Creating a sustainable and greener businesscan have a dramatic and profound positive impact on our shared environment, but most business owners must also look at the pragmatic details of greening a business. How will it affect my business? Does it make economic sense to “green” my business? Is it a good business decision to begin to work towards creating a sustainable business? You run a business and you run it to make a profit. As much as you might support environmental issues and sustainability, first and foremost, your business needs to be successful. Can it be both green and successful?
The general public perception is that making our life-styles and our businesses more environmentally sensitive will, almost by definition, be more expensive than the status quo of business as usual. It is commonly assumed that there will be an “environmental premium” assessed for doing the right thing. Hybrid cars must cost more; organic produce must be more expensive; products that are nontoxic must be higher priced than their hazardous equivalents. All of us have a variation of this perception ingrained into our thinking, including our thinking about how we should run our business.
Unfortunately, for the most part, it simply isn’t true. Common sense should tell us (if we listen) that food produced with fewer chemical pesticides and herbicides and with more efficient use of water should actually be cheaper; cars that are lighter and more energy-efficient should probably be less expensive, rather than more; products with fewer toxins and less hazardous waste should actually cost less to produce. The misperception that green = expensive itself has been fueled by many status-quo business interests in an effort to convince the public, government regulators (and, perhaps, themselves) that it would be much too expensive for them to ______________ (you fill in the blank):
But, as more businesses every day are realizing, the real world impact of greening a business is actually far different and almost universally positive. There are manifold powerful benefits to making your business more sustainable and greener.
The general public perception is that making our life-styles and our businesses more environmentally sensitive will, almost by definition, be more expensive than the status quo of business as usual. It is commonly assumed that there will be an “environmental premium” assessed for doing the right thing. Hybrid cars must cost more; organic produce must be more expensive; products that are nontoxic must be higher priced than their hazardous equivalents. All of us have a variation of this perception ingrained into our thinking, including our thinking about how we should run our business.
Unfortunately, for the most part, it simply isn’t true. Common sense should tell us (if we listen) that food produced with fewer chemical pesticides and herbicides and with more efficient use of water should actually be cheaper; cars that are lighter and more energy-efficient should probably be less expensive, rather than more; products with fewer toxins and less hazardous waste should actually cost less to produce. The misperception that green = expensive itself has been fueled by many status-quo business interests in an effort to convince the public, government regulators (and, perhaps, themselves) that it would be much too expensive for them to ______________ (you fill in the blank):
- Upgrade the fuel economy of the cars they produce
- Make products without the toxic chemicals they use
- Treat the waste water leaving their factory
- Mine minerals without damaging the environment
- Grow crops without chemical pesticides/herbicides
- Build homes without using hazardous non-renewable materials
- Produce milk without bovine growth hormones and antibiotics
- Produce enough energy without using coal, oil, or natural gas
- Et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum
But, as more businesses every day are realizing, the real world impact of greening a business is actually far different and almost universally positive. There are manifold powerful benefits to making your business more sustainable and greener.
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