Go Green!

Leonardo DiCaprio said at the Academy Awards that this was the first time the Awards were going “Green.” The audience let out a wild round of applause.

To do this day I have no idea what Leonardo meant. Was the Oscar biodegradable? Did celebrities walk to the ceremony instead of taking their stretch Humvee limousine? Beats me.

But if you're ever doing a business presentation that's not going very well, just yell "I've gone green!", and bask in the limelight.

This is a relatively good example of how business should run a green initiative. Bottom line: Feelings are facts. If the public believes you’re doing your part to help the environment….you’re in good shape. If they think you’re trying to pull the organic wool over their eyes, you’re screwed.

Regardless of which camp you belong to, you have to admit: Dumping pollutants into the air and water must be damaging something. To stay on the safe side…..we may as well go green.

In the U.S. going green means eating organic, using recyclables, and throwing glass bottles in the blue bag. Unfortunately, reducing consumption which is a major factor in helping the environment, is not something we’re ready for yet.

Now that industrialized nations have discovered how trendy it is to save the environment, they're enforcing these rules on poor or developing countries. When you’re trying to catch up to the world’s super-power, its not easy being clean. Ask China.

Somehow or other, all business will feel the affect of an adverse environment. Like smoking, the pain takes time.

Your business will feel adverse effects in areas such as: climate change, water quality and quantity, biodiversity, toxic substances and chemicals, air pollution, waste management, ozone depletion, ocean health and deforestation. Make sure you know how these conditions will affect your business.

As I said earlier, “facts are feeling.” It doesn’t matter whether you believe the ozone has a gaping hole or not. It matters that your customers and shareholders do.

There are several groups and organizations that are steering the green mantra. It’s to your benefit you know where they stand n relation to your business: Governments, Media, Academics, Customers, Your supply chain, Banks, Shareholders, Insurers, Industry associations.

Identify which of these groups are real stakeholders....and which are just blowing smoke.

• Risks : You risk paying large fines with environmental noncompliance. If your firm damages a community’s resources, bad PR may be the least of your problems. Adhering to regulations maintains risk avoidance.....and saves money.

• Cut Costs : Packaging redesign, finding more efficient ways to transport merchandise, energy efficient lighting & energy all cut expenses. We haven’t searched for better ways of saving energy because it wasn’t on any top ten lists. Necessity is the mother of invention.

• Marketing : Does your company have a bona fide green initiative. Let the public know. Slap a label on it. It may do wonders for your marketing.

In your quest to become the planet’s most environmentally friendly corporate entity, keep these goals in mind:

• Reduce material intensity. Find ways to do more with less or reduce materials used in packaging.

• Use materials that save energy. Insulate equipment, reuse wasted heat and find steps that can be eliminated from the supply chain.

• Find alternatives to reduce toxic waste. Engage your staff or consultants to finds ways to pollute less.

• Use reusable resources. Is there a way for your company to use solar or wind power? These are energy sources not trapped in the sands of Saudi Arabia.

The traditional approach won’t work. What I mean by traditional is, deciding to build a landfill, make announcements in the local paper, plaster flyers everywhere..……then figure you can convince the community of the benefits.

Assume the worst. Locals do not want you to harm the environment. Doing mailings and a PR blitz will stir up opposition quickly.

The best approach for a project that may be considered unfavorable is to be open with the community from the beginning. Meet with local officials and the community…..let them help you design the project. You must create buy-in and fill local needs. That may be jobs or taxes.

Work with local green groups and heed their advice. These groups are very influential with local politics and that’s the group you need behind you.

What if you know you’re going to pollute anyway. Well my friend….you could buy the “right”.

Here’s how it works:

To maintain a stable level of greenhouse gases the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change came up with the Kyoto Protocol.

One of the stipulations is, businesses that emit less then a certain threshold of these gases receives offsets. Companies that emit more than the threshold must pay a certain amount for each ton of carbon dioxide they emit.

The premise is greenhouse gases damage the atmosphere regardless of where they are emitted. These “fines” or credits are used to fund clean air projects around the world giving priority to developing countries; this is because they're the cheapest.

Companies such as EcoSecurities sell these credits to companies that emit gases. The project that is funded theoretically offsets what the purchaser is emitting. EcoSecurities searches the globe in search of these projects such as wind farms. In 2007 $9.4 billion of these credits were traded.

The main buyers are firms in countries such as Japan and Europe whose governments have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

The U.N. has recently been giving these projects tighter scrutiny. One of the issues is whether or not these projects would have happened anyway; depriving other projects of needed funding. Other issues are who vouches for the quality or legitimacy of these clean air projects.

Look; I eat meat, take the car to the mall and don’t flog myself if I forget to recycle. But its certainly apparent to me…..it can’t hurt to be green.

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