Green Business Awareness

Has the combined power of a major recession, indications of global cooling, and the resignation of Van Jones sent a signal that the Green bubble has now burst?  It could be argued that our world will wobble a bit, but will return to a homeostasis that allows the hard-working people of the world to regain a sense of normalcy and reprieve.  Every issue has a kind of zenith that it hits that is followed by a more moderated cycle.  Just look at the charts of Wall Street and the Dow Jones average.  It seems that many huge issues have their trends and episodes of crisis and calm.

If there is any truth to the argument of declining environmental concern, it is both unfortunate and misleading.  Few people can read Thomas Friedman’s book, “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” and come away unconvinced.  The recession has produced a tight-fisted approach to spending by many companies, and that has frankly hurt the environmental cause.  Businesses, especially small to medium sized businesses, realized that surviving a recession meant holding onto every dime was the order of the day.  Therefore, Greening a business was deferred or turned into token Green efforts.

As the recession gives way to a better economy, the believe that we can start the return to business as usual brings along an artificial belief that the environmental issues will likewise pass in importance.  It will not!  Certain factors are already at work that will not pass like an ugly storm through the night.  World population is a constant issues with no reprieve in sight.  Our growing world population is compounded by an emerging multi-national middle class that demands more goods and resources.  So, regardless of your believe about climate change, the environmental will continue to impact our lives in major ways.

Walmart is a leader in environmental commitment.  Some believe that Walmart’s environmental is a smart marketing effort to defer the employee pay issues of the recent past.  Nonetheless, Walmart has found a winning issue here and set a tone that others must follow or be left in the dust.  Michael Dell of Dell computers has taken a similar tact hiring a bevy of Green advisers to move his company into a zero impact company over the next ten years.

T Boone Pickens has just mothballed $2 million of his hyped wind mills, but that was the result of miscalculation rather than environmental trend.  The car industry is now committed to building more sustainable cars, and school age children are being ardently taught to be serious environmentalists.  There is no possible way that environmental causes can be continually deferred into the future.  The time is now and the tipping point is happening in our generation.

The right response is to step up to the issue, and the recovering economy should provide new opportunity for moving forward with Green improvements.  Adding even more opportunity to the Greening process is the Green Business League’s program of Green Practices that provides a readily-accessible standard for any business to earn a nationally recognize Green business certification.

Every business can do the right thing and contribute to the larger solution of environmentalism.  The Green practices allows any company to accumulate points toward a Green business certification.  Since the environmental crisis is a universal problem, it requires universal participation.  While not everyone can own a LEED certified building, it is true that anyone can install Green practices and contribute to a massive, worldwide improvement campaign.  If you need help with installing Green practices in your business, contact a Certified Green Consultant from the Green Business League. Those wishing to roll up their sleeves and act as the Green Officer for their company should attend one the regionally offered Green Officer Training events.

I have heard from a growing number of people from numerous business types about the establishment of a Green Committee.  What the overall response has been is a kind of underlying “Help me!”  That is because most of the people on these committees are well-meaning and under-informed people who are commissioned with the task of providing guidance or direction for the corporate Greening process.  No insult intended, but environmental progress requires more than the same committee type that plans the office picnic.

I strongly suggest that every Green committee needs the assistance of someone with training and a clear plan for success.  Adding one person to this team could make a huge difference, and that person should be a Certified Green Consultant.  Rather than starting as a near-zero point, the Certified Green Consultant knows how to formulate a Green program that everyone will appreciate.

Knowing where to start  and how to stage the progress of the company’s Greening effort is very empowering for your Green committee.  The committee allows input from the company side that will provide the customized approach to environmental projects.

The other important consideration is “Cost and Savings” incurred or realized by this program.  This is where the Certified Green Consultant shines.   Going Green will improve the workplace, reduce sick time and increase productivity, but did you know that a good Greening program will develop efficiencies that most people miss?  We are not talking of a few dollars that can be realized, but thousands and tens of thousands of dollars that this program will save in company expenditures.

One idea alone from the Green Consultant will guarantee to reduce your electric bill by 20%, and there are many more cost saving ideas that will speed up office productivity and reduce operational costs.  Most people still labor under the belief that Going Green will cost the company in time and money.  This is no longer true.  Going Green has an ROI that can produce immediate and long-term savings that no business should neglect.

In the absence of a committee, I suggest that a key person be appointed who has the ear and measured authority to move the company into a progressive Greening program.  This person should use the resources of the Certified Green Consultant as well.  To be honest, the information download and constant innovations in the environmental sector take more time than the appointed person has readily available.  While installing Green ideas and managing programs currently in place, looking into what is next still requires some teamsmanship.  Adding the Green Consultant as an outsourced Green adviser is a very intelligent thing to do.

As we emerge from the environmental infancy cycle into an age of informed environmental participant, the value of having a trained and knowledgeable professional is not only smart, but part of a well-run business.   If your company is too small for a Green officer or Green committee, do yourself a favor and bring a Certified Green Consultant along side of your business.  The help that you will receive is worth many times more than you will pay for the service.   Every company WILL GO GREEN.  That is honestly a foregone conclusion.  However, the process can be done in a sloppy and awkward manner that ill-serves all involved, or it can be done professionally so that the process improves the company at every level and saves a ton of money and improves profitability.

Environmental transition is simply not a minor consideration to be handed off to a committee where it will twist in the wind or come back with a less-than-efficient set of solutions.   This is something that deserves the same value that you put on your marketing program because it will affect the future of your business.

We live in an era that may be called the “Wild West of Green.”   There is no common law in this territory, and everyone is trying to claim prime ground while shooting at others who are doing the same.  It is, quite frankly, still early in the Green cycle which presents challenges and opportunities for everyone.   What is needed, therefore, is the establishment of measures and standards that define what Green is and how it can be verified.  Small mindedness and niche interests (like carbon credits or solar power) should not become the sole criteria for Green business.

To state the issue in broad terms, the environmental problem is a “Universal Problem that needs a Universal Solution.”  Currently, we find a wide variety of environmental options that appeal to a narrow area, meaning that only a few are able to participate.  If a company offers a product, such as a cleaning solution, it can be evaluated and certified as Green or environmentally-friendly.  If a business owns their building, it can be graded for construction material and design for certification.  What about all the other businesses that do not offer a product or own the building?  Less than 10% of businesses own their building, and even fewer have a product that could be appropriately called Green.

Of course, a business may conduct an energy audit to reduce energy use.  It may also hire someone to do a carbon footprint calculation that will provide the foundation for the purchase of carbon offset credits.  A company may also hire a sustainability specialist to conduct a sustainability assessment and assist in the Green Supply Chain review.  To assist in reducing the electric usage, a firm may be hired to install solar or wind power units.   Whatever the interest, any company should make sure to hire a Green certified janitorial service.  While the list of possible Green solutions can become onerous, there are still more options that might be necessary to operate a Green business.

What if these services could be coordinated, measured, and certified so that a Green business certification could be more than a clandestine effort in self-promotion?  The Green Business League offers what may be the best comprehensive guidance, assessment, and certification program in the country.  Each and every Green improvement has a point value that is certified by a professional Green Consultant.  Better yet, the process of Going Green is orchestrated to allow a business to address all segments of the environmental issues in a easy-to-accomplish fashion.  Instead of a haphazard approach to environmental compliance, there must be a broad scope and standardized process that can be applied to any kind of business.

Green Practices are the universal applications that allows anyone and everyone to participate in the environmental.  While giving credit for Green products, and Green buildings, the intelligent approach is to assign points to every reasonable Green Practice that can accumulate toward a certification award.  Why not open the door to anyone willing to step up and put forth an effort?   Green practices apply to households, schools, office buildings, governmental buildings, manufacturing and any kind of industry.  Why not give credit to those using home offices as a very Green idea or for the inclusion of VOC eating plants in the workplace?  There are hundreds of Green practices that may be adopted allowing a unique range of options for any home or business to apply.

The Green Business League uses a 100 point system regardless of how the points are accumulated.  Any program that can include sufficient activities that build the 100 points can be certified.  Homes and residences are certified through the Green Homes League.  Any good idea can be misapplied and abused, so the fact that the awarding of points and certification can only be given through a Certified Green Consultant is very important.  Right now, there are clandestine websites offering greenwashed certification where the payment of the fee is the sole criteria other than a pledge or self-assessment form.  Any authentically Green program will do more than collect a fee and hand out their logo without verification of the activities.

The good news is that most homes and businesses already have a variety of Green practices in place but get no credit for them.   There will be the tendency to take the self-directed approach to Green and subsequently claim that the business has Gone Green, but you have to ask yourself, “What happens when everyone does the same?”   When every business has “something Green” and claim to be Green, what is the difference?  This is called the “Green Equalization factor.  It is at this point that the businesses that have verified and certified their Green practices will stand out like the moon against the stars.

In summary, as this generation moves out of the infancy of environmental concern to a generation of environmentally aware consumers, it will not pay to be a Green pretender.  To be authentically Green, it is time to install Green practices and become certified by a reputable organization like the Green Business League.

This Fourth of July, we played host to our developing family as our three sons now have families of their own (or nearly so).  It is a far different world that many of us knew twenty or more years ago.  We saw a period of prosperity that seemed to have no end, and there were fewer worries in those days.  Now, we are hopefully emerging from a recession of serious depths, and emerging into a generation that runs on a different set of rules.

I have concluded that in the hectic and developing world of my past, the emphasis on “Convenience” was very important.  We were busily building a progressive economy, transitioning to a rapid-paced society, and emerging from a rural mentality.  The world sped up, and we had to speed up with it.   Microwave ovens replaced traditional one, because they were so darn convenient.  Everything was disposable because there was always a newer, better version of whatever it was waiting to be bought at the store.  We lived in a throw way society that cast off anything “out of style” to buy whatever was in style regardless of whether the former item was still in good shape.

Disposable diaper compared to the smelly diaper pail was just the best invention ever.  Then, of course, we had the invasion of the drive-through restaurants that gave us food within seconds of ordering.  How good was that?  As life sped up, everything we encountered was always about convenience, and price didn’t matter nearly so much as expediency.

Today, I saw an add for Green diapers, which gave cause to these thoughts, and where we find ourselves today.   It’s true.  There are Green diapers that you can flush, compost, or toss away knowing that they will break down into something that will compliment the earth.  It is decidedly a new, and Green day that is now rising on the horizon as we seem to increase in our Green appetite.

We are starting to think about responsible Green Practices rather than simple convenience.  Tossing trash on the ground is more than a misdemeanor violation, it is a symbol of environmental disrespect.  Dragging home dozens of plastic bags from the store is what studies tell retailers that we want, but energy concerns now tell us that the oil used in plastic bags and plastic bottles could literally end our oil crisis.

I believe that we are ready for the change, but I really hope it is because we have matured rather than being herded like cattle by governments and agencies.   Every where I turn, I see companies and families “Changing the Way they do business,” and I am impressed that we can enter this Greener world as committed earth citizens ready for the task.   I am not for big government, unlimited reign for politically-bent solutions, and resolved that only governments can solve this problem.   We got ourselves into this mess, and we can get ourselves out, if given the chance.

The Green Business League promotes a program of Green Practices, and this is also the mission of hundreds of Certified Green Consultants who work diligently to help businesses and families certify their Green status.  It is no longer enough to claim to be Green.  There is a dire need to measure up to a standard set by a independent source like the Green Business League.

In a Greener world that we now face, I feel a sadness that convenience pressed such a heavy hand on our lives.  We are not weak that we needed extremes of convenience items, but it was part of life in America as well as nearly every country in the world.  McDonald is everywhere, you know!  We are in a time of “Reality Check” to realign our thoughts, our priorities, and our practices.   Make Green Practices something that will become a constant part of your daily habit.

Finally, I like the new era that we face, although we will all chaff a little at what is required of us.  We have learned to be more frugal, more willing to use up what we have before we throw it out, and to share what we have with others.  I anxiously hope that the lessons learned are lessons of the heart as well as life lessons.  Some endure challenge to return to normal, while others endure challenges to get better.

It is fair to say that earning a Green Business certification has a cost.  The investment can be small or large depending on how many challenges a company may face to become an authentic Green business.  I would put the Greening effort in a similar monetary category as buying a piece of needed machinery for the company.  The rationale is that the machine is needed to make the company run better, it will save time, and reduce the work load for everyone.  These are somewhat intangible benefits except that they show up on in a better operation and in savings to the companies bottom line.  In other words, Going Green is an investment that has a predictable return.  More and more, we are learning that Green is not just an expense that takes an unfriendly bite out of the cash flow.  Going Green has real and lasting benefits that may be hard to measure but can be seen as a boost to the company’s overall profitability.

If you improve the indoor air quality, you will also improve employee performance and reduce health claims.   If you install a paperless system, your whole company will speed up performance, and more work will be produced by fewer workers.  Employee cost savings is not a small advantage as everyone is looking to keep expenses down.  Get smart with you energy use, and your electric and fuel bills will go down.  As rates goes up (and they will), the efficiencies that you now embrace will become more impressive as rates go up.  Get involved in source reduction and other sustainable efforts, and you’ll trim out the excesses that will also fatten the bottom line.

Could Going Green actually save a company $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000 a year?  The answer is an absolute “Yes.”  This does not happen because a company sets up a Green committee that has no training on the subject.  These kind of savings come from taking a wise and professional approach to the subject.  Certified Green Consultants offer the expertise that most companies need to install a Green program that will bring about a thoughtful Greening program that includes the kind of savings that help a company in more ways then social responsibility in a world struggling with environmental issues.

Another intangible is the marketing value of being a Certified Green Business.  As the Green market matures, the ability to stand out as something more than a self-appointed Green company has limited credibility in this market.  It is possible to “Fake Green” by buying a Green logo online without any serious commitment or audit routine.   It is common sense to Go Green and do it with a bona fide certification program like the one offered by the Green Business League.

It may not affect your bottom line, but the environment is now under stress.  Unresolved, the impact of environmental hardships will be seen throughout society.  There is also a universal price that we all pay because of the ignorance or neglect of social duties.  Essentially, we cannot ignore this duty unless we want it to grow into a hurricane of devastation that hits everyone with some harm.

There is a price to be paid to Go Green, but we are now finding that there is also a PAY BACK for the investment that need not take years to realize.  Smart Green Consultants know how to make Going Green pay off in just one to two years.  The money that you are able to keep in your corporate pocket will make your business leaner and faster.  It will give your company the ability to promote itself as an authentically Green Business.  Your company wins, your employees win, the consumers win, and the environment wins.  When thoughtfully and professionally addressed, there is no losers in a Greener world.

Be warned that doing any good thing badly rarely pays off, and often causes real embarrassment.   Buying a Green business credential online line falls in the same category as cyber porn.   It isn’t real, and it isn’t right.  A website can be set up in a week, and offering a flimsy imitation to the public that claims to be as good as the real thing.  When it is all said and done, you just can’t beat the real thing.

Odd as it may seem after more than a decade of environmental frenzy, angst, and crisis-mongering; there are those who still treat the problem with only token concern for what is happening.  Even if you are not on the global warming bandwagon, you cannot miss the global implications that are already looking each of us square in the eye.   The global population was about 4 billion in the 1950’s, it moved to 6.8 billion by the end of 2008, and is predicted to go to 9 million in 2025.  That singular fact is not subject to debate and has very real life implications for all of us.

Combine this with the concurrent realization that are now calculating “What’s left” of the resources available to this constantly increasing and resource hungry mega-world, and there are obvious facts that require that we “Get It” now rather than later.  Going Green may at times be trendy.  It may also be a smart marketing decision to show that your company is aware of global issues.   Regardless of the way you get there, it is well past the time that everyone should have a very meaningful Green epiphany, rather than a meager Green twinge of angst.

It is also obvious that most people are still waiting for “Someone else” to solve this crisis.   That reality is that governments do not solve problems efficiently or without laboring them with misdirection, over-regulation, and impossible costs.   We see environmental groups rising up, but they should not be seen as environmental mercenaries doing the job that each of us refuse to do.  Of course, corporations should be making the course corrections that will help us turn the corner on all these issue.  The truth is after more than a decade, we are still waiting on someone else to do what will take the collective efforts of each person, business, and government to accomplish.

We suffer from the fantasy that all this will soon pass like the winter of despair, and better days will arrive of their own accord.   It is only when the vast majority have this personal epiphany that we might turn the corner of all of this, so let me help you out by explaining the real kind of event that will solve this problem if we don’t step up to the plate on this issue.

First of all, we could be fortunate enough to enjoy a true pandemic like the recent scare of the Swine Flu virus, and million of people could die in every country.  In days of old, the population control was effectively accomplished by the Black Plague, cholera, smallpox, or typhus.  Frankly, millions upon millions of people have died from these diseases which gravely reduced world populations.

We could also benefit from a really devastating wars where the lack of vital goods will spark wars and kill off millions, if not billions.  There are already private wars and factions fighting over scare water, food, jewels, and power.  It shouldn’t take too much to destabilize a few more countries.   You will find belligerent countries like Korea, China, Iran and Russia like governments in turmoil and civil war because they can move in and take whatever they want in these situation.  War, if you didn’t know it, can be a very profitable and empowering game for those high enough in the process to take advantage of what they would never get by spreading spreading peace and democracy.

Of course there are the reward for an particularly oppressive series of dictators with a Hitler-like penchant for genocide.   The particularly cruel and purposely violent few like Castro of Cuba, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, Kim Jong-Il of North Korea and Liberian President Charles Taylor are just some of the recent examples of how close we are to allowing these radicals to siezing power anywhere.

If you are a sci-fi buff, there is always the heroing possibility that a comet will strike the earth, a new volcanic era will will out millions and darken the skies for a decade, a rouge country will invent a prolific bacteria that will kill everyone, or that the ice-caps will melt leaving us to survive in floating villages.

Isn’t is infinitely better to respond to the challenges of our hour with our better response rather than a token effort?  This issue will not pass of its own accord.  Innovation will relieve but not dismiss that fact that we must adjust, correct, and do better at every level of our life.  When you think about this global issue demands universal participation.  Everyone needs a hard-hitting and fact-based Green epiphany that set each person, business, and organization on a curative path.   I am pleased to see an army of Certified Green Consultants in place to help homes and businesses take on this challenge in an honest and effective manner.   As part of the Green Business League, any business can earn its Green Business Certification by adopting and installing Green Practices.   Seeing the choices presentled above, Going Green is the right path to a solution that can change to world for the better.

One of the most enjoyable topics about the Green Business transition is the discovery that Going Green can save nearly any business a great deal of money.  As a Certified Green Consultant does the evaluation of a business, the initial emphasis is on improving the Green IQ.  Most of the changes involve the adoption of a variety of Green Practices, and frankly a number of the transitions are cost neutral or may require a modest investment spread out in a month-by-month program.

What we want businesses to know is that Green is very much about “Efficiencies.”  Each Certified Green Consultant is trained in something called “Zero Cost Consulting,” which means that one of the overall goals is to save the customer more money than they might spend in the Greening process.  This is not a 10-15 year return on investment, but a one or two year ROI.   The astute consultant can often identify dozens of cost-savings ideas that can be worth hundreds and thousands of dollars in savings year after year.

Let me share a few of these ideas that are novel and worth the effort.  If your company maintains a lawn or landscaping, there is a direct cost to your revenue, and any savings realized simply means that you have a fatter profit margin at the end of the year.  In these trouble economic times, I believe that the investment in a Certified Green Consultant is akin to hiring an efficiency expert years ago.

One environmental issue is the exhaust produced (including carbon dioxide) by lawnmowers.  Lawnmowers have been reported to produce as much pollutants as 4 to 6 vehicles.  Better machines are being made, but they are not subject to the same kind of standards as autos.  Therefore, there is a tremendous idea afoot that asks for those with ample mowed areas to revert a portion of the ground to a flowering field that cuts down mowing cost, reduces emissions, and adds a unique aesthetic feature to any neighborhood.  Your watering costs may go down as well.

The second idea is to gradually overseed or restart your grass with a hardier and healthier low-moisture (xeriscapic) grass.  Instead of the must touted Kentucky bluegrass, the careful blend of fescues or more native grass will produce a healthy and dense yard that frankly can survive most summers using just rainwater that falls naturally.  A mere 5000 square foot yard in Illinois will spend $300 in water costs each year, and most companies have more than 5000 square feet that they must maintain.

The good news is that there are hundreds of Green solutions that will improve the health of any business, contribute to the sustainable issues that we face in the world, and can also cut expenses out of the annual expenses.  The average person simply doesn’t know enough of these solutions or how to integrate them into their operation.  Find a Certified Green Consultant by going to the Green Business Directory.  The Green BusinessLeague offers a national recognition of “Certified Green Business” when businesses achieve a standard of Green Practices in their operation.  A business need not own the building.  Any business can participate in this certification process using an easy-to-follow plan and the assistance of a Green Consultant.