Promoting 'Eco' authentically

[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.

[Sebwikaniko]

I really like the mission/ethos statement on Wikaniko's website, they are anticipating that more people are becoming sceptical about any company that proposes itself to be "GREEN" - The main thing is to be honest about how green you are when you are marketing yourself, people, including myself are becoming more and more cynical...

"Deep green – This is the stage of green living where you begin taking huge life altering steps, giving up all home comforts and really going 'back to basics'. This is great, and should you wish to take this path then more power to you! You are doing a wonderful thing. Who knows one day we may even end up on this path, but for now, we are not deep green.

Light green – This is the kind of ‘bandwagon’ that appears whenever major issues are raised to either scare the public to death, or create some sort of sensationalism to help sell more papers, create more news, etc. Companies and individuals often exploit this, to make a fast buck for themselves. You would be amazed at the number of companies, web sites, publications etc pretend to be ‘green’ or environmentally friendly when they have absolutely nothing to contribute to the whole issue!

Mid green – That’s us.
We like to think we are personally doing our bit to help the planet. We use our own products (many of these products have been sourced after we found out how good they really were) and we bring the products to you at the keenest prices. Of course we make a profit – we have to in order to stay in business – but we constantly analyse and revise the prices etc to get you better deals, using our increasing buying power.

We recognise that we can’t be totally green with everything that we do. It is virtually impossible to do, so we don’t profess to do it. Instead, we are ‘greener’ which means we try our best at all times to ensure our products and services are as green as they can possibly be – or at least, if they are not, the product will still help you in some other more environmentally friendly way.
So please recognise that fact too. Becoming totally green is nigh on impossible. Becoming greener is a major step towards making the world a better place. And as we learn together, we will grow together."

---Sorry for the monster post

[National Office Week]

Hi all,

Interesting thread. Does it just seem to be small businesses that want to 'go green' and make a difference?

What about the changes that could/are being made to peoples workplaces and offices - is this happening at the same rate?

Are we recycling at work, using non-toxic print and cleaning materials, reducing waste, cutting back on the energy we use etc...

With 1.8 million offices in the UK it is possible to see that they could collectively make a massive difference.

Kim

[bamboo]

Of course Eco is now a big thing not only in Europe but in other countries as well. I live in Hawaii and everything here is about nature and aloha , turism bring a lot products and makes the economy rolling but eco friendly is popular. I have couple of art pieces I have made that are %100 recycled and of course made of the waste wood such as ply wood and bamboo.
Cheeres to all that care.