Wednesday, December 19, 2012

100 Green Small Business Tips

About six months ago we resurrected a dormant green team at the company I work for to expand the focus to the triple-bottom line - people, planet, and profit. One of our initiatives is to reduce water and energy consumption as well as divert as much as we can from the landfill. These initiatives not only reduce the company's greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), but they also save the business money. 

When we started our green team I wish we would have had this handy cheat sheet called 100 Green Small Business Tips. The online publication, Small Business Trends, solicited green tips from their readers. There are some obvious ones in there, but a few new ones that our green team didn't think of. Some of my favorites include:
  • Use desk lamps - “Turn off the lights.  If you’re in the office alone or with just a few co-workers, use your desk lamps.  Leave the room lights in the OFF position.”
  • Wash work clothes less often - “Wear your clothes (outerwear) and use towels more than once.  Come on, unless you work where you sweat or pick up contaminates, does that outfit really need to go through the laundry?”
  • Try a four day work week - “Work 10 hr days and shut down Friday, Saturday and Sunday (every week, every other week or at least once per month-employees will love you as well).”
If you are a small business trying to be more sustainable, embracing the principles of the triple bottom line aren't difficult or cost prohibitive. Most of these green tips are just a matter of behavior change. So, what say you dear readers? Are you ready to start a green team at your company?

1 comment:

PENNY STOCK INVESTMENTS said...

Some excellent tips thanks.

Wishful Thinking

*Before adding PV, wind, or solar thermal to your residential or commercial structure, the first step is to analyze this structure's energy consumption through a professional energy audit. I'd like to see some public education on the importance of an energy audit for any structure. Remember Smokey the Bear's forest fire shtick drilled into our heads over the last few decades? How about something like, "Henry the House" desperately wanting to know how much energy he consumes and wastes throughout the day?

*With over 300 sunny days a year on the Front Range is it too much to ask for solar PV and thermal modules on every residential and commercial unit (after an energy audit of course)?


*How about affordable plug-in electric cars that go more than 100 miles on a charge with PV and wind powered recharging stations?

*Dreaming of companies large and small adopting business sustainability practices to maximize profits, reduce their carbon footprint, and enhance the lives of their employees and the communities that surround them.

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