Almost every company makes mistakes when they try to establish a green business program. Often the responsibility for improving the environmental performance of the company is added to the existing workload of an employee simply because they have spare capacity. Here we look at how hiring a dedicated environmental officer to oversee the establishment of an environmental program can reduce the likelihood of the company falling into four common pitfalls.

1. Not realising the time required to establish and implement a green business program.

Going green takes time and like many things the time and effort put in will determine the results. Having an employee dedicated to the establishment of the green business program ensures they have the time to investigate the issues, communicate with staff and train on the implementation of green business practices. A dedicated environmental officer will be able to provide an in depth assessment of environmental impacts by undertaking analysis and seeking input from others in the company. As a result the company will have a strategic environmental vision and greater capacity to get things done.

2. Not realising the company doesn’t have the right skill set within the business.

Depending on the size and nature of the business, it can be a complex task to analyse the environmental impacts and determine which green practices to implement. When appointing someone to oversee the environmental program, the company needs to examine the person’s skills and ensure they have the required skill set to do the job. Adding environmental responsibilities to an existing employee’s workload because they have capacity is unlikely to result in a successful green business program.

3. Not communicating with staff

Communicating with staff and ensuring they feel involved in the process of going green takes time but is vital if green business practices are to be implemented successfulyl. Often managers come up with bright ideas but do not give staff sufficient detail to make them buy into the changes. Without someone dedicated to communication and training, it can be difficult to guarantee that staff will receive relevant and regular information. Providing regular feedback to staff on progress of the green business program and ensuring there are open lines of communication also takes time.

4. Not realising the importance of records and documentation

Having your business go green will generate additional paperwork. Is there an environmental policy, a plan of action tied to the strategic vision and an assessment of the environmental impacts? Someone within the company needs to be accountable for creating and maintaining records required to support the environmental program.

As you can see there are a number of difficulties a company may experience on its mission to go green that could be avoided by appointing a dedicated person to oversee the green business program.

Newsweek have just released their 2009 green rankings of the largest 500 companies in the United States. The overall green ranking is based on scores given for the companies’ environmental impacts, green policies and reputation. While not all companies are willing to provide their environmental data (70 of the top 100 did), the hope is the rankings will encourage greater transparency in future as a starting point for improving environmental performance.

The top 5 companies are:
1. Hewlett-Packard
2. Dell
3. Johnson & Johnson
4. Intel
5. IBM

Click here to see the full green rankings.

The art of wine making is well known for requiring great skill with wine connoisseurs judging every aspect of the wine from appearance to flavour.  Increasingly wine lovers are considering another characteristic – whether the wine was produced sustainably with minimal environmental impacts.

Being dependent on the natural environment to create a good quality product, the wine industry is recognising the importance of implementing sustainable practices.  Combined with consumer demand for environmentally friendly products and recognition that green business practices can result in cost saving and operational efficiency and the argument for wineries to implement green business practices is a strong one.

Of particular importance to wine makers is ensuring the land used for grape growing is managed sustainably.  Reducing the use of chemicals on the land and avoiding over irrigation improves the long term viability of the land in turn increasing its market value.  Often cost savings are realised through the reduced use of pesticides, herbicides and water.   Further cost savings can be realised in the wine making process through capturing, treating and reusing water and using organic waste as fertiliser for vines.

The packaging and transport of wines is an area of considerable cost to the industry and has a significant impact on the environment.  Innovations in wine packaging has led to the use of both thinner glass bottles and plastic bottles for everyday wines designed to be consumed in the short term rather than being cellared for years.   A United States company, Envino, is producing plastic wine bottles which weigh less and take up less space than traditional glass bottles reducing the environmental impacts of transportation.  A number of wineries are trying out these innovations, particularly with commercial clients such as restaurants, to gage the acceptance of these new forms of packaging.

Along with the spread of sustainable viticulture, some wineries are also looking at green construction to reduce their environmental footprint.   From straw bale construction to the use of local recycled materials, many wine makers are to varying degrees making their new construction green with a number of wineries now certified under the US Green Building Council’s LEED program.  These new buildings are designed with energy efficiency in mind and use renewable energy technologies such as solar panels to meet energy needs.  This year it was a winery that took out the New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Awards in the small to medium business category.  Yealands Estate in Marlborough which is also certified as carbon neutral was noted for its installation of solar panels, insulated tanks and wind-powered electricity generators.

There are an extensive range of practices a winery can implement to reduce its environmental footprint.  Aside from potential cost savings, wineries that look to go green now are better placed to meet the increased consumer demand for green products and may avoid future regulatory problems from increasing controls placed on the use of natural resources.

You Can’t Afford Not to be Green is a great digital publication on ways to go green. The book has been published online by YUDU Media, an online library where users can read, publish, buy, sell and share digital content without the environmental impacts of printing.

Click on the image above to read You Can’t Afford Not to be Green online for free.