Opinion: Green means more than dollars at some companies

Percentage who considered themselves “green interested,” meaning that while this group is concerned about the environment, it is not active in its defense: 25

Percentage of those surveyed who are “green motivated,” meaning that they feel it’s very important for a company to be green: 17

Can-do attitude

Percentage of administrative professionals who say they could do their boss’ job, according to a survey by Simply Hired: 31

Percentage who say they’ve had to plan personal travel/vacations for their boss: 30

Percentage who say they have had to lie or make up excuses for their boss (with spouse, family, friends): 29

Percentage who say they’ve had to do their boss’ taxes: 8

Legal satisfaction

Percentage of lawyers who say challenging assignments provide the greatest job satisfaction, according to a survey by Robert Half Legal: 42

Percentage who say compensation/bonuses and/or benefit packages provide the greatest job satisfaction: 22

Dixie Rumsfeld

Percentage of Americans who could identify the Dixie Chicks as the country music group with a No. 1 hit album, according to a survey by VH1 measuring 18- to 49-year-olds’ knowledge of pop culture and hard news: 64

Percentage who knew that Donald Rumsfeld is the U.S. secretary of defense: 46

Pricey Naples

Rank of Naples (Fla.), Salinas (Calif.), Port St. Lucie (Fla.), Merced (Calif.) and Bend (Ore.) as the metro areas in the United States where home prices are the most overvalued, according to data from the quarterly Global Insight/National City Housing Valuation Analysis: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Hello, dad?

Percentage of working dads who say they talk to their children on the phone while at work at least once a day, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.com: 20

Percentage who say they speak to their children twice a day or more: 10

Web lives

Percentage of Internet users who say the Internet has helped them make big decisions or negotiate their way through major episodes in their lives in the previous two years, according to a survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project: 45

Percent increase since 2002 in the number of adults who said the Internet played a major role as they pursued more training for their careers: 50

Organic growth: slow growth

Percentage of total food service sales that is accounted for by organic menu items, according to market research publisher Packaged Facts: 2

Percentage annual rate of growth in the demand for organics in the food service industry: 20

Average number of years it takes to transform conventional farms into organic farming: 5

Idle Thought

“A half-truth is a whole lie.” — Yiddish proverb

John MacIntyre is an author and former city magazine editor. His Figuratively Speaking column, launched in 1989, is published in more than 40 newspapers and magazines.[[In-content Ad]]