Stephen Murray
Senior Director, Sales Marketing
iVillage, New York, NY

Sometimes, you get a feeling and you have to follow it.

That’s the story of Stephen Murray.

“I’ve always been personally interested in sustainability, with an eye on recycling and turning everything off when it’s not in use,” says Murray. And his interests led him to work at iVillage. “Green is Universal was one of the reasons I was attracted to working with NBCUniversal.”

A primary component of Stephen’s job as the Senior Director of Sales Marketing at iVillage is working with advertisers to help them reach consumers and spread the message about their products, and especially their green products during the company’s Green Weeks in November and April. Recently, Stephen and iVillage worked on a digital project with Frito-Lay.

“Frito-Lay sponsored our Earth Week themed issue, which gave women simple, easy steps they could take to ‘go green’ in their own lives,” says Murray. “We also had our iVoices—women from our community who cover topics that matter to them—create video reports on how they go green—from using recycled materials to make crafts with kids to getting the entire family to recycle.” Stepehen also worked with the Frito-Lay team to create a sponsorship package for the iShop Green Mobile App, which helps users find eco-friendly products and stores in their area.

Stephen’s passion for green runs deep. He points out that although Frito-Lay does not view itself as offering “super eco-friendly product[s],” the company has taken measures to cut down on consumption, go all-natural, and source locally for its products.

Even in the office Stephen is constantly thinking about ways to be a little greener. “I recycle everything, collect all the paper to print on both sides, turn off the lights and computers—and encourage my team to do the same,” Stephen said.  “People know me as the ‘green guy’ in the department, which is one label I’m totally comfortable with.”

Outside of work, though, Stephen has an eco-project all his own. He’s currently building a country home in upstate New York out of shipping containers. “It’s been a fascinating project,” says Murray. “The cool thing is it’s different even from modular homes because you’re actually upcycling existing materials.” Murray picked out the four shipping containers that would make up his home in New Jersey, and in just a year and a half the home, which sits on six acres in the Catskills, is nearly finished. The interior is just as “green” as the exterior, too.

“The idea was to make a house that uses very little energy,” says Murray. The house has radiant floor heating, which is more efficient than electric or coal, and the house is positioned against the sun’s path is for optimum solar gain. In addition, Murray has chosen floors that are made of a composite recycled wood material, and has utilized a spray foam insulation, which, although not totally organic, is more eco-friendly than most.

Look out for his upcoming blog on iVillage for more details about his home, as well as the film about the home he plans to pitch to various media outlets.

by Frederick Awich