GREEN BUSINESS VIEWS

Posts Tagged ‘sustainability officer’

Sure, it’s a great idea to construct a Green building, but who has the money in this economy?  What happens if you don’t have a building in construction?  Doesn’t it seem as though the vast majority of businesses (that rent, lease, or own but can’t afford Green renovation) are frankly left out of the process.  This leaves open the door for more dubious ways to “Go Green.”  How about buying Green Products, and being labels Green in a proxy manner.  We know that owning golf clubs does not make you a real golfer, so how does buying Green products make a company into a Green business?

In 2005, the Green Business League saw a huge gap in the environmental puzzle.  Green buildings and Green products were great ideas; but if the people were not engaged, we were only fooling ourselves.  When it came to Green practices, the best we could see was a scatter gun approach of ideas of all kinds.  Of course, we all heard about CFL bulbs, programmable thermostats, and putting the correct amount of air in the tires.  Was that it?  America lags a decade behind Europe in Green implementation, and all we had to offer was the top 10 Green ideas, and that was it!

Green practices (behaviors) were the third leg of a three-legged stool that would complete the Green puzzle.  It was our daily activities that was the most powerful concept of them all.  Frankly, it is possible to be in a Green building and purchase Green products, and still be an environmental idiot.  Drive through the parking lot of some of these Green buildings and you will find Hummers, Mercedes, and Maxivans, but the bike rake (part of the Green building requirements) is empty.

Under the Green practices concept, the Green Business League has develop more than 400 Green practices and apply a point system to each practice.  This was the first universally applied point system for Green practices.  The practices ranged from simple to difficult, but covered all types of businesses.   From this GBL derived a Master Points List that had several specialty lists for unique types of businesses.  A list by itself is a good road map, but there is a need to actually bring these ideas into the daily operation of the company.

There is an upside and a downside to making Green practices the core of the process.  The upside is that any person, home, agency, school, or business type can now participate in the greater effort.  One of the most important aspects of the environmental movement is inclusion.  So, regardless of your building or the products that may be purchased, any business could install Green practices, and once audited, could earn a bona fide Green business certification.

The downside is that behaviors are not easily changed.  We are creates of habit and convenience.  Therefore, people most often make only transitory efforts into a Green lifestyle, and then revert back if it wasn’t a rewarding experience.  After all, how easy is it to drag around a reusable water bottle than it is to toss a plastic one away when you are done?  Or, how many people want a Prius when they have three kids?

Therefore, we see a need to reinforce the new, Green practices that are treated as an initially good idea.  That is why GBL is calling for a Green Officer (CSO) to be placed in every business.  Some know this job as the sustainability officer.  During the training of a Certified Sustainability Officer, they are taught the implementation is only the starting point.  It will take 3 to 5 years for the Green practices to become institutionalized.

Most Green program degenerate shortly after implementation.  The same thing happens to the numerous community programs that we see cropping up now.  Good ideas have a brief shelf life, and then begin to fade.  When there is a committed Certified Sustainability Officer in place, the Green program has a chance of survival and the expectation that it will become the norm for the company’s operation.

GBL encourages all businesses regardless of size to appoint or install a Certified Sustainability Officer in their company.  There is no urgent need to hire a $90,000 college graduate for this task.  One of the best training programs in America can be found at www.CertifiedSustainabilityOfficer.com. If a company trains and supports a CSO as their in-house Green officer, the potential of a truly Green business has legs and can become a profitable investment into the future of the business and the community.

It may not be the ultimate compliment, but working the way up through the many contenders to be a page one Google site is no small feat.  The Green Business League website is just a part of the overall credibility of the many virtues of the Green Business League, but it is nonetheless a part of the greater effort to show the prowess of this company.

Green Business League ranks well under numerous keywords including the highly-contested “Green Business” keyword.  Unlike the sponsored “paid” ads found on search engines, the “organic” searches by the search engines, like Google or Yahoo, are not easy to achieve.  In the Yahoo search engine, Green Business League ranks page one for “Green business certification.”

Taking the path to an organic Page One listing means that the website must compete with literally millions of other websites in that same category.  The competition becomes exponentially more difficult as companies reach the top three pages.  Only ten websites are listed per page, which means that moving up in these rankings requires both time and money.

Green Business League is the leading Green business certification in the United States with offices opening in Canada, Mexico, South America, Puerto Rico, and South Africa.  The Green Business League takes a bold stand against greenwashing tactics that are prevalent in the increasing number of certification websites.

The Green Business league is also the sponsor of the Corporate Sustainability Officer training program being offered by numerous agencies and colleges.

In my recent visit to Cartagena, Columbia brought fresh light on the subject of the vast difference in the level of practice of Green and sustainable practices.  I have found firms modestly invested, heavily invested, and negligibly invested in the Greening process.   While this is not technically a race, it is an urgent goal that requires something that I feel can be delivered by nearly any business from any level of the economy or world.  That investment is simple stated as “Progress.”

I am utterly convinced that progress is the path to the promised land, and that we only lack in willing participants to turn a modest effort into a highway of environmental accomplishment.  Two factors are the core of the whole subject matter.  Environmentalism will only succeed when there is: 1) Widespread participation, and 2) knowledge of great solutions that can be applied to the challenge.

If the decade of Green rhetoric is finally done, it is then time to progress into an era of increased frequency (participation) and amplitude (more solutions) at any level of life.  The two ugliest lied are that this is the task for more empowered people to address, or that one’s scant efforts are all that is required.  Those of few resources are as obligated as those with many resources, except that the scope of ability changes.  The environment is everyone’s battle and the tasks for each of us will vary.

Europe has taken bold strides forward, other great nations are finally finding their way, and less powerful nations now strive to become a Green and reduce their carbon emissions.  Is it enough?  It is not, but the expectations should not be encompassed in a day or a year; but from the willingness to make progress by greater participation and embracing more solutions.

The world should not be seen in the jaundice eyes of who has resources and who does not, but in the commitment that brings to the collective challenge.  In fact, the progress of the smallest business is not meaningless because a larger business can do more.  The volume may not be as important as the progress made.  A large company should be embarrassed to replace a few lights and say, “Good enough,” because it shows negligible progress for the opportunity is has to do more.  Whereas a small company choosing to recycle paper and plastics may actually be more impressive because it is a serious step forward.

In the global view of Green business, I care less and less for those who promote Green rhetoric while making only token efforts to apply the available resources to install a sustainable plan.  I would suggest that the smartest first step is to install a Certified Green Officer and begin the serious effort of developing a sustainability plan within the company regardless of size.   Find someone in the company who can be trained as a Certified Sustainability Officer and have your sustainable people involved in The Sustainable Forum.

There are good reasons to considered a Green business certification and installing a sustainability officer.  People think they’re healthier and more productive after moving their office space into “green” buildings, according to a recent study published on the American Journal of Public Health’s website.  This is according to a USA Today article taken from Associated Press.  There is more than perception involved in this equation because we know that poor indoor air quality is part of good health and good productivity.  Everyone has felt the afternoon dip in energy, the nagging headache, or even sleepiness that comes without good cause.

The same article says, “The authors estimated a small benefit to employees suffering from asthma and respiratory allergies. Those people would gain 1.75 more work hours per year working in the new building because they would take less sick time.  The biggest boost comes in perceived productivity.  The study’s authors extrapolated that employees could each work about 39 more hours a year in the new building because of different working conditions such as better light, air quality and ventilation.”

This is not only from possible outgassing from building components and furniture in the office.  Bad air is the byproduct of the cleaning service, pesticide use, poor ventilation, pollution infiltration, and the daily wear and tear of every business.

However, getting an building or office on the path to improvement does not come from casual concern.  One of the notable efforts to the sustainability officer is to address the IAQ along with the many issues of making a company Green.  In a holistic approach to environmental improvement, IAQ, energy reduction, water and waste management, lighting, supply chain, and numerous other issues are brought into the planning.  The air quality is a factor, but so is the quality of the lighting.  We have not yet touched on the carbon footprint issue or Green IT.

To solve these issues before the government start clamping down on compliance, more and more Fortune 500 companies are developing Certified Sustainability Officers (CSO) and getting them into a good training program.  The best training program for any level sustainability officer is found at http://www.CertifiedSustainabilityOfficer.com or http://www.CorporateSustainabilityOfficer.com.

Existing sustainable officers are encouraged to look into The Sustainable Forum to build their resources and community impact.

The reality of changing our world is more staggering than we can imagine.  That is why most firms settle for some form of greenwashing tactics rather than a quality effort that can be respected in the new and Greener marketplace.  These greenwashing tactics often come in the form of amateurish, piecemeal, and token efforts.  Instead of real change, the accommodation of a “Good Enough” approach seems to be the general approach.  This is more than unfortunate because there is such a seriousness to the challenges that we face that are ugly threats that take on monster proportions.

Token efforts are the popular Green program because there is simply so much to do.  The four key elements of an environmental plan include: Health, Sustainability, Pollution, and Conservation.  Each of these topics cover huge amounts of information and potential applications.   Once the average person encounters this ocean of information and mount of tasks, they reconcile to do a few Green items and call it a serious commitment.

Examples of this kind of greenwashing is the increasing number of online Green certifications that have adopted a “Pay to Play” program whereby the more important criteria is the ability to pay a $400 to $500 fee.  The justification comes in the numerous online self-assessment forms that give the purposeful illusion that the company has gone Green.   Any company with a website-issued Green certification will eventually wipe it from the website once the public finds out that is is actually intended to deceive the public.

Instead, why not consider “The Green Factor“?  This is a quantum leap that starts with one trained and empowered person in the company called a Certified Sustainability Officer.  Like an accountant, lawyer, or engineer; the CSO has a very important role in the company.  The first task is to assess or benchmark the company’s progress and develop a clear picture of the company’s future look.  From this vantage point an action plan is prepared that is called the Sustainability Plan.  This is a yearly implementation plan that has the support of the company decision-makers.  It is now time for The Green Factor.

The Green Factor has two very important multipliers: 1) Growing Participation and 2) Increased Application.  This is not one man’s (or woman’s) job.  The real value of the CSO or Green Officer is to engage others in the project.  This can be done in the community, throughout an industry, in a school or agency, and in the workplace.  The multiplier of having many people in the program is one of the most important tasks that we can accomplish.  Instead of one overworked and marginally effective person trying to drive the company into sustainable practices, the CSO is leading dozens and hundreds of people to get involved in the plan (the sustainability plan) that maps out a direction for everyone to follow.

The second issues is increased application of Green practices.  Honestly, most well-intended people are doing one, three, or five things to be Green.  That is simply not enough because they are also doing dozens upon dozens of things wrong.  There is a gross imbalance in most of our lives, families, and businesses that leaves the door wide open for stepping up our level of participation.  By teaching people to adopt more and more Green and sustainable practices, we are raising the level of play.

Combining more people (participation) and more applications (solutions) the Certified Sustainable Officer is fulfilling the calling of this job in ways that they would never reach by being a zealous promoter of Green demands (sometimes called “The Green Police”).  The CSO is a person who develops a plan that allows everyone to work together to advance to program in enormous strides.  The fact that everyone gets involved and increases their understanding and commitment is the magic that comes from determine and inclusive leadership.

If your company does not have a CSO already in place, it is time to get this done.  Training a Certified Sustainable Officer can be done through a wonderful online course offered by the Green Business League.  Find our more at www.CertifiedSustainableOfficer.com.  If you are already acting as a CSO in your company, you will want to check out The Sustainable Forum.  Sure, you could hire an $60,000 to $80,000 college graduate to develop an sustainability plan, but you can also have a key person in your company train to be the CSO for your company.

Take note that Fortune 500 companies are racing to install a CSO or CSO team.  Executive Order #13514 demands the installation of a CSO in every government agency.  The new mandates coming from each state and the federal government will require a knowledgeable CSO for every company.  More importantly, the pending requirements to track and account for carbon emissions will be a task that cannot be handled by an amateur.  Of course, when these mandates become pressing, your company can hire an expensive firm to handle these tasks for you, but doesn’t it make sense to train a CSO now who can accomplish this task and keep your company profitable, more efficient, a better environmental citizen, and a credibly Green firm?  See also Corporate Sustainability Officer