GREEN BUSINESS VIEWS

Director of Dept of Environmentalism, Luis Bernal; R Michael Richmond fo GBL, Senator Roberto Arrango meet to discuss Green Business

A team from the Green Business League recently had the opportunity to visit Puerto Rico as an effort to develop working relationships to promote Green business certification for the businesses of this island commonwealth.  Puerto Rico is bustling economy anxious to improve life for its citizens and business processes for Puerto Rican businesses.   Business initiatives include a wide variety of government and privately sponsored programs, which seems to have a high priority in this island territory.

Puerto Rico presents unique environmental concerns because the geographic constraints, pro-business attitude, and the island’s natural resources are limited, unlike larger continental land masses.  There is less room or opportunity to absorb environmental mistakes, and resources are more easily stressed.  None seem more aware of the environmental concerns than the people, businesses, and leaders of this island economy.

Puerto Rico must produce electricity without the grid system to share the deficits and excesses like seen in the mainland states.   Water is a limited resource as well, and the prices paid by families and businesses for both electricity and water is much larger than the state-side versions.  Even the ability to get rid of trash creates difficult decisions that are both expensive and difficult.  Like other economies, Puerto Rican business leaders and politicians are seeking the right course in mapping out the future of this progressive community.

Certainly, business leaders and political leadership needs to engage this question in an aggressive fashion, but the environmental crisis is not just a leadership solution.  The environmental problems are pressing issues that started with the small practices of daily operations.  One piece of trash is multiplied millions and billions of times making the problem a massive concern of delayed appreciation.  The real challenge is getting broad participation in hundreds of Green Practices that are multiplied a million or billion times over.  Therefore, this is not just about passing laws, finding funding, or token efforts.

The Green Business League is the champion of Green Practices that allows for broad participation by businesses and families.  Unlike the LEED program that has a primary focus on Green buildings, the Green Business league emphasizes the operational, organizational, or the daily practices of businesses.  This means that “Going Green” is not a program only for building owners, but for every business, whether the business rents, leases, or owns the building.  Large or small, every business needs to participate in the greater environmental issue, and there seems no doubt that changing at the grassroots level is the very best way to create a broad impact on our world.

Rennie Rodriguez is the Green Business League director for Puerto Rico with tremendous experience in this wonderful part of the world.   Those interested in finding out more about the program in Puerto Rico can contact Rennie at rennie@greenonesource.com.  Rennie heads of team of Certified Green Consultants in Puerto Rico and has similar business efforts in the state of Florida.

Green Business League uses an audited system that rates all Green Practices according to a point system.  Unlike any other form of Green business certification, the Green Business League requires a live audit of all Green improvements.  Illegitimate Green business certifications offered over the Internet for a fee and a self-assessment are considered little more than a means of fooling the buying public and should be rejected.

The Green Business League is pleased to have held several important business meetings, worked with key political leaders, and addressed the news media about the process of integrating the GBL Green Point system in pilot projects in Puerto Rico.  I will be reporting more about the GBL progress in future posts.  The effort to provide Green certification for Puerto Rican businesses is a great solution for the island.

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