7 Steps to Green Your Business

1) Form a Green Team or Sustainability Committee. Make sure the whole company knows the committee members so they know where to take their questions and suggestions. When you form your committee, don't worry if the first reaction is, “Oh no! Not another committee!” Have fun with your Green Team. It can be hard work, but the rewards can be astonishing.

2) Write a company philosophy about Sustainability. This is the mission of the committee. It can be anything that keeps the focus on the task at hand: greening your business.

3) Measure your current business practices. Some areas to start in are: energy (measure your company's carbon footprint), waste (measure tonnage of trash versus recycling), water (measure use and overuse) and procurement (evaluate all purchasing).

4) Set goals for reduction. We'd all like to be carbon neutral, but be realistic about your company. It may be out of reach for now. Start with the low hanging fruit. Progress slowly and let the momentum build. For example, start with single stream recycling, and then move right on up to a darker shade of green by putting solar panels on the roof to offset energy use.

5) Select your business partners. Ask them to join you in developing environmental practices that add value for your clients. Have your partners share their practices with your company and choose partners that want to join your sustainability efforts.

6) Share your philosophy with your people. To truly green a company, we have to change habits internally. One exercise I like to do when I am presenting is to ask everyone to move seats after they are comfortably situated, and then I ask them to move again. Some people chuckle, some hesitate. Then as everyone gets settled, I ask them to change seats for a third time. Now people are getting aggravated and are probably asking themselves what we are doing here. I tell them that this simple exercise similar to Greening your business: it can be a little tedious and change is required but no one is going to get hurt and the company won’t come crashing down. Have fun with it!

7) Market, market, market....upstream and downstream...to everyone on all your greening efforts. Use the momentum of what your company has started to encourage other companies to do the same. Let your clients know that you are greening your company. Share your successes!