Top 10 Myths About Greening Your Business
by Deborah Miller
10. Our Business is Already Green – many companies believe that recycling, eating organic, buying local, conserving or whatever automatically makes them a green company. All of those activities are important and wonderful and do lend themselves to a green company. However, to be officially green you need to sport some kind of certification, whether it’s LEED, government-based, or certification from an industry-specific professional organization. Keep up the good work…but be “certified” green too!
9. It Takes Too Much Time – most companies are already doing what it takes to earn green business certification and it’s just a matter of completing the application process. If the company is larger or is further away from their green goals than they’d like to be, it’s easy enough to hire a consultant to come in and evaluate the situation, put together an action plan and then make some minor changes. (Hint – that’s what we do!).
8. If I Don’t Qualify, I’ll be Penalized – If someone comes in to review your application and audit the facility and you don’t pass, they are not going to turn you in to big brother. Unless, of course, you’re doing something that is against already-established environmental regulations. Here’s a good rule of thumb…if you are doing something that is detrimental to the environment, fix it before you complete a certification application.
7. Being Green Costs More – if you are planning to completely rehaul your company and workspace you might pay more, but for most companies the small changes they need to make have a minimal cost. Keep in mind even though changes initially appear to cost more, you will probably use a lot less…think “big picture” and “return on investment”, taking into account how much you’d reduce or eliminate as a result of implementing the change.
6. Green is for Smaller/Larger Companies – you’ve heard it before but I’ll say it here too…size doesn’t matter. Small companies think they are too small, large companies think they’re too large. Everyone needs to think about the environment, whether you are renting an office “closet” or your space is the size of a small country. If you have one room, doing the right thing is a snap. If you’re enormous, then you have a much bigger responsibility to do the right thing and you should really get on it! If you are in the middle…then you are just right and should just do it!
5. Green is a Fad – we are not talking about legwarmers here…being environmentally conscious is our responsibility to ensure the future. Really. Being green is not a fad, it is an evolution and inevitable. Remember when everyone thought the internet was a fad?
4. We Should Wait for a Better Time – waiting for change to happen and then trying to jump on board has never served a business; driving the bus is always better than being hit by the bus, thrown under the bus or missing the bus. Okay, enough bus analogies. Isn’t it better to jump on board now and be “cutting edge” rather than waiting until green is old school or (gasp) mandated?
3. There is Nothing in it For Us – that makes me sad, because it serves everyone to take care of the earth. But hippie feelings aside, there are new marketing opportunities for companies who embrace their greener selves. There are new networking opportunities. There are new customers. There are new products. There is new funding. New, new and more new. Isn’t that a refreshing business take from “recession” and “cutbacks”? (Another hint…it’s my business to know what those new, new, new things are!).
2. I Can’t – someone reading this is excited about the opportunity, but either lacks funds or authority to get the ball rolling. Since I’m already using too many clichés, here is another one…become the little business who could and figure out how to make it happen (I borrowed that cutesy saying from www.110mag.com who wrote an article about us with that title!). We can help you, even if you are broke and just a company peon. We were once broke peons ourselves so we know what we’re talking about!
1. Ignorance is Bliss – one time I was pulled over by a police officer for doing something in traffic that was against the law. I can’t remember what it was but I had never even heard of the law and I told the officer I was sorry for being unaware. Guess what…I still got a ticket. The moral of that story is that it doesn’t matter if you don’t know about greening your business or not, you are still responsible.
Tags: Green Business, Greening Your Business, Myths, Top 10 Lists