Costco Connection - July 2008

What color is
your business?

“Everybody throws around the term ‘green’ these days, but no one has a definition for it,” says Costco member Harry Lewis, attorney adviser in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. “The concept is fluid: As technology and best practices get more developed, the bar may get raised and standards may change.”

investments in clean technology, all identified themselves as green.

Growing definitions Progress is being made, however. Some computer manufacturers,

including Dell and HP, are participating in an EPA program called the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool, designed to promote greener electronics—electronics that avoid

Groove House
Records Inc.,

a Costco member business in Woodland

Hills, California, that manufactures CDs and DVDs ( www.groovehouse.com), offers packaging made of 100 percent recycled cardboard and clear disc trays made with 100 percent recycled plastic. All of their manufactured booklets, folders and tray cards are now printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper with soy-based inks, on at least 50 percent recycled stock. FSC certification guarantees that any virgin paper or board stock comes from responsible forestry operations. Only water-based, biodegradable varnishes are used for paper or card-stock finishing. Their print and disc manufacturing facilities both recycle 100 percent of their paper, board and plastic waste.

“A truly green business...

begins internally. ...Then

you really get down to work...

providing solutions to minimize

your business’s impact.”

—Wendy Radwan, Taxi! Taxi!

Similar to the ongoing quest to define what it means to be “organic,” the current challenge is for everybody—consumers, environmentalists and the government—to agree on criteria and then identify products and services that meet their criteria. Businesses need clarity as to what constitutes a level of green they can strive for and lay claim to, through an established and recognized green certification program.

The responses The Connection received when we began our research reflected this amorphous definition. A broad spectrum of small businesses, ranging from those that had swapped out light bulbs or begun recycling to companies that had made enormous

certain materials, have less packaging and are more easily upgraded or recycled.

The Energy Star program (www.energy star.gov), one of the first environmental labeling programs, is gaining more importance as retailers and utility companies offer rebates for products meeting the energy-efficiency guidelines.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program ( www.usgbc.org/LEED) provides a tiered certification system to rate buildings on environmental and energy-efficiency criteria. Another program, GreenSeal ( www. greenseal.org), provides a green certification label for a variety of products, including eco-friendly paint, soaps and cleaning products.

There are a host of resources, on the Internet, at workshops and expositions and in published books, that spell out the many steps that people can take in their personal and professional lives, to minimize their negative impact on the Earth.

Although the criteria vary, many cities have established green certification programs. And different groups, from environmental experts to small-business owners, have put together a framework of guidelines on what it takes to go green (see page 23).

“A green business is a business that has been upgraded to address the environmental challenges of our country,” says Lucy Blake, chief executive of the Apollo Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups, labor unions and politicians seek-

ing to transform the U.S. economy into one based on renewable energy.

“A business is green if it has adapted its practices for the use of renewable resources and holds itself accountable for the environmental and human-rights impacts of its activities,” says Costco member Kevin Slovick of StartUpNation.

“A truly green business starts with the basics,” says Costco member Wendy Radwan, client and public relations director for Taxi! Taxi! ( www.santamonicataxi.com), a Los Angeles County taxi service that developed the area’s first hybrid taxi fleet. “First you begin internally—recycling, using environmentally friendly materials, etc. Then you really get down to work, by providing solutions to minimize your business’s impact and to improve sustainability.”

Laguna
Culinary Arts

( www.lagunaculinaryarts.com), a cooking school, café and gourmet cheese and wine shop based in Laguna Beach, California, found that just having recyclable containers and cups for to-go orders wasn’t enough. “They often just got tossed in the trash once they left our premises,” says Costco member Nancy Milby, executive director of the company. “Therefore, we’ve gone to products that are compostable: cups and containers made from 100 percent corn products, containers made of sugar fiber. Go ahead, toss it into the trash—with a little moisture, it will decompose back into the earth from whence it came.”

Why go green?

While there may not yet be an overall definition of “green,” there is enough information available for the hundreds of businesses, large and small, that are making significant changes to how they operate, both internally and externally.

Their reasons for taking these steps are varied. Some fear global warming. Some see green as a market trend. Others believe there are benefits to the planet and future generations. And many businesses are turning to a cleaner way of working because they’ve found it helps them save money—through green efficiencies that allow them to do more while using less—or make money.