New Idiot's Guide Simplifies the Equation: Green Business = Sustainable Planet, Bigger Bottom Line (Interview with Trish Riley)

Unless you're the boss, it's not always easy to go green at work

Trish Riley: Our planet is in trouble, and businesses have the collective power to turn the tide on the environmental disaster we've created. If businesses don't become sustainable, we don't stand a chance.

Some businesses have developed practices that profit by using natural resources or damaging them. This is the most important hurdle that must be addressed first: businesses need to revise policies to ensure that they account for natural resources in a way that protects the health and safety of the environment and consumers. A sustainable business does not consider a profit that relies on sacrificing health, safety, or quality of life for employees, consumers and neighbors.

If your business creates products that damage the environment through manufacturing or waste processes, find new materials to work with and ways to create a healthier product with less and cleaner waste. Begin cutting back your carbon footprint by reducing your energy usage. Weatherize your facilities, review and improve your processing efficiencies. Reducing your energy use will reduce your energy bill which translates to profits while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Reduce your waste stream - recycle any waste products possible, use recycled materials, reduce your product packaging. Reduce your water usage and clean up your water waste stream. Reduce transportation costs for your products, materials and staff: review delivery policies and find ways to make them more efficient, invest in alternative fuel fleets or use delivery services that use hybrid and other alternative fuel vehicles, encourage employees to carpool, use mass transit, bike to work. Reduce business travel by utilizing teleconferencing and telecommuting. Encourage employees to eat whole, local, organic foods by serving those in the company cafeteria and connecting with local farms. Apply these policies when you plan business events, as well.

Changing the status quo and the way we do things can be difficult, but making the decision to develop sustainable business practices returns multiple rewards.

Begin energy and water conservation efforts, and recycle office supplies and materials.

Most businesses are quite surprised to discover how much they can save once they begin applying resource efficiency. Burt's Bees embarked on a waste recycling and within two weeks figured out how to save an estimated $25,000 per year.

It's impossible to forecast the costs on a blanket basis

If we don't do it, we're in trouble.

It's not rocket science and we can get started immediately