greening your businessA "green business" can be defined as an organization that uses renewable resources (environmentally sustainable) and holds itself accountable for the human resource aspect of their activities (socially responsible). - Kevin Slovick for Startupnation.com
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Greening Your BusinessKnowing the Basics Starting or becoming a green business is an incremental and ongoing process that will never truly be done. Rather than massive and abrupt changes, greening your business can be a gradual and painless process made up of small but important changes. It is important to make only the changes that you and your staff can truly commit to in the long term. Spending money to implement changes or buy products that won’t be implemented permanently can be counter productive. 1. Reducing Consumption and Waste It is easy for businesses, large and small, to be unconsciously wasteful. Start by monitoring energy and supply and product use. * Replace energy hungry incandescent light bulbs with CFL’s or LED’s * Require lights and computers to be turned completely off and unplugged when the business day is done (electronics continue to use energy even when their off). If a machine must stay plugged in (phones, fax machines, printers), make sure they’re in power save or stand-by mode or plug them into a Smart Strip. * Institute a company wide recycling policy, especially for commonly used materials like cardboard, white paper, newspaper, metal and plastic. Make bins visible and easily accessible throughout the workspace. * Stop using disposable products like paper plates, plastic utensils, napkins, paper towels, cups. Encourage employees to bring or donate reusable serving ware, storage containers, water bottles and cutlery instead. * Reduce printing and paper use by keeping only digital files and always printing on both sides of the paper when necessary. * Refill or recycle printer and toner cartridges at a collection center or through a mail-in service. * Save boxes, envelopes and other packing materials to be reused. 2. Smart Purchasing Making different choices about what you buy as a business is one of the easiest and quickest ways to start being greener. Smart purchasing choices include: * Paper products with high post-consumer recycled or biodegradable content: printer paper, envelopes, business cards, bathroom tissue, paper towels, etc. * Office supplies with recycled, biodegradable, compostable or low chemical content like pens, pencils, binders, and refillable ink and toner. * Used or repurposed office furniture and fixtures will save money as well as keep these items out of the landfill. Contact local stores for cubicle walls, chairs, desks, lamps, whiteboards, phones and more. * Break room supplies that are organic, fair-trade or locally grown, like coffee, filters, sugar, milk/cream, snack foods, etc. * Purchase supplies and services from local vendors: you’ll be investing in the economic well-being of your community and minimizing the carbon footprint of your purchases. 3. Taking Care of Your Own An often overlooked component of a green business is its social and cultural impact. Are ethical standards and practices encouraged and enforced, from management down? Is the company concerned about the health and well-being of the work environment and the employees that work in it? Are human rights respected and employees fairly compensated? Is the company involved in the community and making a positive impact on its citizens and its environment? Are employees encouraged to educate themselves about environmental issues, engage in sustainable practices in their personal lives and to contribute ideas and opinions about increasing the greenness of the company? Being a truly green company is more than reducing waste. It means embracing an organizational attitude of consideration and responsibility, both for the environment and each other. 4. Get Certified Once you’ve begun to take steps to green your business, it’s important to seek third-party certification of your efforts. Obtaining a green certification legitimizes your efforts and provides a unique marketing tool that can been used to separate you from your competition, and establish transparency among your target audience. Environmentally-conscious consumers are hyper-sensitive to green washing, and claiming to be a green business without certification is a sure way to make them skeptical about your intentions. Be sure to do your homework before pursuing a third-party certification! There are many organizations claiming to offer certifications but not all are quality assessments. Things to consider: * How long has the organization been in existence? * What is the background of the founders/assessors? Are they environmentally active or educated? * On how many parameters do they base their assessment? * Are businesses of any "shade" of green accepted, or is there a chance you’ll "fail"? * Is it a self assessment or will a representative conduct a site assessment? * Do they offer added benefits of certification? I.e. seal or logo use, membership directory, etc. * Is there a cost for certification and is it offset by the benefits of certification? * Is it a niche certification (industry specific) or can any businesses apply to be certified? Learn more about the GenGreen Business Certification here! Greening Your Business TipsHave a tip about Greening Your Business that you would like to share with us? Tell us about it! |
