So, you wanna go
How green do you want to be?
To help you decide what shade you want to be, ask yourself these 10 questions.
s 7HAT ARE MY REASONS FOR BECOMING GREEN
s !RE THERE ANY MARKET FACTORS INVOLVED
s (OW DOES BEING GREEN INTEGRATE WITH MY BUSINESS PLAN
s (OW DOES BEING GREEN GIVE ME A COMPETITIVE EDGE
s !M ) STARTING A NEW GREEN BUSINESS OR AM ) RUNNING AN EXISTING BUSINESS
THAT WANTS TO SLOWLY MOVE TOWARD BEING GREEN
s $O ) WANT TO BE PERCENT GREEN OR ARE THERE AREAS IN WHICH ) WILL NOT BE GREEN
s )N ANY AREA WHERE ) CANNOT GO GREEN HOW CAN ) OFFSET MY CONSUMPTION
s $O ) WANT TO HAVE MY BUSINESS CERTIFIED AS BEING GREEN
s !RE THERE ANY GREEN GROUPS IN MY AREA OR SHOULD ) START ONE
s 7HEN CHOOSING TO PURCHASE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES HOW DO ) QUALIFY THEM AS GREEN
Information courtesy of StartUpNation ( www.startupnation.com)
Grays
Harbor Paper
Becoming a certified
green business can involve:
s #OMPLYING WITH ALL ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS
s 0REVENTING POLLUTION
s #ONSERVING ENERGY WATER AND OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES
s 2EDUCING WASTE
s #ONTROLLING CHEMICALS AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
s 4RACKING RESOURCE USE
s %DUCATING EMPLOYEES AND CUSTOMERS
s )NTRODUCING GREEN PRACTICES TO OTHER BUSINESSES
Rather than run their boiler on
natural gas or oil, Grays Harbor
Paper ( www.ghplp.com), a Costco supplier, converted to biomass (wood waste
that otherwise would be slash-burned or
taken to landfill). Instead of buying electricity, they bought two turbine generators
to make their own. Earlier this year they
added a third with the goal of not only
making their own energy but selling it,
too. When the state of Washington
approached the company about making
post-consumer recycled paper, Grays
Harbor developed their flagship
product, a 100 percent post-consumer paper, of the same
quality as virgin paper,
called Harbor 100.
Books:
Go Green, Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth (and Get Rich
Trying), by David Bach and Hillary Rosner (Broadway Press, 2008)
Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy
to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage,
by Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston (Yale University Press, 2006)
Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the Planet,
by Gary Hirshberg (Hyperion, 2008)
Glossary
2"/. #2%$) 4 4HE PROCESS OF REDUCING CARBON
EMISSIONS BY hOFFSETTING v !N EXAMPLE IS TAKING
A FLIGHT AND IN COMPENSATION PAYING A COMPANY
to plant trees to balance the carbon use.
2"/. &//402). 4 MEASURE OF ONE S IMPACT ON THE
ENVIRONMENT IN TERMS OF THE AMOUNT OF GREENHOUSE GASES
PRODUCED MEASURED IN UNITS OF CARBON DIOXIDE
CREATAS IMAGES/JUPI TER IMAGES
'2%%. (AVING POSITIVE ENVIRONMENTAL ATTRIBUTES
OR OBJECTIVES
'2%%. 02/$5#4 "IODEGRADABLE OR COMPOSTABLE MADE
FROM RENEWABLE RESOURCES ORGANICALLY GROWN
3534!).!"),) 49 0RACTICES THAT HELP TO ENSURE THE CONTINUED
VIABILITY OF A PRODUCT OR PRACTICE WELL INTO THE FUTURE
Web sites:
www.apolloalliance.org
www.carbonfund.org
www.climatebiz.com
www.coopamerica.org
www.epa.gov
www.greenbiz.ca.gov
www.greenbiz.com
www.greenbusinesstaskforce.com
www.greenproductlist.com
www.grist.org
www.livingeconomies.org
www.nrdc.org/buildinggreen
www.sustainablebusiness.com
www.thepurplebook.com
www.usgbc.org
www.usgreencommerce.org
Calculate your footprint:
http://event.nationalgeographic.com/greendex/calculator.html