Green Business Awareness

There are three distinct areas of Greening today.  There are Green products, Green buildings, and green practices.  Each piece of this simple puzzle has its value and plays an important role in the environmental process.  Though slow in coming, we are seeing more an more Green products come to the stores and the Internet.  Unfortunately, not all of them are as Green as they suggest in their marketing.  That is, however, yet another issue for another day.

Green buildings as valuable to the overall picture.  For a long time, building requirements dealt with safety and local regulations.  Now, there is the inclusion of building materials that will not add to the health issues and will help the sustainability of our resources.   And this is a good thing to see, but we cannot neglect the human factor that is desperately needed if we are going to succeed against the all-too-imposing environmental issues.

Green practices seem to the the last, but frankly, most important part of the puzzle.  It does us little good to have Green products and Green businesses if we do not include Green practices.  This is an important reality check for each of us.  All too often we hear about a kind of proxy Green where people believe that they are being environmental because they buy some Green products or have some Green applications in their facility.  The problem is that this requires little commitment from each of us except to buy or install what is offered.

Think also the the small percentage of people who have a “Proxy Green” approach to the whole issue because they own a building that can be built new or improved with environmentally-friendly building products.  There really aren’t that many compared to the number of businesses in any city, state, or country that do not own their own building.  Yet, it seems that nearly 100% of the focus in on buying Green products and building Green buildings.  Are all the rest of us who collectively make an enormous impact on this world excluded from participation in this issue because we are excluded from these two aspect of environmental response?

Conversely, Green practices are universal.  All of us can adopt Green practices into the daily routine of our families, workplace, or general duties.  If only we knew more about Green practices, that is.  After CFL bulbs, programmable thermostats, tuning up the car, and recycling our trash; what else is there?  In fact, there are hundreds of simple and practical steps that we all could take if we were better informed.  To actually take advantage of all these options, the process can be intimidating.  That is where the connection to a Certified Green Consultant is important.  They know how to incorporate hundreds of simple and cost savings solutions into any home or business.

Locate a Certified Green Consultant in your community at the Green Consultant Directory.  If your business would like to be a certified Green business, you should visit the Green Business League and find out more.  Going Green is not an amateur sport.  To to it well and comprehensively, the assistance of a professional Green consultant is extremely helpful.   In the end, the goal is to get everyone to do their “Fair Share” in this global crisis issue.   The more people that we enlist in the program, the better our world becomes.  So, while we may support the increased volume of Green products and the growth of Green buildings, the most crucial issue of all is the universal participation of people everywhere in Green practices.

I recently read an article about the buying public and their willingness to “Buy Green” even though we are in the midst of an economic downturn.  This is an important study because it answers an important question about the value of becoming a Certified Green Business through the Green Business League.  The study comes from EnviroMedia Social Marketing, and it starts out by addressing the belief that climate change is a real phenomenon.  Collectively, eighty percent believe in global warming although nearly thirty percent believes that it is a naturally-occurring event.  Another twenty percent does not accept that global warming has been proven or even exists.

A telephone survey of 1000 people showed that more and more people were willing to use their purchasing power to reward the obvious Green companies and programs with their business.  This is a logical result of nearly a decade or more to media news and threats about global warming, pollution concerns, and environmental dangers.  It seems that no school-age child has not been heavily indoctrinated with the environmental message.  The news is saturated with a vast array of environmental issues, and government officials are openly committed to change the way citizens and businesses impact the community and the world.

The message that needs to come across to businesses at any level is that the trend is firmly in place.  Going Green is not an option, nor is it something to apply superficially.  It requires a consistent process to make a Green business happen from the inside out.

Greenwashing is a business sin that will eventually splash back on those companies who promote Green purchasing but do not do the same themselves.  As with any other commitment, superficial and token efforts eventually produce resentment and disgust that no business wants to engender among their customers.

The Green market is growing because people understand that this is not simply a governmental issue.  It is an individual challenge that is being adopted by people, families, businesses, and governments.  Going Green is not only about making the world a better place.  It is also about the reality that the world hosts nearly 7 billion people who are pulling hard on our world’s resources.  We must address efficiencies and innovations that will allow the people of this world to sustain normal life for a very long time.  We all want a better life rather than a dismal future.  It seems that we are ready to demand that others commit to the cause, and we will reward the certified Green businesses with our hard-earn dollars.

If your business want to earn its Certified Green Business status with the Green Business League, we suggest that you find a serious partner in the effort by locating a Certified Green Consultant in your area at the Green Consultant Directory.