[SimonG]

Hi

I think more and more people are becoming skeptical of businesses "green" claims. On inspection green credentials often don't stack up because businesses are failing to measure and implement strategies in a clear, methodical and audited manner.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment for larger businesses (users of over 6,000MWh of electricity) will be required to report all their UK-based CO2 emissions from all their fixed point energy sources and these will be published in a league table demonstrating the businesses percentage emissions reduction.

The BSI has now defined and published the Carbon Footprint Verification standard and management processes. This enhances the ISO 14001 standard already in place and this will provide businesses credible information on a companies carbon footprint.

For smaller businesses, such as mine, a clear statement of how you work and what steps you are taking to reduce your carbon footprint is a good first step. I would also recommend Carbon Neutral Copy. Her blog is superb and shows she is practicing what she preaches.

All the best

Simon

[greenf]

I agree, keep it simple. Even a bullet point list with all the things that you do is a good starting point and you may want to include aims/objectives that you would like to implement in the future too as this shows you are continually looking to make improvements.

I suppose Tesco's has an environmental and ethical policy of some sort and could prove that they are doing x,y and z to reduce their carbon footprint etc but if you do keep keep your policy simple and honest and include a range of steps you take hopefully consumers will be able to see that you really are green and not green washing.

[Rob_Buckley]

Environmental sustainability is one of the biggest challenges we face in our global community.

Organisations are conducting business within complex legal structures, while stakeholder demands are increasing and environmental performance expectations are becoming more onerous. To operate effectively in this environment organisations are now required to demonstrate proactive management of the environmental impacts of their business activities. Effective environmental management involves incorporating environmentally responsible practises into everyday business processes.

An Environmental Management System is a framework, which can be integrated with existing business processes to effectively identify, measure, manage and control environmental impacts and hence environmental risks. An Environmental Management System also establishes the means for improving performance and moving towards environmental sustainability through best practise such as ISO14001.

It's an option that any business can elect to undertake, and in fact from what many people on here are saying, they are already on the right track, to some degree.

ISO 14001 is a good way to demonstrate your organisations environmental credentials, and commitment to continual improvement of your environmental impact.