My favorite color is purple, but I love living green. I use reusable shopping bags, recycle everything I possibly can, conserve energy as if I were paid to do so and would take a Prius over a Porsche any day. I love that the guy who picks up the recycling on my street sighs at the sheer volume of stuff in front of my house, and that my 4-year-old stops my husband from throwing things away: “Dad! That goes in recycling!”
So, imagine how happy I was to hear of The Hartford’s second annual “Food for Thought” campaign. The disability carrier distributed some 240,000 reusable shopping bags at health fairs and benefits enrollment events. The campaign isn’t completely altruistic — the bags contain information about disability insurance, naturally — but I say the effort gives back doubly, raising consumers’ awareness both about protecting the planet and protecting their income.
“Many Americans would struggle to pay for essentials if they could not work due to an injury or illness. Our research shows 97% of consumers would have to change their lifestyle if they lost part of their family’s income for three to six months,” notes Bob Reiff, senior vice president of distribution, field service and product for The Hartford’s group benefits division.
The Hartford launched its Food For Thought campaign last fall, quickly handing out hundreds of thousands of reusable bags and fielding requests for more. “The popularity of our program exemplifies how strongly workers feel about being green,” Reiff says.
If only they felt as strongly about disability coverage. According to The Hartford’s research, 79% of consumers say they have less than a complete understanding of disability insurance, and fewer than half have short-term (41%) or long-term (36%) disability insurance.
Says Reiff: “We hope our Food for Thought campaign demonstrates the value of income protection – how it can help pay for everyday expenses, such as groceries, even if a disability keeps a family’s breadwinner out of work.”
Although it seems The Hartford is out of the reusable bags — I checked their site — people can calculate their chance of being disabled with an
