Posts Tagged ‘Going Green’

Going Green is not Just for Big Business-you Can Grow Eco-profits, Too!

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
going-green-business
The world of big business is making daily headlines by “going green” after discovering that what’s good for the planet is also proving good for business.

IBM recently announced “Project Big Green,” a $1 billion initiative to reduce energy consumption by offering new lines of energy-efficient IT products.

Wal-Mart is adding solar power to more than 20 stores.

PepsiCo is buying renewable energy certificates to offset its carbon footprint. Even major banks and energy firms are being asked by shareholders to prove that they, too, are going green.

It’s not just the biggest businesses that are attracting new customers and shareholders and reaping huge profits by “going green.” Small businesses also are growing eco-profits by embracing surprisingly inexpensive strategies to add value to their products, services and brand.

Consider these innovative examples:

- Bob Smith of Mad River Brewing Company in Blue Lake, California, has attracted positive publicity (and new customers) by promoting his efforts to reduce his small firm’s waste output and take other environmentally conscious steps. In turn, he has received welcome positive publicity from the press. “What PR budget? That is our PR budget,” he told the Albuquerque Tribune about “going green” to market his business.

- In Florida, Natalie Kelly formed Home Therapy Cleaning Services, which uses only nontoxic, all-natural cleaning products for her home cleaning business. She used to sell aromatherapy candles from her home, she told the St. Petersburg Times, but today uses an aromatherapy baking soda blend to freshen carpets.

Here’s what you can do:

- Two inexpensive ways any small business or solo entrepreneur can go green are to change light bulbs to energy-efficient bulbs and use biodegradable cleaning products.

- With that done, tell your customers and the media about these simple ways to go green. You will have just earned instant credibility as a green business, and also as a media resource for simple, effective ways to “go green.”

- Many communities online and offline are forming networks to exchange energy-saving ideas for home and business. Form your own energy network, enlisting neighborhood businesses that will welcome another opportunity to show they’re going green, too. The plus for you is that you will have just positioned yourself and your business as a community environmental leader.

- Copy what the New York Times called “Phase 2″ of the corporate response to global warming. Partner with an environmental group. Travelocity invites customers to donate an extra $10 to $40, which goes to the Conservation Fund to plant trees to offset the carbon used by a client to take a trip. Whole Foods invites customers to buy a $5 “wind power card” that goes to Renewable Choice Energy to build wind farms. What local environmental group can you partner with to promote on your Web site (and vice versa), to set aside a day that a percentage of profits will go to that organization or to make their fliers available at your business?

- Make use of readily available, free information to hand out with your business literature or to make available in your office. For example, create a one-page flier on your letterhead inviting clients to calculate their own carbon footprint by visiting http://multimedia.wri.org/safeclimate_calculator.cfm.

- Go deeper green! Attend a “green” conference in your community or region, and promote your attendance. (Go to Google.com and type in “green” and “conference” and your area to find out when and where they are scheduled.) Write a “green” article on simple ways you are going green and submit it to one of the dozens of “green” Web sites and blogs that invite reader contributions. It’s a great way to market your smart ideas and your business!

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Going Green – What’s it All About?

Monday, October 19th, 2009
going-green
Green: it’s a word we seem to hear everywhere lately. The skyrocketing price of oil and the ongoing debate about the threat of climate change are only two of the factors that prompt people to think about going green.? Nowadays most people, and even some businesses, realize that we humans have an effect on our environment. There’s no getting around it, and that’s why going green can only benefit all of us.

But what is “green”? Ask 10 people, you’ll get 10 answers. Not even the U.S. government has a standard definition, so consumers must decide for themselves based on various definitions and standards created by different organizations. Usually, the word “green” connotes energy efficiency (a “green”? washing machine that uses less water and electricity, for instance) or environmental friendliness (such as paint stripper made from non-toxic materials). You might even be doing something green without knowing it, perhaps to save money. Have you abandoned commercial cleaning products in favor of using the natural products Grandma used, like baking soda, vinegar and ammonia? That’s green, because you’re opting not to use possibly toxic chemicals in your home!Do you put mulch, compost or manure on your garden instead of chemical fertilizer? That’s green, because you’re reducing the amount of potentially dangerous chemicals right in your own backyard! Do you like to shop for bargains at flea markets or secondhand shops instead of buying something brand new at the mall? That’s green, because you’re “recycling”? already-manufactured goods and most likely using up less packaging that would otherwise swell the town landfill! Even large organizations–schools, local governments or corporations–have gone green by switching from paper to electronic billing (less paper used = fewer trees cut down) or by installing solar panels instead of a new oil heating system.

Developers, architects, contractors, local governments and utilities are also getting into “green building.”? Just as individuals go green by recycling and businesses go green by reducing their paper use, those in real estate, construction, and associated fields can ride the wave of environmental awareness by adopting green concepts. Instead of clearcutting a forest in order to lay out a typical subdivision, some real estate developers have turned their talents toward refurbishing older hometown neighborhoods. Contractors can pledge to avoid arsenic-treated lumber or focus on reusing salvaged or surplus building materials. Architects can incorporate the newest energy-efficient technologies into their designs. In many areas, the local government or utility company is happy to perform an energy audit of a home or commercial building in an effort to reduce energy consumption and waste, and they may be able to supply information about green products and services that are good for the budget and good for the planet. Common products in this category include solar energy devices that can lessen dependence on nonrenewable fossil fuels (i.e., home heating oil), long-lasting fluorescent light bulbs, or safer replacements for harmful “traditional”? materials such as fiberglass insulation.

Consumers can teach themselves how to go green. You can start small, with something as simple as choosing a product at the supermarket that uses less packaging than the one next to it on the shelf. Congratulations–by making that decision, you’ve just reduced the demand for styrofoam, which has the potential to sit in an ugly landfill for hundreds of years. Or you can think big by trading in your gas-guzzling SUV for a gas-sipping hybrid-electric vehicle. The bottom line is, you don’t have to be rich, a scientist, or a tree hugger to go green! You don’t have to change your lifestyle completely in one fell swoop to go green. Every little bit helps, and every little bit adds up to a lot.

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Simple Steps to Start Going Green In Our Office – Part 1

Friday, August 7th, 2009

going-greenI believe that we all want to be responsible citizens of the Earth. We consider the impact of our lifestyles on the environment. We want to ensure that our children’s future in this planet is still has clean air to breathe, trees and wildlife abundance and drink clean water. However, we also believe that sacrifices may be too great to “go green” in our own office. I think this is not as difficult as you think.

Here are 3 things where you can do without significant cost or inconvenience but it can make a significant impact to our environment:
- Lights
- Electronics
- Paper

The average U.S. office workers throw out about 150 pounds of paper per year. Manufacture of paper and contributes to the deforestation of the Earth, and America is responsible for 35 million tonnes of CO2 per year. So what can we do? we can buy recycled paper. Make full use of the paper by printing on both sides, and / or paper, which is only one side of printed paper from scratch. Put it in the proofreading and editing on your computer before printing, to reduce the number of copies to make. Reuse files through the new labels over the old ones. All of these changes is not easy to perform, but a large effect.

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Going Green – Help Save our Planet

Tuesday, August 4th, 2009

save-our-planetCurrently, the level of CO2 emissions on our planet is getting higher. This will affect the environment and our earth will change for the worse. Therefore, we must take serious steps to save and protect our environment.

Time will continue to run and we will not be able to return to the past to change the condition of our earth. So, we need to act now and not tomorrow, we can do our bit to protect the future.

Human emissions of greenhouse gases are changing the world’s climate. The major greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide (CO2), resulted when we burn fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas for energy.

At least 40% of carbon dioxide emissions come directly from what we do, for example, heating and electricity in our homes – and the leadership of flights, the next largest source. In the past two centuries, the CO2 emissions in the atmosphere have risen by a third, an unparalleled level of at least 420,000 years and probably in the last 20 million years. To help save our planet, we  do not have to go out of our way or do anything too much strain, it can be started by doing the simplest things from riding bicycles to work or turning off our TV’s when not in use.

Here are some few tips what we can do to help save our planet:

  • reducing household waste
  • turn of the lights when not in use or switch to energy saving lightbulbs
  • use an eco friendly bag when you shopping
  • use recycled products
  • don’t leave the water running while you brush your teeth
  • go with rechargeable batteries if you can
  • don’t use your dryer, if you can help it.
  • re-use products or repair and use again
  • recycle
  • improve your insulation in your home, offices,
  • use the lowest octane fuel you can on your vehicle
  • buy a fuel efficient car
  • drive the speed limit
  • use energy efficient devices for storing and cooking foods
  • try not to waste food

The above tips are just a few things you can do to help, which it distributes for the initiative and thinking of what you are doing and how it will impact on the environment, taking in a few simple steps that can help.

Let’s Save Our Planet!

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