews. As a 2016 New Years Day gift, The IMPACT Blog topped 75,000 pageviews with 115 published articles.
In November National Geographic Channel NGC) invited Ei to join a virtual discussion on the exciting progress in the field of alternative energy. This conversation tied into an upcoming new NGC episode, "Breakthrough: Energy on the Edge."
The discussion was centered on the following question:
Do you think that by tapping into the new alternative energy sources we can reverse most of the damage we have done to our environment?Holly used a point | counterpoint response with the following articles:
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| massive industrial solar plant photo credit: solarreserve.com |
- ZWA Blog article, Alternative Energy: creating solutions or potential disasters?, addressed the long-term implications of technologies developed within an "energy tunnel" without regard for their far-reaching implications.
- IMPACT Blog article, Alternative Energy: embracing the creative spirit, gives the counterpoint with the suggestion scientists shift research focus from generating to harnessing energy.
In return, Ei's perspective and article links were featured in the NGC virtual discussion Has Reliance on Fossil Fuels Irreversibly Damaged the Planet promoting their documentary. The discussion, complete with both blog article links, was tweeted to NGC's 1.06 million followers and posted on the NGC FB page with 56 million "likes."
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| ZWZ Chair Laura Turner Seydel @ a ZWZ event |
When the ZWA Blog surpassed 100K pagviews in July 2013, the ZWA Blog article, ZWA Blog: A Powerful Industry Resource & Voice, chronicled Ei's evolution from a zero waste cheerleader to current work in Recycling Refinement, moving beyond landfill diversion. Below is an excerpt from the article:
Authored by Ei, the ZWA Blog articles document the evolution of zero waste from concept to emerging industry standard, tell the story of zero waste pioneers and warriors who shifted paradigms in materials management, and shine light on fallacies within accepted recycling practices.
In 2013, the Ei Blogs evolved into on-line magazines as most posts are in-depth articles with readership continuing long after publication. For the ZWA Blog, the all-time most popular articles are:
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| Pam Longobardi speaking @ Plastic GYRESymposium |
- Reduce First, Donate Second, Compost Third, February 2012 - 13.4K views
- Waxed Cardboard Boxes = Landfill Destination = $$ Lost, May 2012 - 6.6K views
- Plastic GYRE Symposium: Artists, Scientists and Activists Respond, April, 2015 - 2.4K views
- Business NOT as usual: fine-tuning the zero waste journey, May, 2015 - 1.8K views
For The IMPACT Blog, the most popular article - Ei: New Mission Statement | New Directions - with 2.9K views published in December, 2012 after the ZWZ sale. The article announced the three new Ei Platforms: Product Stewardship, Recycling Refinement, and Water Use | Integrity. The IMPACT Blog has four articles with over 1K views.
As readership escalated on both blogs, the number of articles published declined. In 2011, the ZWA Blog published 114 articles. By 2013, the on-line magazine published an average of 25 - 30 articles annually. For The IMPACT Blog, 5 - 10 articles are published each year.
As readership escalated on both blogs, the number of articles published declined. In 2011, the ZWA Blog published 114 articles. By 2013, the on-line magazine published an average of 25 - 30 articles annually. For The IMPACT Blog, 5 - 10 articles are published each year.
The blogs are Microsoft | PC-driven: 73% of the ZWA Blog readership is Windows-based while The IMPACT readership is 55% Windows-based. Although it takes the browser lead on the ZWA Blog with 41% of the views, Internet Explorer is only 5% of The IMPACT Blog views. Less than 8% of the blog articles are viewed on phones, with Android taking the lead on The IMPACT with 6% of the readership.
Both blogs boast a 60% U.S. readership with the remaining 40% strong in Europe. For the ZWA Blog, China and India are prevalent within the 40% global readership.
For The IMPACT Blog, the top referring sites are Google, the blog itself and Ei. There were no stats available for keyword searches. On the ZWA Blog, the top referring sites are 1> Google, 2> ZWA Blog, 3> LinkedIN, 4> FB and 5> Ei. For key search words, the ZWZ are integrated within five of the top keywords; waxed cardboard and Holly Elmore were also prominent.
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| Laura, Ei Chair Scott Seydel & Dianna Cohen, Plastic Pollution Coalition Co-Founder |
Strong partners promote articles in their network by listing articles on their website media pages, featuring articles in their newsletters, posting links on FB | LinkedIN and tweeting articles to their followers.
Beyond the direct readership from the article sharing, search engine optimization increases significantly each time an article is listed on a validated site. It takes teamwork to build a powerful following supported by solid readership.
Last year the ZWA Blog article Plastic GYRE Symposium: Artists, Scientists and Activists Respond 2.4K readership was garnered via consistent retweets by Earth Island Institute (51.9K followers) and Plastic Pollution Coalition (21.3K followers) to their impressive following.
In 2014 Ei was designated the National Zero Waste Business Council Conference Official Media Partner. The following year, Ei was named the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council media partner for the organization, in addition to the conference. The partnership benefits each organization: USZWBC receives access to Ei's powerful network via articles published on the conference | organization: Ei's network grows stronger via USZWBC article promotion.
Of the 18 ZWA Blog articles written on USZWBC activities, 12 articles exceed 1K views! The following five articles are in the ZWA Blog top ten viewed articles:
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| Holly receiving USZWBC award @ 2014 Conference photo courtesy of Scott Lutocka |
- Business NOT as usual: fine-tuning the zero waste journey, May, 2015 - 1.8K views
- Know Your Trash, up close & personal - May, 2013, 1.6K views
- Stellar conference program highlights the "Stars of Zero Waste," April, 2015 - 1.4K views
- USZWBC Conference Theme: Zero Waste Evolution – May, 2014, 1.3K views
- 2015 Zero Waste Conference: A Star-Studded Event! – December, 2014, 1.3K views
In true partnership spirit, the USZWBC lists ZWA Blog articles featuring the conference and | or the organization from 2014 forward in their on-line Press Room.
Supporting the Ei Blogs, the Ei FB page hosts 150+ albums documenting the important work-in-progress and success achieved. Two albums - Source-Separated Materials Recycling: building a city-wide network and Ei Plastic Film Recycling - are comprehensive in nature with over 100 photos, segregated into categories | events. An accomplished photographer, Holly captured the vast majority of the album images.
Photos are downloadable from the FB albums and available for industry use, as long as photo credit is given. Upon request, high res images are provided for print.
With seven years of consistent article publication, the Ei Blogs are well established in the environmental community as respected media and valuable industry resources.
Supporting the Ei Blogs, the Ei FB page hosts 150+ albums documenting the important work-in-progress and success achieved. Two albums - Source-Separated Materials Recycling: building a city-wide network and Ei Plastic Film Recycling - are comprehensive in nature with over 100 photos, segregated into categories | events. An accomplished photographer, Holly captured the vast majority of the album images.
Photos are downloadable from the FB albums and available for industry use, as long as photo credit is given. Upon request, high res images are provided for print.
With seven years of consistent article publication, the Ei Blogs are well established in the environmental community as respected media and valuable industry resources.
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