Going Green seems a little like the infamous “bridge to nowhere.” It starts with a well-intended commitment to the environmental cause, but then gets lost a meandering path of special interests, misguided promoters, and immense diversity of subject matter. Ask yourself three questions that will reveal everyone’s confusion on the subject.

1) What is the meaning of “Green”?

2) What is the methodology, path, or process to “Go Green”?

3) When do you reach a recognized level of “Green” certification”?

These are not difficult questions, but belies the problems incurred by businesses that have already agreed to the need for Green operation. The fevered rush to become an environmentally-friendly business suddenly runs into a morass of confused information and partisan advocates that leads to limp results. Green (in its most precise definition) refers to the “health impact on living things by the actions we practice in our spheres of influence.” While Green has been expanded include all things environmental, it should not be a replacement for the environmental topic. Green properly defined is about health and living things. Yes, I know that the earth is called a living thing too, but it is in a whole different class of applications.

If Going Green starts with the health impact, we have a starting point. That starting point can effectively be a platform to launching into other related subject like sustainability (resource management), pollution (waste) and conservation (preserving nature). These I feel are the four major components of environmentalism, but conservation is not the single issue of our time. The same could be said of health, sustainability, or pollution issues. They come together to complete the full environmental puzzle.

For a business, Going Green starts with the health issues currently at work in their facility. The health of workers is both the logical and rational starting point for any business. Issues of sustainability follow the health in the process. Therefore, the Green Business League has a month-by-month list of suggestions that can move any business toward an environmentally-friendly business. So, we have a starting point and a path for the Green business to eliminate a large part of the confusion.

Some of the well-intended mistakes are the belief that installing a solar panel system, buying carbon credits, or planting green plants on the roof will make a business Green. These are pieces of the puzzle, but they are not the singular or complete solution. There are those businesses that attend environmental seminars, make charitable contributions to environmental causes, or install CFL bulbs thinking that they are a Green business. However, making the attempt to Go Green is not the same as a Green business.

If Going Green is about construction of a new business or the renovation of an existing business, what about the vast majority of businesses that rent or lease? They should not be exempted from the Green program because they do not control the facilities, landscaping, HVAC, or greenery on the roof. Green business is predominantly about the operation of the business and only partially about the construction of the building. You see, it is possible to have a relatively non-Green business operation in what might be a certifiably Green Business. Green is more a practice than it is a dual-flush commode.

Why not allocate points for each additional Green practice incorporated the daily operation until a certain level is reached? While allowing for a variety of applications that have point assignments, there should be a number value that indicates a level of Green Business success. For the Green Business League, that initial level for Green Business certification is 100. Since these points are from literal practices put in place, there are no token or isolated efforts that make instant Green businesses. Going Green is a process, and continuous process at that. Knowing where Green starts, the process to go Green, and when Green is certifiable is a tremendous way to be “Honestly Green.”

Author: Michael Richmond
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty