For the past six years, Rubber Duck has been jet-setting around the world – from Japan to New Zealand to Brazil. This non-discriminatory, non-political faux waterfowl embodies Hofman’s intention to make people stop and enjoy life, and perhaps strike up a conversation with the stranger walking next to them. As he put it in one news article, the purpose of the sculpture is to show that we’re all one family living on one planet and that “all the waters in the world is our global bathtub and it joins people together… it also means that we have to take care of each other, you know, and be responsible about this planet as you are responsible about your own house and bath.”

Hofman’s take really does put things into perspective. If you’ve ever shared a bathroom with roommates, you know the importance of all parties keeping a commitment to cleanliness! When we think of our planet in a similar way, it drives home the point that as businesses and individuals alike, we have a shared responsibility to do our part to protect the environment that we all share. Especially now, with the threats posed to our planet by climate change, Rubber Duck’s message couldn’t be more important.

A few weeks ago on Earth Day, I talked about some easy tips we can all do to help protect our water supply, and as the globetrotting ducky makes a stop in the U.S. in June, it’s a good reminder to have this message stay top-of-mind every day. Keep an eye out for it the next time you’re out for a walk by the water…you never know what you may see. And be sure to do your part to keep our global bathtubs clean.

P.S. American Water started a petition to bring this duck to the Delaware River, between Philadelphia and Camden, N.J. Click here if you’d like to sign it.

A recent study suggests that paper-based processes are falling out of favor in today’s business world. That’s according to an article on Smallbiztechnology.com, a website covering solutions for growing businesses. Using paper indeed has disadvantages when it comes to cost, efficiency, document security, environmental impact and company image.

If going fully paperless offers such concrete, rational advantages, why do paper-based systems remain fairly pervasive in today’s small businesses, especially when it comes to important documents such as vendor contracts? In many cases, it’s because moving data to the cloud requires a change in mindset by business owners.

Storing a hard copy isn’t necessarily a secure solution compared to backing it up in the cloud. But from a psychological perspective, printing out the physical document often feels comforting. If the document is stored in your office, you can see and touch the physical document. Account statements are another example. Most banks now offer online statements, but many businesses continue to have paper statements mailed to them, and feel they need to save the physical records.

If you’re uneasy about going paperless, think of what steps you could add to a paperless system to give you more transparency and control. For example, many online services will store your records in the cloud. To feel comfortable while dealing with multiple services, you’ll need ways to see at a glance what they’re saving and where.

One idea is to create a master list, or index, of your vendors and services and where your documents are stored in the cloud. This list can also play a role in your disaster recovery preparations as a tool for quickly resuming business operations after a data loss or natural disaster.

In the end, it’s always important to consider the human factors in technology decisions. Even in a paperless office, paper probably still has a role. Some people still prefer writing notes during a meeting, and others use handwriting as a memory aid and brainstorming tool.

We want to hear your feedback. What obstacles have you encountered in moving documents from paper to cloud storage? Share your thoughts in the comments section!

Source: Smallbiztechnology.com, April 2013

He also discusses the challenges large retailers face in their attempts to develop “more responsible” supply chains.

Over the next five years, CSR is not something that will directly create a competitive advantage, Brubaker said. But it will develop as a core component of how leading manufacturers operate.

Collective Responsibility acts as a catalyst to drive sustainability into the core of business. Working with government, corporate, academic and non-profit stakeholders, the organization brings together knowledge, teams and tools that develop and execute their business case for sustainability.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is broadly defined as the impact a business has on society, but we commonly hear terms such as sustainability, corporate citizenship, “green” company or building, cleantech and supplier compliance. Which of these concepts are important and relevant for manufacturers in China and international importers sourcing from China?

This will depend largely on the industry that they are operating in, with concerns over labor standards, environmental emissions and energy intensity touching nearly every manufacturer that operates in China.

As time goes on and the problems in each area grow worse, companies will move away from CSR and toward business models that are simply “more responsible.”

What is the difference between CSR and being “responsible”?

Traditionally, CSR is seen as something that is separate from the business model and is program-based. Being responsible is strategic and systemic.

Companies will become more efficient as resource costs increase. They will become more compliant to regulations as transparency increases. They will be more concerned about labor welfare when they are having issues attracting or retaining line workers.

Large retailers are increasing pressure on their suppliers for social compliance and have even dropped suppliers that do not comply. What are the key challenges these large companies face in China as they try to make their supply chains more responsible? And what more should they be doing to enforce compliance?

One of the key challenges will be to develop the internal capacity for change. Working with companies of similar size and complexity, one of the most difficult issues the China organization faces is taking a global framework and putting that into practice.

There is often a period where the local business units look to understand how serious HQ is about sustainability, what the local impact will be and then what resources will be made available from global HQ to carry out the strategy. Then, through a process that often involves multiple parts of the organization, they must begin engaging their suppliers, often with the help of third parties who specialize in sustainability, labor, EHS, etc.

At times, the issue will be one of education and engagement, while economics will always loom large as the supplier will typically be unwilling to bear the full costs while at the same time be forced to reduce pricing.

Enforcement is ultimately about investment and as we have seen with Apple, Yum and Mattel, failures are often the result of the inability to invest in the infrastructure that is necessary to effectively supervise and correct problems before they become mission critical issues.

Outsourcing (all or part) of a supply chain increases risk, and the only way to minimize that risk is to invest in systems that ensure the integrity of the supply chain is not compromised. It requires money. It requires people. It requires making smart decisions about whom to work with.

Why do you think manufacturers in China are not adopting CSR?

Economics is a large part of it, as is the fact that smaller manufacturers tend to have a poor understanding of efficiency and have a different short-term value proposition for environmental or social concerns.

But there is a larger niche in textiles where labor concerns are understood and addressed as part of the business model.

Esquel’s Xinjiang cotton cooperatives are perhaps one of the best examples to date of a family-owned company (SME by some measures) that sees a long-term strategic value to responsibility. It took several years of planning with trial and error, but it is now supporting their core business.

There are outliers that are trying to do the “right thing” by creating smart employee development programs, and they are often companies that have a measure of scale or brand, but compliance is already a difficult goal for many to attain.

This is true in many parts of the world, using Bangladesh and Cambodia as examples where issues of labor standards have been a topic of discussion.

What are the strategic benefits for manufacturers to do the “right thing”?

Ultimately there needs to be an economic value proposition to do “good” and for some manufacturers that will mean higher profitability over the long term as their buyers undergo a “cleanup.”

Strategic benefits are both external and internal.

Internally, lower staff turnover leads to cost savings, and investment in greener or cleaner processes also leads to reduced costs related to wasted resources.

Externally, the opportunities to develop and expand business as the manufacturer selects best performers are perhaps the most compelling. Similarly, being ahead of the regulatory curve can also be of benefit over the long term.

Do you see more importers seeking responsible suppliers?

In certain niche categories, I do. Green and organic products have seen increased interest lately. But on a wider scale, I have seen a trend in entrepreneurs moving away from their positions at brands to start their own businesses to do things “the right way”.

My favorite example being the founders of Wobabybasics and Bambu who worked in multinational corporations, saw a better way and built their companies around products that have a sustainable story.

Both based in China, they have proven that one can build a profitable manufacturing complex there while respecting a balance of social, environmental and economic sustainability.

What questions should importers ask potential suppliers to understand their level of sustainability?

Realistically, as we have seen in a number of supply-based examples, for a company to understand the level of responsibility its suppliers are adhering to (or striving for), it requires more than asking questions.

Sure, you can send a list and they can check the boxes. But that will likely only fulfill a legal requirement.

It is an investment in time, and perhaps money, to understand the methods of suppliers in the areas of labor and environmental practices, product quality, and governance. For companies that make the investment, the return is not just a moral one as it often allows for higher product quality with fewer failures. It is an investment in the long-term brand. An investment that should not be viewed as cost.

What are the first steps and priorities for small or midsize manufacturers that want to be more responsible?

The first step is a value chain assessment to understand where the manufacturer is exposed to risk, or where a commercial opportunity exists.

For many companies that are leveraging third-party suppliers, risks will be found at every stage, requiring them to assess, prioritize and focus efforts on the greatest risks.

Next would be the development of a vision and/or strategy for where the manufacturer needs to recalibrate or expand, which would be followed up by an alignment of stakeholders on the actions to be taken.

Rolling out would ideally begin with a pilot, and after an assessment of the pilot’s impact, scale would be programmed into the system.

What more should the China government do to encourage sustainable production?

There are three areas that I feel are vital when it comes to the role of the Chinese government to promote CSR and sustainability.

At the highest levels, China’s planners are looking to make improvements through the five-year plans that will aim to move China away from an economy whose manufacturing sector is reliant on the production of low-end, inefficient, resource-intensive goods and services.

The goal ultimately will be to increase the quality of its manufacturing sector, with special attention paid to reducing the overall intensity of its economy.

The second is enforcement of laws, an area where China is arguably struggling, with environmental protection and food safety being the most relevant examples of how the government will have to act as the enforcer. We are already seeing this role being put to use more and more as factories are being fined and/or shut down for violating laws that were once overlooked.

The third is going to be the role the government plays as one that incentivizes companies to clean up or scale out solutions as a part of their offensive strategy to stabilize the balance between economy, environment and society. This is perhaps going to be the most interesting role and there has been a lot of activity here lately as China sees this as part of a process to move up the value chain.

Where do you see CSR in China five years from now?

CSR is not something that will create directly a competitive advantage, but over the next five years, I see CSR as a core component of how leading companies operate.

It will happen as part of a risk-mitigation strategy, reducing the company’s exposure to the various issues that exist while also acting offensively as an engagement tool that stabilizes staff, reduces failure on the manufacturing floor, and builds social capital externally.

How can your company help China businesses with CSR?

Collective Responsibility is focused on looking at the client’s value chain and developing a customized solution that will align the core business mission with the environmental, social and economic dynamics that exist in the market.

For some, the programs are focused on mitigating the external risks through executive awareness and stakeholder engagement, but more and more we are working with companies that are looking to strategically recalibrate their business models in an offensive manner. To move their business models beyond business as usual to become solution providers in a market that is facing environmental, social and economic challenges.

Students in an environmental group made up of students from several high schools in Fayette County in Kentucky noticed this, and had an innovative idea after seeing so many of their classmates refilling their plastic water bottles up each day. Instead of water fountains in their schools, they decided they wanted to install “reusable water bottle refill stations.” They thought this would encourage students to use reusable water bottles instead of disposable plastic ones, which continue to hit our landfills each year. In addition to the environmental reason for the project, the students also referenced tap water as a healthier option for hydration than sugary sodas and juices.

After placing these new stations in the cafeterias and other high traffic areas in their schools, the students saw immediate results. In just the first week, 3,600 containers were filled across their schools (as tracked by a nifty meter on the fountain), and the usage of the stations has been increasing each month since February. By making a small change in their schools, there will be a huge impact on the amount of disposable plastic bottles being used, many of which could end up in landfills.

Imagine that if for every place you remember seeing a water fountain throughout our life, instead there is now a reusable water bottle refill station. We could cut the 50 billion plastic water bottles that end up in landfills each year in half through a simple innovative idea. It is said that plastic bottles take up to 700 years to decompose in our landfills. Clearly, if those bottles no longer existed, our environment would be a lot better off.

As we head into Drinking Water Week, these refill stations are an interesting concept to consider making a push for. Of course, the more demand that exists, the more likely it is to happen. With that being said, I encourage each of you to choose a reusable bottle instead of disposable plastic. It is a simple switch that has a lasting impact!

This financial prosperity has allowed engineering companies to give back to the community by providing their talent, expertise, staff and production process for the benefit of sustainability projects for the worldwide community. Projects such as such as the development of sustainable living technology and new offshore engineering processes like wind farms, recycling centres, energy plants and safer mining facilities all have their beginnings within the industry. Engineering companies and experts are now taking this progress one step further – by ensuring the production reaches underdeveloped countries and donating their time and expertise to these efforts.

Tackling global issues

Engineering is one of the few sectors that can actually tackle global issues such as lack of access to basic human needs like water, food and housing. It is, after all, the forethought in new technologies that has helped many countries in the world gain clean, safe running water. One such success story of such altruistic movements is in thanks to the non-profit Engineers Without Borders Australia.

The organization has now been working for over 10 years in helping communities all over the world through education, facilitation of sustainable technologies and creating lasting change through humanitarian engineering. They do this by covering three separate strands of development: Firstly, they educate both local peoples and the young in Australia’s schools and in underdeveloped countries abroad. They address the lack of access for some communities to waste systems, running water, information, communication and technology. Finally they lead this movement by involving like-minded engineers from across the country and donating their time and expertise – it is this bringing together of a wide variety of engineers that has made this project so fruitful to over 100 communities worldwide.

Maintaining and Strengthening Communities

One of the ways in which engineering can give back to the local community is to provide them with safety structures without ruining, destroying or changes the areas heritage sites. A great example of such a project was the construction of a train layover facility in Hamilton, Canada. Put simply, the town needed a safe passage underneath existing train tracks. There was an original tunnel already at the site, built in 1931 and Australian engineering company Ausenco were employed to make the tunnel safe for the hundreds of residents using it. The project ensured that all original art and architectural features were maintained for oncoming generations to enjoy.

Other projects have ensured the safekeeping and sustainability of the land and the community, including establishing a recycling centre in the Niagara region, ensuring clean and safe mining projects in Tasmania and Brazil, and extensive environmental and social impact studies worldwide. The expertise of the Australian engineering companies is constantly sought after in these cases.

Keeping people well in order to keep our communities together

Finally, we look at the work of Australia’s Biomedical Engineers based at Australia’s College of Biomedical Engineering. In theory, it is fairly obvious how biomedical engineers give back: every time we biomedical equipment, we understand that its origins come from the minds and efforts of the biomedical engineers.

However, these engineers are also attempting to give more to the improvement and sustainability of society. The biomedical community of Australia has run extensive campaigns to donate medical equipment to developing countries in need of aid and assistance in establishing healthcare infrastructure.

They have also found that donations received by these countries may be inappropriate for their healthcare system or in many cases, the healthcare staff may be uneducated on how to properly use the equipment. A recent report from Australia’s College of Biomedical Engineering tackled this exact issue, stressing the importance of not just new medical discoveries, but the implementation of up to date medical technologies within third world countries.

The notion that what is really needed across the globe is a biomedical infrastructure that everyone understands is not necessarily new, but it is beginning to be tackled by the engineering community. Incorporating ideas such as making sure that countries are getting the equipment they need and not just surplus from other countries is top of the agenda and something that will become more prevalent over the next few years.

However, the key is identifying the right earth-friendly policies and operational changes for your specific organization. What makes an effective and executive-friendly “green” strategy? To get your senior management on board, your plan to get greener must:

1. Benefit the organization
2. Helps customers or members
3. Reduce consumption of energy, paper, fuel, etc.

Some conservation plans address one or two of these principles, but the most sustainable green initiatives tackle all three. This is where online community software comes into play.

Since it is both at the center of your customer relationship strategy already and can have a direct impact in your company’s performance, your online customer or member community should play a central role in your green initiative.

Here are eight ways that your company or membership organization can use your online community platform to celebrate Earth Day today and throughout the year.

Way #1 Share Documents Online

Increasingly companies are moving support documentation and other files into their online customer or member communities where customers can share additional tips, provide feedback, and ask questions.

Private online community software enables organizations to control who has access to particular documents – from small working groups or committees to entire customer segments. This granular access lends itself to moving more of your knowledge base and group collaboration online both for security purposes (only the appropriate people can see each document) and to ensure that each customer is only getting information that is relevant to them.

Company Goal:

• Lowering support costs
• Boosting customer satisfaction

Customer Goal:

• Finding accurate and up-to-date information faster

Green Goal:

• Cutting down on paper usage and fuel consumption from documentation delivery

Way #2 Hold Meetings Online

In-person meetings are not considered very earth-friendly, even if you provide those little branded notebooks on recycled paper. Costs to the environment include everything from fuel for travel to paper for handouts.

Reduce your carbon footprint by holding private internal meetings in your online community platform.  You can either use the built-in events calendar to invite specific attendees to a real-time web meeting or set up a private community where you can use discussions, shared documents, and wikis to hold the “meeting” over a 24 hour period.

Company Goal:

• Reducing the cost of in-person meetings without losing the collaboration

Customer Goal:

• Getting involved in product, advocacy, and other decisions without the time and monetary costs of travel

Green Goal:

• Eliminating fuel needed to travel and reams of paper used in handout and binders

Way #3 Use Mobile Event Apps

Cut down or eliminate the amount of paper you give out at customer events and conferences by using your online community software’s mobile event apps. The mobile conference and events apps build into your online community software’s event management system enable attendees to manage their agendas, view handouts and speaker presentations, get event updates (e.g. room changes), and a host of other social activities – all without using a single piece of paper.

Company Goal:

• Decreasing the cost of printing at events

Customer Goal:

• More accurate, personalized, and interactive options for participating at events

Green Goal:

• Eliminating paper consumption and printing energy usage

Way #4 Start a Green Group

Getting greener is not just a concern of your organization. I’m guessing that it is on the minds of many of your customers or members. Start a “green group” in your online customer or member community that can discuss how your organization and your industry can do more to support the environment.

Identify a group of volunteer leaders to help create and curate content, as well as evangelize the group to other customers or members. If this sub-community gains traction, it could make a difference with getting innovative executives to champion change or it could become the basis for a panel discussion at your next conference.

Company Goal:

• Improving customer engagement
• Getting product and service feedback

Customer Goal:

• Leadership opportunities
• Collaborating on an important cause
• Making a difference in your product and industry

Green Goal:

• Elevating green initiatives within the customer community or membership
• Making changes in business operations to implement more earth-friendly practices

Way #5 Share Earth Day Tips

Sometimes people are more likely to act if you separate the deciding what needs to get done from the doing itself. One of the simplest ways to celebrate Earth Day inside your online community is to help your customers, partners, or members take green steps themselves. With busy people spending much of their week in the trenches, they might welcome actionable tips for things that their businesses can do to be greener.

Use your online community software to produce a series blog posts or add videos to your online community’s media library with tips for how your customers or members can incorporate more earth-friendly approaches into their businesses. Encourage your customers or members to add their own tips in the comments areas and rate their favorite pointers.

Company Goal:

• Increasing customer loyalty
• Raising the value customers place on their relationship with you

Customer Goal:

• Go green without having to do all of the thinking and doing

Green Goal:

• More organizations will take steps to reduce their carbon footprint and resource consumption

Way #6 Create a Checklist

In the same vein as the tip above, use your online community software’s document libraries to add a checklist for your specific industry that includes ways to conserve energy and other resources. Promote the checklist to your customers and make it easy for them share it outside your private customer community.

Company Goal:

• Attracting positive public relations attention
• Drawing appreciation from customers

Customer Goal:

• Finding easy approaches to bring green initiatives to their organizations

Green Goal:

• Proliferation of earth-friendly actions

Way #7 Conduct Online Translations

Though most everyone wants to support the postal service, snail mail is one of the least green methods of conducting business. Think about all of the paper being pushed in your customer transactions – invoice printing and mailing, payment mailing, payment processing and hand copy storage, etc.

Your online community software enables your organization to move many of those transactions online. This includes dues payments and membership renewal invoicing for associations and user groups, event registration, and product purchases in the online store.

Company Goal:

• Lowering transaction costs
• Increasing margins on products, events, and membership

Customer Goal:

• Faster transactions with better history tracking and documentation

Green Goal:

• Reducing paper usage, energy consumption from printing, and fuel for delivery

Way #8 Launch Virtual Products

Your online community software’s ecommerce platform enables you to sell virtual products that your customers or members can download. This eliminates packaging and shipping costs, as well as other resource consumption.

To celebrate Earth Day, evaluate which of your physical products you can convert to digital downloads. You can either replace the physical items with your virtual products or sell them alongside your physical goods.

In addition to converting existing products, brainstorm new downloadable offerings to sell in your customer community’s online store. Virtual products could include videos, ebooks, manuals, audio recording, and other content that your customers or members need to do their jobs.

Company Goal:

• Improving the margin on product sales
• Increasing the number of products to sell

Customer Goal:

• Getting products faster
• Having options for which format to receive the content product

Green Goal:

• Reducing environmental costs associated with producing and shipping physical goods

Online Community Software Take Away

New social platforms with a broad reach into your customer base and a wide variety of built-in tools, like your online community software platform, can play a big role in your green initiatives. As you read in the tips above, using your online community software to do right by the environment can also lower operational costs, increase customer loyalty, and bring customers closer to the product development process.

If you are effectively able to engage customers around common earth-friendly goals, you may even want to create a press release and use your other public relations channels to get some positive media attention for your strategy.

I recommend starting small. Use the survey tools in your online community software to measure the interest of specific customer or member segments. Then, decide which of the approaches listed above would garner the most engagement on which to build a green strategy that benefits your organization, helps your customers or members, and supports the environment.

Your Turn

How are you using online community software and other social tools to celebrate Earth Day throughout the year?

image credit: Corey Matsumoto

Energy Consumption Reduction: A Priority

Your company can reduce carbon emissions and reduce energy costs by auditing the workplace and making it as energy efficient as possible. Discuss how you can save energy during board room meetings and promote environmentally-friendly behaviour across departments.

There are many campaigns you can implement around the office, such as turning off lights and bringing jumpers to work, but you’ll have to make some small modifications to infrastructure if you’d like to see dramatic savings.

Ask a professional energy specialist to take a survey of your workplace and listen to his or her suggestions – look at your office with a green eye. Your energy consultant can draw up an effective strategy plan to reduce energy consumption.

Promote energy saving in the office and challenge bad habits across departments. Ask severally eco-sympathetic employees to champion the cause and watch your energy consumption levels plummet. Offer incentives for targets met or rewards, if staff embrace your campaign – they’re the key to reducing your overhead costs.

Tactical Energy Purchasing 

Monitoring the energy market with tracking software is the best way to secure yourself a great energy contract. Although your current agreement may not expire for a few years, you should be looking for your next deal now.

Energy prices are only going to go up, and you should have the foresight to enter into an agreement now, while costs are comparatively low. Again, an energy consultant can handle this process for you, if you need outside assistance.

Audit Your Energy Bills

It’s amazing what you can find in old energy bills. If you don’t already have an accountant that pulls apart every energy invoice and calculates its accuracy, it’s wise to invest in one. More often than you might think, companies are overcharged for energy consumption. Challenge any numbers that look suspicious, because human error does happen, and business electricity prices are high enough as they are without any added costs.

Becoming Self-Sufficient 

Businesses often have untapped means of becoming more self-sufficient. To offset costs, you may be able to generate some of your own heat and power. Clients and customers will love this socially responsible approach to doing business. As many are aware, going green sells as a business model.

You can start small before you consider heavier investment, such as creating recycling stations and replacing the lights with more eco-friendly bulbs. Some businesses go as far as installing solar panels on to their roof.

As the government has targets for reducing carbon emissions – thanks to the Climate Act – so there will be support for any industry that has decided to follow the green road.

This day of specific acknowledgment is so important, especially as the number of extreme weather events seems to grow each year, putting a greater strain on our nation’s water infrastructure. Earth Day is a great time to remind us all that our most precious resource, water, is not to be wasted or undervalued. It’s a day to remind us to do our part to ensure that we protect our environment to the best of our abilities, and its vital resources.

Don’t forget the important role you can play in preserving the sustainability of the nation’s water supply, including following these tips to make every day Earth Day when it comes to water:

• Be conscious of your daily water use and take the necessary steps inside and outside your home to be water smart. Simple actions like turning off the tap while brushing your teeth or washing dishes, only running full loads in the clothes and dish washer, and using a broom instead of a hose to clean up outside walkways, can make a big difference. Also consider replacing old fixtures with water efficient ones, such as those with the EPA WaterSense label.
• Regularly check for leaking toilets, pipes and faucets — indoors and outdoors — and repair them promptly.
• Drink water wisely — keep a reusable bottle of tap water handy. Avoid purchasing bottled water; in addition to being more expensive and less stringently regulated as tap, it is less environmentally friendly. As many as 85 percent of plastic water bottles — an average of 38 million bottles a year — are sent to landfills rather than recycled, despite being made of recyclable materials, according to the Container Recycling Institute.
• Take care in the use and disposal of garden, lawn, garage or other home products and ensure that they do not find their way into groundwater.
• Dispose of unused or expired medicines properly. Don’t pour them directly into home drains, the sewer, street drains or the lawn, and don’t flush them down the toilet.

The point in the end is that we are all the face of climate change, and we all have the ability to make a positive impact, so I ask you all to participate in this year’s campaign! Through the Earth Day website, or your Instagram and Twitter accounts, take pictures of your Earth Day-related activities to share with the world. This campaign is a creative way to get people of all ages involved in Earth Day and explain the importance of preserving the environment and its resources. The more people who participate, the more of an impact it will have!

To learn more about Earth Day 2013 and The Face of Climate change go to www.earthday.org/2013. To see “The Face of Climate Change” photo display, go to www.earthday.org/faces.

Review your company’s energy practices

Even if you don’t have the best record of green company practices, taking on one or two simple challenges can have a huge impact. Use a resource like Fast Company’s 50 Ways to Green Your Business to choose a few changes you can make this month, and slowly add more as you gain your footing. Homes, schools, and businesses alike can all make single, simple changes that can have a powerful combined effect.

Get involved in your community

Turn your theories into action: commit to getting involved in an Earth Day activity by visiting the Earth Day Network website to locate local events to show your support for Earth Day. Individuals, families, and companies can register to get involved in photo campaigns, digital mosaics, and in-person recycling events in your region, contributing not only to an exciting Earth Day but also to building community and extending your network of energy-conscious peers.

Host An Electronics Collection Event

What better way to show your support for good recycling practices than to host your own electronics collection event? Many businesses are realizing the benefits of hosting electronics collection events for their employees or their communities. By providing an easy way for people to safely dispose of their unwanted electronics, you can promote your environmental initiative and boost company morale. Download MPC-e’s free guide, “7 Steps to Host a Successful Electronics Collection Event” to get started planning your event today!

The following are 5 eco-friendly practices that can help you to reduce your carbon footprint and save your business money:

The Paperless Movement

We live in a digital world. Much of the media we consume, and the information we receive is digital, making it very possible to reduce the amount of actual paper a company uses. There are many ways to go about moving towards a paperless office and it typically starts with a can-do mindset.

First, you’ll want to make sure that everyone within your organization understands the effort you are trying to make and why these initiatives are important. For printing waste, implementation and regulation of minimizing the amount of prints being made should be handled in a manner that is appropriate to your company. Typically, friendly company email reminders can go a long way to reinforce your messaging and remind employees about your printing recycling and waste reduction programs. With a goal of drastically reducing the amount of paper used and recycling all paper products, you can proactively take steps to save money and reduce waste.

Get Involved with a Local Electronics Recycling Program

Getting involved with a local electronics recycling program will also help reduce your organization’s carbon footprint and is a great way to show your business cares. Recycling your used electronics will not only provide materials that can be reused to build or repair other electronics, but can also help the economy. Taking advantage of these resources can in effect, create more jobs for people as well as protect the environment. To learn more about electronic recycling programs, be sure to visit http://dellreconnect.com/.

Support Like-Minded Companies

It’s always a good idea to network with other organizations that have similar values and are willing to make the same kinds of changes you are. Many companies and organizations are already taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint and increase efficiency simultaneously. Utilizing services from companies who are also environmentally conscious, guarantees your supply chain on the whole is benefiting the environment.

Be Wise with your Waste

The greatest changes can sometimes come with the least amount of effort. One quick way to reduce office waste is to make the initial investment of reusable cups, plates and silverware. This can significantly reduce the paper and plastic waste from employee lunches and meals.  Be sure to keep recycling bins next to all the garbage cans making it convenient for employees to recycle. Keeping a recycling bin next to all office copiers, fax machines and mail rooms makes recycling excess and accidental copies breeze. Using images and signs that clearly explain what recyclables go in which bin helps eliminate confusion. You may even want to consider putting a small compost bin in your lunch room or cafeteria.

Waste can also be related to your utilities. Use surge protectors as much as possible so that your electronics are protected but also so no electronic devices are needlessly using energy. Make sure all heating and cooling units are set appropriately to only run during business hours and that the last person to leave the office is responsible for turning off the lights.

Purchase Refurbished and Used Electronics

Purchasing refurbished laptops, desktops and servers can bring significant savings to any organization. In some cases it’s likely you’ll see a savings of upwards of 50 to 70% for products that have been lightly used.  In many cases the only thing that deems a product “refurbished” is that it’s been taken out of its original box. Because of consumer laws, manufacturers are restricted in selling anything that doesn’t have its original factory seal. These products also undergo extensive testing and has to meet specifications before being resold.

There are many ways to become a more eco-friendly business. Make sure you and your organization understands the options that are available and become aware of not only what is needed but what can actually make a difference in your environment.

Please chime in with a comment and let us know what Eco-friendly initiatives your company is currently implementing?

During a press conference, Obama announced that his budget will “continue our march towards energy independence and address the threat of climate change.”  He added that cCorporate profits are at an all-time high but we have to get wages and incomes rising, as well.”

Members of both parties on Capitol Hill are also exploring an alternative proposal to the president which would provide incentives for businesses, homeowners, and government agencies to adopt energy efficient processes, and technologies.  For instance, Republicans and Democrats are exploring tax breaks for companies and individuals who install energy efficient appliances inside their buildings and homes.

Credit: Commons/Wikimedia

Given the success of the administration’s “Cash for Clunkers” program under Obama’s first term, where consumers were given government funds to exchange old, polluting vehicles for new automobiles with less emissions, passage of a green-friendly legislation is expected to be a boon for energy manufacturers.  Some lenders, including Safe Bidco, are even beginning to offer business loans specifically for energy efficiency upgrades.  Similarly, manufacturers of solar panels, wind turbines, and next generation transformers should see increased revenues.

Under Obama’s budget proposal for 2014, $200 million would be allocated in a “Race to the Top” type of program where the federal government would reward state governments for policies that “[modernize] utility regulations to encourage cost-effective investments in efficiency, including combined heat and power and demand response resources, and in clean distributed generation …”

However, some conservatives remain skeptical of the White House’s overtures toward American energy independence.  The Obama administration still has not approved construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline which would transport tar sands oil from Canada into refineries in the Gulf Coast.

A breakdown of water systems can result in water disruptions, impediments to emergency response, and damage to other types of infrastructure, as well as unsanitary conditions, increasing the likelihood of public health issues. Allowing the country’s water infrastructure to lapse puts many communities at risk.

Although new pipes are being added to expand service areas, drinking water systems degrade over time, with the useful life of component parts ranging from 15 to 95 years. Especially in the older cities, much of the infrastructure is in need of replacement. Failures in drinking water infrastructure can result in water disruptions, impediments to emergency response, and damage to other types of infrastructure. Broken water mains can damage roadways and structures and hinder fire-control efforts. And unscheduled repair work to address emergency pipe failures may cause additional disruptions to transportation and commerce.

It is estimated that more than one million miles of water mains are in place across the United States. The conditions of many of these pipes are unknown, with some dating back to the Civil War era. So what can be done to raise the grade? The estimated price tag for critical upkeep and replacement of the nation’s outdated water systems is approximately $1 trillion over the next 25 years.

But while that is a significant amount, there are solutions, including attracting additional private capital for public water infrastructure projects. This is an investment in our country’s future that will prove its value not only in the infrastructure itself, but also in the jobs and economic growth that come with the associated projects.

America’s drinking water systems are aging and must be upgraded or expanded to meet increasing federal and state environmental requirements that add to the funding crisis. Not meeting the investment needs of the next 20 years risks reversing the environmental, public health, and economic gains of the last three decades.

Rather than dwell on the bad grade, what we can learn from the ASCE Report Card is that there are actions that can be taken to get back on the right path. By working together on needed improvements, we can keep the water flowing now and well into the future.

cheapest ways to heat an office

With around 70 energy providers offering services in the UK it is no surprise that many business owners are confused about finding the best deal. This large market does mean that energy firms are fighting for business and offer a range of tariffs, but the vastness of the options can get confusing. It can also be very time consuming and frustrating to hunt out the best rates.

When looking at the deals available the main decision is whether to opt for a fixed or a variable tariff.

A fixed tariff means bills have a set maximum that will not be exceeded. This can be a good thing as it allows firms to budget accurately – particularly important for start-ups. But the price per unit will be higher than on a variable tariff, so you could be paying over-the-odds for the energy you use.

On a variable tariff there is no fixed cap and prices can fluctuate, making it more difficult to budget accurately.

If you have an office-based business with people sat at computers all day then a fixed tariff could be the best option. But if you have a small base and spend a lot of time working away then a variable rate can make more sense.

There are also duel-fuel options. These give you a discount for signing up for both gas and electricity from the same supplier and can be an excellent choice.

When you start to research the various options be sure to look at as many deals as you can, and be sure to compare like-for-like from different suppliers. Research by consumer body Which? suggests that many people in the UK are not being offered the best deal when they switch, and Electric Radiators Direct Managing Director Paul Walker echoes this. “It can be difficult to hunt out the best options, but consumers should not be put off by the sheer number of deals available,” he says. “Take some time to accurately compare suppliers and use online comparison sites to make it as straightforward as possible.”

It is also worth bearing in mind that different fuels will be priced differently. Gas is often cheaper for heating, but an efficient electric heating can make more sense. The high-end electric radiators use less electricity and give accurate temperature control so you do not use more energy than needed to keep your office warm.

There are also schemes such as grants for solar panels that could help you to keep down the cost of office heating.

However you heat your office be sure to assess your chosen method regularly and compare deals before your energy supply contract ends to make sure you are saving as much money, and energy, as possible.

What are we supposed to do with all of our old gizmos?

While responsible businesses and consumers want to recycle their outdated technology equipment – and often think they are – the reality of the electronics recycling business is an eco-horror show.  Rife with misperception and abuse, the e-waste industry is notorious for cashing in on the good intentions of those who want to do right by Mother Earth and then delivering nothing but more problems for old mom.

Electronics recyclers claim that they’re lawfully disposing of electronics after stripping them of their hazardous contaminants.  The ugly truth is that after charging exorbitant fees for collection, recyclers often send waste to countries like China and India, where rules are lax and dangerous materials are commonly dumped near farms or sources of drinking water, or burned after the electronics are mined for reusable microchips, copper, and silver.  Because circuit boards are fireproof, the workers who burn or smelt down electronics just end up carbonizing the circuit boards and creating more emissions, then filling up landfills with the residuals.  This isn’t exactly what most people have in mind when they think “green.”

Enter Materials Conservation Company (MCC), an e-waste company that prefers to think of its mission as recovering materials rather than recycling end of life electronics.  Using a proprietary mechanical process, MCC safely reduces electronics to two new raw materials, rendering them into a metal concentrate or powder. The company then sells the metal to refiners, who employ an electrolytic system to make commodity grade metals, such as copper.  The end result is that electronic equipment – the toughest material to recycle – is 100% reutilized.

Think of it as a reverse Amazon, but instead of ordering products and putting them into a cart, you put products you already have into a cart.  That cart comes in the form of collapsible reusable containers that are sent to businesses by MCC, then picked up from company loading docks within 48 hours after being prepared to ship to regional centers.  Recycling partners disassemble the electronics, the scrap is sold to scrap channels, then the circuit boards and wiring are sent back to MCC where the processing begins to extract the metals to be reused in other ways, and recycles the circuit boards into an epoxy resin for use in waterproofing.

Did I mention that the cost of this to businesses and consumers is $0?

“Over the course of several years, we have developed a unique business model that takes our proprietary technology processing combined with eCommerce software, and leverages it with the existing physical infrastructure,” explains founder Michael Burney.  “We work with existing companies to handle the logistics and disassembly so that we don’t add trucks to the world, we generate no emissions in processing, and the only consumable is electricity.  The whole process is designed to be efficient.”

Most businesses do their recycling based on depreciation schedules; only when a piece of equipment is fully depreciated (aka broken) do they recycle, and they do this by paying waste companies significant sums for retrieval.  MCC offers a different model, where all locations of a company have pre-arranged access, the cost to the business is free, and organizations are provided with reporting on their materials.  And all of this is done sustainably.

MCC’s main competitor?  The trash industry, a business that thinks in terms of tonnage. According to the EPA, 2.37 million tons of electronics were ready for end-of-life management in 2009, but only 25% were collected for recycling.  The rest of that tonnage went to landfills or was exported, where most of it will not be reused or recycled.

Earth Day may have long come and gone, but Causecast salutes companies like MCC that are thinking of the earth every day, innovating ways to nurture our planet back to greater health and pave a greener path for the future.

Contact Causecast now to learn how we can help you have a positive community impact simply by disposing of your electronics in a sustainable way.

Significantly enough, recent studies have reported that water has gained even more popularity, surpassing soda as the national drink of choice. The amount of water consumed annually jumped from 38 percent to 58 percent, with some of the popularity being attributed to the marketing and packaging of bottled water (maybe even evidence of an improving economy when people can spend their money for something they already have!). Overall, water in any form is a healthier alternative to carbonated sodas, but is bottled water better than tap?

Although many bottled water manufacturers use creative labels and ad campaigns to promote their purity and mineral-enriched benefits, studies and have shown that it is in fact the contrary. Tap water from every water service provider is regulated by the EPA, tested for up to 100 contaminants, and sent to labs for analysis on a regular basis. Companies that manufacture and distribute bottled water are monitored by the FDA and have a far less rigorous testing and certification process.

Bottled water, on average, costs almost $4.00 per gallon, about the same as the average cost of a gallon of gasoline or milk. Tap water, meanwhile, is a relative bargain at about a penny per gallon!

It is apparent that we have become a more health-conscious society by choosing water instead of soda. However as consumers, it’s important for us to assess our buying decisions even further and whether or not they are sustainable choices for our wallet, body and environment. Reusable water bottles are great alternatives to bottled water that are not only environmentally friendly, but also help to save you money. By first focusing on our personal actions, we can help develop a culture of environmental sustainability starting with the faucets in our own homes.

This year’s theme – Water Cooperation – was a reminder that every action involving water management requires effective cooperation between multiple parties, whether it’s at the local or the international level. Building a village water pump in sub-Saharan Africa requires local participants to cooperate, just as bringing water from a river to irrigate farmland in the Midwest requires regional cooperation. If any of the people involved in water management do not cooperate, the chain is broken, and unmanaged water resources can cause adverse effects on human lives and the economy. When water resources are cooperatively shared and managed, peace, prosperity and sustainable development are more likely.

All economic activities depend on water, and cooperation can lead to a more efficient and sustainable use of water resources.The things we all do on a local level can have a much larger impact. As a water industry, we invest in proactively replacing and repairing pipes to help minimize the amount of treated water that is lost. We also invest in technologies such as water reuse, desalination, leak detection, and more in order to maximize water resources and keep innovation moving forward so it can eventually be applied on a broader scale. But the connection we all share through water is strengthened just as significantly by what individuals and groups are doing in their communities.

Water problems anywhere in the world are global problems, and local actions are important as part of the “cooperation chain” to help on minimizing the global problems. One problem encountered in almost every continent on Earth is water scarcity (Figure 1); people living in the affected areas are in need of cooperation to find the best solutions to a common problem: lack of water, independent from their ethnicity, religion or social status. Local or individual efforts to promote better water use and management are just a link in the global “cooperation chain” for successfully conserving our water resources.

Figure 1. Global Water Scarcity by River Basin

I hope you join me in the cooperation chain, because even if we never directly come in contact, we will be linked together. It’s easy to find a wide variety of events happening to celebrate World Water Day, and information on how to participate every day of the year.

Going green, online—is it worth it? The short answer is yes. Many marketers may not realize that catering specifically to this type of consumer can actually increase conversion rates, while maintaining your image as a green-friendly organization. And when applying some personalization to the mix, can also help keep your green friends very, very loyal.

Whether retail or hospitality, certain brands are continuously striving to maintain relevancy for a certain subset of eco-conscious customers—both offline and off. So, if you want your brand to be top-of-mind with the green-friendly, your website needs to follow a certain aesthetic—just like your products and physical locations.

1. Use your navigation to your advantage.

When green visitors hit your homepage, they should be able to immediate route themselves to a section that meets their eco-friendly requirements. This doesn’t mean that you have to dedicate an entire green banner on the homepage for every visitor to see. Simply highlighting and building in a green section into the navigation will get visitors up and clicking on the products they are interested in.

2. Highlight products and categories with green options.

A recent study published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management found that the level of willingness to pay a premium for green initiatives is significantly different depending on hotel type. Test out highlighting hotels that invest in green initiatives in the search results and hotel details page. By watching the results on conversions and bookings, you’ll be able to nail down who your green travelers are, and what they are looking for most.

On the flip side, retailers can easily highlight products on category pages to effectively call-out environmentally sound products. Using tricks such as a “green dot” or a “green leaf” icon identifies an eco-friendly product in an otherwise crowded page.

3. Be detailed and explanatory.

For those extra-inquisitive customers, explaining why a product or room is green is a necessary step to getting the conversion. Using “rollovers” is a great way to quickly explain what makes the product eco-friendly before the visitor clicks on it. This helps not only keep the visitor engaged on the path to purchase, but instills a level of trust with the site, since you took that extra step to keep consumers on the up and up.

4. Get (environmentally) personal.

It’s been shown when degree of environmental concern and other demographic factors remain constant, luxury and mid-priced hotel customers show, on average, a higher willingness to pay a premium for the green initiatives than economy hotel customers. On the same token, repeat visitors to your retail site who have shown interest in green products in the past, should not have to search around to find their desired products.

So how can you play that up? Personalization.

With personalization, conscious green visitors are immediately acknowledged and other visitors become aware of additional product offering—but aren’t necessary pushed for it. A technique such as behavioral targeting can help automatically syphon off non-green or unknown visitors, and promote green items, options or offers to those who are. By using a predictive, mathematical model, this allows your site to offer the right product, to the right visitor, at the right time. No matter how much merchandise you have, your customers will be targeted appropriately.

It’s important to remember that green consumers are just like everyone else out there—fickle, picky and demanding. As e-commerce marketers, it’s up to us to ensure we’re always catering to all our customers wants and needs—otherwise losing our green-friendly image is the least of our worries. It’s the customer loyalty that will be at stake.

What happened when Google decided to kill off Google Reader without asking us ? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The networked world made a sort of squeaky protest and then moved on.

In fact if anything it was a kick up the pants for the imitators to finally put something more meaningful into their own services. And lo and behold most of them were creating new ways to curate and feed content within hours. Bravo.

And so after a scan of the morning’s Twitter feed I see a mention of document capture business process solutions and my immediate reaction was “this should be dead by now“. Why ? Well we really should be pushing beyond paper, where is the promise of the paperless office ?

• How many times have you been asked to fill in a form online and then print it off for a signature ?
• Why do we scan receipts for an expense claim but still have to submit the form and the physical receipts with it ?

It’s sheer madness in the 21st century.

Examine the case of the electronic signature (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_signature) Here we have a perfectly valid method of signing and enforcing a consumer based contract for a product or service. There is little need nowadays to require a customer to complete a form in black ink. We also hold all manner of electronic detail of the customer through clubcards, email subscription, website registration, so why the need to send something physically when the electronic version is just as easy ?

Buy a product at WalMart or Tesco, scan the loyalty card, no need for a receipt. It’s that simple. And yet I walk into a supermarket, my good scanned, the receipt is printed and then I’m asked “do you need the receipt ?”. And it’s binned if I say “no”. Utterly senseless.

So to the point of this article. Why are we afraid of the customer to make such a radical move as force them all down a paperless route ? If one large organization took it upon themselves to just say ‘no more’ and made their customer base transact and communicate without a paper means the world won’t stop turning. If anything such a move would not only force the customer to adapt it would force the company to innovate and make sure that all its processes were accessible, robust and slick via social, mobile, web and telephone means.

It would also force companies selling frankly outdated customer service solutions to rethink their strategies. Document capture in a world where everything is moving towards digital transaction is a fools game.

So.

Google kills Reader. The world keeps spinning.

Your organization kills paper. The consumer world keeps spinning.

The consumer kills paper. The business process world keeps spinning.

Except for those selling paper based solutions and processes. Your head will spin in this new world.

A leak as small as 1/8 inch can consume up to 3,500 gallons of water per day. Fixing leaks in a timely manner and being proactive in checking for leaks not only saves you money on your monthly water bill, but it also makes you a more environmentally conscious consumer of one of the world’s most valuable resources. If you want to find out whether or not one of your household appliances has a leak, follow these easy steps:

1. If you think your toilet may be leaking, put a few drops of food coloring in the tank, watch for a few minutes, and if the color shows up in the bowl then you have a leak! Toilet leaks can cause your house to lose over 100 gallons a week.
2. If you think your dishwasher or washing machine may be leaking, check for stains or drips underneath and behind the appliance.
3. Immediately replace broken sprinkler system heads in order to prevent leaks in your sprinkler system.
4. Check faucets and showerheads for signs of leaks by placing a bowl under the fixture and checking for any water accumulation.

In water systems across the country, it is estimated that almost seven billion gallons of drinking water are lost each day through leaky pipes. So just as homeowners and businesses have a responsibility to check their pipes for leaks, water utilities must  be always on the job checking water mains, valves, and pipes across the country for potential leaks or breaks by implementing various technologies that encourage resource conservation and efficiency of this precious resource. Many leaks appear to be related to water temperature changes and other factors such as soil movement, vibrations and water pressure changes.  Of course, keeping track of such a large and complex system requires tools well beyond a wrench and some plumber’s tape, including:

• GIS mapping, which more clearly identifies areas prone to repetitive leaks by reviewing historical leak information in specific areas.
• Continuous acoustic monitoring of water mains via service pipes, where leak detecting sensors record sound vibrations each night, and then specially-designed software analyzes acoustical patterns and assigns them one of three leak categories: “no leak present,” “possible leak” or “probable leak.”
• Master meters, available in some regions, are used to measure the water use in a specific area on a periodic basis. When a system experiences a higher than expected water flow in the middle of the night, it can be identified as a spot to investigate for onsite leak detection. This reduces the need to dispatch leak detection specialists into areas that are relatively leak-free. This is a common practice used in Europe, but is just beginning to be utilized in the U.S.

Leak detection by water utilities involves trained technicians and specialized equipment, but it’s important to remember that all of us can be “water sleuths” at home. Whether it’s in your own home, or affecting the vast water delivery infrastructure across the country, if we work together we can cut down on water loss and ensure sustainable water systems for generations to come.

1. Buy a programmable thermostat for your business. The cost is typically under $100.00, and you can make up this saved cost in the first year.

2. Use a water filter to purify tap water in your office vs. buying bottled water for employees. Bottled water is expensive and it generates a huge quantity of container waste.

3. Invest in high-quality, long-lasting products vs. inexpensive products that need to be replaced often. In many cases, durable equipment saves money over continuous replacement of less costly products.

4. Minimize packaging materials by using properly sized boxes. The less material you have to use to package an item, the less it costs.

5. Use recycled boxes and packaging materials. Since most packaging material ends up thrown away, this is a great way to feel good about your green footprint.

6. Use natural lighting when possible and encourage staff to turn off lights when not in use or invest in timers or motion sensors that automatically shut off lights when they are not needed.

7. Reduce your energy costs by using energy-saving light bulbs.

8. Place a recycle can near every trash can.

9. Shut off computers and the power strips when you leave for the day.

10. Set your computer to “go to sleep” automatically during short breaks.

11. Institute a policy of two-sided printing and use the back of old documents for drafts whenever you can.

12. Buy chlorine-free paper with a high percentage of post-consumer recycled content.

13. Recycle toner and ink cartridges. According to Office Depot, each reused toner cartridge keeps approximately 2.5 pounds of metal and plastic out of landfills and conserves about a ½ gallon of oil!

14. Go paperless. Make a policy to post manuals and other lengthy documents online.

15. Recycle everything! Most paper can be recycled and don’t forget electronics – old computers, cell phones, PDAs and more.

16. When purchasing office supplies, try to buy recycled products.

17. When holding company events where food will be served, try to use reusable dishes, silverware and glasses.

18. Use non-toxic cleaning materials – they are often less expensive.

19. Get rid of expensive, chemical-laden air fresheners. Use plants to absorb indoor pollution.

20. Opt-out of receiving the Yellow Pages. The big book of phone numbers is now practically obsolete, and consumes tons of paper each year. There are many online resources that can be used as a Yellow Pages alternative.

Thank you for your efforts to keep our planet happy – and luck ‘o the Irish to you!

Find Out Where You Can Save by Conducting an Energy Audit

It is difficult to save money when you are not sure where the money is going. By conducting an energy audit, you can identify how much energy you are using when the office is open and when it is not. You can also find out where a majority of the energy is being used. After reviewing your statement, you can develop an energy plan on where you can reduce consumption and what steps you will take to cut down usage.

Most utilities companies offer free evaluations to businesses on where energy usage can be reduced. The electric company will send an expert to your site, and help you find legitimate ways to save. This single visit can save you money all year long if you implement the changes recommended.

Switch Provider

Just because you have been with your current electricity provider for years, doesn’t mean you should stay with them forever. If you are paying more than you could be, then switch providers. There are plenty of website where you can compare plans, like this service in the UK. The point is: loyalty probably won’t pay. Switching is generally a very easy and quick win for your cost-cutting strategy.

Take Advantage of

Tax Credits and Buy Efficient Equipment

If you have older equipment, it might be raising your electric bill. The government, in an effort to reduce consumption, is offering small business owners tax credits and financing to invest in more efficient appliances and equipment. You can reduce your tax obligations and reduce your energy consumption at the same time if you get on board and participate in programs like the Federal Energy Star initiative. If you cannot pay for equipment out-of-pocket, the Small Business Association offers different loan programs, grants, and assistance.

Invest in Fluorescent Bulbs

Are you lighting your office with old, inefficient bulbs? One of the easiest and most effective ways to reduce energy costs during business hours is to have fluorescent bulbs installed. While you may have to pay for the fixtures and the bulbs initially, you will spend about 75% less on lighting your office every month.

Make Sure to Program Your Thermostat

You want your employees to feel comfortable all day long while in the office. While you will need to keep the heat and air on during cold and hot months, you do not have to keep these systems running full force all night. Invest in a programmable thermostat, create settings for the weekdays and the weekends, and train your employees how to set the thermostat before leaving the office.In an effort to save money, you are also showing that your business believes in going “green”. Market your efforts and you may even attract environmentally-conscious clients who are looking to do business with a company that is concerned with the environment. Keep these tips in mind, reduce your consumption, lower your bills, and market your efforts or your printed materials to attract savvy consumers who prefer to do business with green companies.

How it Works

1. You perform a search, just like you would on any other search engine.
2. Like other search engines, your results will be a mix of Organic and Paid listings.
3. If you click on a Paid listing, the sponsoring company will pay Bing or Yahoo for the “click”.
4. Bing or Yahoo, then passes most of that money back to Ecosia.
5. Ecosia donates at least 80% of that to the WWF for the Rainforests.

In addition, Ecosia, uses Carbon Offsets to help counteract the emissions from the search activity on its platform.

Take-away

1. If your business offers a Eco-friendly product or service, you may want to consider advertising on Ecosia, and promote the use of Ecosia to your employees and customers.
2. If your business is undertaking an initiative to reduce its carbon footprint and to be more environmentally friendly, Ecosia could be part of that effort and promotion.

As a small business owner, I honestly haven’t given much thought to my company’s carbon footprint yet, although I admire companies that have. I am still quite addicted to Google, but when my 17 year old, socially conscious son Daniel told me about Ecosia, I thought it worth sharing and talking about.

What, if anything, does your company do to reduce its impact on the environment? If you don’t do anything, was that a conscious decision, or just something that hasn’t come up yet?

As always, your thoughts and questions are both welcomed and appreciated.

LEDs are light emitting diodes, small electronic devices that give off far more light per unit of electricity than traditional fluorescent lights or lamps. They are typically more expensive than older methods of providing light, but the money they will end up saving means the expense pays for itself. Here are five reasons why businesses should switch to LED lights:

1. LEDs Last Longer Than Incandescent Lights

The New York Times compared LED lights to regular light bulbs, and found that the LED lights were good for up to 50,000 hours of illumination – compared to just a maximum of 2,000 hours for the regular. For a business, this would mean spending much less money on doing regular facility-wide installations, when older, and less efficient bulbs inevitably burn out. LED lights don’t even burn out – they “fade away”, according to the New York Times, simply producing less amounts of light, but never dramatically sparking into darkness the way regular bulbs do. Even at the end of their 50,000th hour of operation, LED lights will continue to produce an estimated 70% of their maximum illuminating potential, thereby saving a business a fortune on having to replace their lighting system every 2,000 hours of use.

2. LEDs Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions

LEDs can save up to 70% of a company’s energy output, says Phys.org, a research, technology and science website. The statistic is impressive, but what does it mean for a business on a practical level? Reducing carbon emissions means reducing the consumption of energy. As an example, Buckingham Palace turned to LEDs for their ceiling lights. As an example, illuminating the official residence of the Queen of England uses literally less electricity than making a cup of tea. A business that uses LEDs for their lighting needs will slash their monthly overhead budget considerably.

3. Switching To LEDs Can Make Money

Thanks to President Barack Obama’s stimulus package to reward the implementation of “green” infrastructural investment, there’s actually money to be made from your business using LEDs, not just money saved. The President promised to give environmentally friendly companies help in leading by example in how such businesses might go about reducing their carbon footprint. As part of the 2009 stimulus package, the federal government awarded $34 billion in government investments to companies that showed their initiative in converting to energy efficient methods of doing business. This could mean that an organization receives federal funds to help with the logistical implementation of a large-scale LED lighting system, thereby saving money on the necessity of having to contract the work out to a third party.

4. LEDs Are The Future

For a while, the idea of LEDs replacing traditional methods of illumination was disregarded. However, a Californian electronic consulting agency predicts that the LED industry will reach $1 billion by the end of 2013. Corporate juggernauts like General Electric and Philips have joined the bandwagon and commenced manufacturing LEDs, with GE buying an LED startup company that expected to see growth of $15 million in a single year. The idea that using LEDs to light an office is no longer on the fringe, and is instead very serious business.

5. LEDs Improve Appearances

At the risk of flirting with vanity, making a good first appearance can convince a client or a customer to do business with your organization. The quality of light produced by LEDs (for example, in LED signs for businesses) over traditional incandescent fixtures can literally improve the ambient illumination of your office space. Older lamps shift as they age, casting unseemly shadows and even unwanted colors. LED bulbs spread light wider than their fluorescent counterparts, giving a more even distribution of light and making a facility seem more naturally, aesthetically lit.

A study concerning corporate printing conducted by KYOCERA Document Solutions in 2008 -the official start of the economic crisis- concluded that businesses could save up to 25% with an adequate Corporate Printing Policy. Companies that have not acted on this matter yet only have to multiply this percentage by four to obtain the amount of unnecessary expenses they are making.

The reason behind this is that most companies let their workers manage printing issues. According to KYOCERA’s survey, eight out of nine companies do not know the exact total cost of printing in their organization. In other words, only one out of nine companies knows how much they spend on printing. In general, businesses have never really focused on the issue of printing, and they are still neglecting it thinking that it is an entirely necessary cost,  when the truth is that it can be drastically reduced.

To obtain an efficient Printing Policy, the first step is to go through a consulting process of printing costs to determine how much money is being spent. Secondly, as a result of the data obtained, the current situation of the company regarding printing costs should be studied to detect the areas to be improved. Finally, a series of recommendations is given to help design a list of printing rules based on the detected needs.

Common and basic rules

Some of the basic rules for obtaining an immediate reduction in printing costs are: printing emails through a printer tray with recycled paper; disabling color printing in certain departments; setting time ranges and limiting printing to specific departments or users, etc. Apart from these measures, companies can save even more by using multifunction equipment that allows them to print, photocopy, scan images and send or receive by email any type of document, all with the same device. Likewise, using adequate print control software to control who prints, what is being printed and why it is printed is another way of saving. If on top of this, the entire process –including physical components, consumables, etc.– is externalized, the cost reduction will be even more notorious.

With the goal of being more competitive, some companies have already started a process to limit their printing costs, which turns applications that help employees print within defined parameters into an absolute necessity.

Apart from this advice, experts provide some more recommendations, such as turning to a specialized document software provider to reduce the risk of errors, and sharing the positive results obtained with employees, so they are fully aware of the positive economic effect, as well as of the reduced environmental impact achieved by these green practices.

Technical aspects.

Corporate Printing Policies are also the first step to reach the sought after ‘office of the future’, where paper has a minimal presence.

Fortunately, ICTs are great allies in achieving a paperless office. As such, companies developing document software technology have a great role to play in this evolution. There  are a lot of tools in the market that enable companies to create high-quality documents that can be generated, distributed and stored electronically, and to print only the necessary documents. The technologies related to document management are evolving at great speed, and each year more efficient and environment friendly machines and new software products that optimize document processes appear in the market.

Furthermore, when printing we should also avoid wasting energy, apart from paper. Each company should have printing servers where users can view the documents before printing them. For example, at times, a worker may receive a file in an unusual format and decide to print it, while he might only need to read some pages or determined values.

Having a server where documents are redirected so they can be viewed is essential, as every employee will be able to know exactly what he needs to print. This would be especially useful for large companies with an extensive office network.

Evidently, a Corporate Printing Policy should be completed with an effort to raise the workers’ awareness for a project of these characteristics to prosper. In this sense, the coexistence of paper and electronic documents looks unavoidable, but, who knows, the crisis may speed up the transition process towards the ‘office of the future’.

Quoted resources: KYOCERA Document Solutions

Source: DocPath Document Software

Take advantage of software as a service

Many businesses are finding value in software as a service (SaaS) products, and not just from a cost effective standpoint. For example, using a mobile POS system will allow you and your employees more flexibility to close business transactions from any location across multiple operating systems. With a cloud-based creative suite, you will no longer have to purchase multiple software licenses in order to expand your creative team.

In addition, businesses that use software as a service (SaaS) solutions produce significantly less carbon than businesses that use equivalent in-house services.

Consider the work anywhere culture

Many companies are now promoting a “work from anywhere” culture in to their business structure. With technological advancements, it is now possible to accomplish many work-related tasks from a mobile location. Employees can easily have calls forwarded, respond to emails, and participate in video conference calls from the comfort of their home. All of these make it possible for small businesses owner to cut down on the expenses of maintaining an office space and allow more flexibility in their employees schedules.

Go paperless

Going paperless is another great way that you can cut overhead costs and be more environmentally friendly in the workplace. In fact, reduce.org reports that annually, a typical office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of paper; by going paperless you can reduce the large amount of energy and resources your office consumes, reduce errors, and make it easier for employees to respond to customer requests in-office or from a remote location.

Upgrade instead of buying new

In many instances; business owners will spend thousands of dollars purchasing completely new computers and office equipment this year. While it’s always nice for a business to be able to afford new equipment, you might be able to save a pretty good sum and accomplish the same goal by upgrading your current equipment instead.

Investing in one or more of these solutions will help you significantly cut costs associated with doing business in your industry while reducing your company’s carbon footprint at the same time. While some may require you to make an initial investment, they will pay for themselves in short order and increase your business’ productivity and flexibility over the long-term as well. At that point, you can focus on doing what you do as a business instead of focusing on paying the bills.