The explosion of organic and eco-friendly products on retail store shelves is more than just a passing fad. It's big business. This means big opportunities for environmentally minded entrepreneurs.
According to the The Organic Trade Association's Manufacturer Survey, the organic industry grew by 21% to reach $17.7 billion in consumer sales in 2006. Over the last decade organic sales have increase by an average of 20%, and this rate is expected to remain steady over the next 20 years.
Successful green businesses not only benefit the environment, but also use green business practices as means to market their products. If you are thinking of starting a green business, consider the following tips:
Find Your Niche. As the natural, organic lifestyle continues to catch on with consumers, there are many growth possibilities. Products such as food, cosmetics and cleaning supplies are growing areas within the organic trade, however, to be successful, you should look for opportunities that match your interests.
Get Certified. To differentiate your product or service as environmentally sound, consider obtaining certification from an independent, third-party. Being certified means that you can include their "ecolabel" on your product's label and other marketing materials. Ecolabeling is important for attracting "green" customers. Learn more about Green Marketing.
Practice What You Preach. The most successful green businesses don't just sell the green lifestyle. They live it. Selling green means being green, and this helps build your brand and image as a socially responsible. Before you start you business, consult the following resources:
* Green Guide for New Businesses
Simple steps to adopting environmentally-friendly business practices.
* Small Business Guide Energy Efficiency
Tips, resources and tools that help save on energy costs.
* Case Studies and Examples
Learn about successful companies that have proactive environmental policies.
Join Industry Partnerships. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsors a wide variety of industry partnership and product stewardship programs that aim to reduce the impact of industrial activities on the environment. Joining one of these programs helps you connect with others in your industry, grow your brand, and protect the environment and natural resources. Green Guide for New Businesses
Adopting environmentally-friendly and energy efficient business practices provides numerous benefits to new business owners looking to control costs, attract customers, and become socially responsible.
This guide provides you with some important information on implementing an environmental strategy for your business, including steps to becoming energy efficient, compliant with environmental regulations, and a recognized "green business."
Step 1: Comply with Environmental Regulations
As a green business, you should practice what you preach. This means complying with all environmental regulations relevant to your business. Compliance not only protects the environment, it protects your business from fines and legal action from the government. Consult the Environment Regulations section of the Green Business Guide for more information.
Step 2: Develop an Environmental Management Plan
Running a green business means creating an environmentally-friendly, energy efficient workplace. A sound environmental plan will help minimize your company's eco-footprint, and encourage green business practices throughout your organization.
Step 3: Build Green
If you are opening a business in a new or remodeled building, make sure you build green and install energy efficient heating and air conditioning systems, appliances, equipment and lighting. Consult the following resources for more information:
* Small Business Guide to Energy Efficiency
* Green Building Resources
Step 4: Buy Green Products
Consider buying green products that are
* Made from post-consumer, recycled materials
* Bio-based
* Non-toxic
* Energy efficient rated products, such as ENERGY STAR?
* Renewable and recyclable
* Locally produced, such as food that is locally grown and organic
Step 5: Adopt Energy Efficient Practices
Good energy management is good business. The prudent and conservative use of energy is one of the easiest and most cost effective steps you can take to cut costs, increase profitability, and create shareholder value. Given the potentially high returns and minimal risk, implementing energy efficiency practices is at the core of most business environmental management strategies.
* Conduct an Energy Audit. Whether you are opening a home based business or moving into an existing commercial building, having an energy audit conducted on your facility will help you quickly identify areas where you can save energy costs. See Managing Energy Efficiency Products for more information
* Purchase ENERGY STAR appliances and office equipment
* Provide energy saving tips to your employees
* Look for green power and renewable energy sources
* Visit the Small Business Guide to Energy Efficiency for more information
Step 6: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Wastes
Most businesses can save a substantial amount of money by reducing waste. In addition to lower removal costs, waste reduction measures help cut costs on raw materials, office supplies and equipment. Furthermore, by streamlining your operations to reduce waste, you may also be able to enhance your overall efficiency, productivity and public image.
Develop waste management procedures throughout your operations that includes:
* Use of post-consumer, recycled products
* Elimination of excessive product packaging materials
* Optimized use of paper products
* Participation in recycling programs, such as EPA's WasteWise
For more information visit our Waste Management Guide.
Step 7: Conserve Water
The increased demand on our nation's water supply is threatening human health and the environment. By implementing a water efficiency program, you can not only help conserve this precious resource, but cut your costs associated with buying, heating, treating and disposing of it.
* Have a water audit conducted at your facility by your local water agency
* Conserve water using best available technology and water saving equipment utilities
* Minimize discharges to sewer/wastewater
* For more information visit our Water Conservation Guide.
Step 8: Prevent Pollution
Every business generates waste. For some, it may be only waste paper or dirty water; for others, it may be hazardous or toxic wastes that require special handling and disposal.
Whatever the type or volume of waste your company generates, it is costing you money. You pay for what you use twice - once when you buy it and the second time when you throw it away. The bottom line is that preventing waste will save you money.
For resources to help you prevent pollution, visit our guide to Pollution Prevention.
Step 9: Create a Green Marketing Strategy
If you are starting a green business, you need to market yourself as one. Adding "green" claims and eco-labels to your marketing strategy will enhance your brand image and secure your market share among the growing number of environmentally concerned consumers.
Visit our Green Marketing Guide for information on the legal aspects of green marketing and strategies for successful campaigns.
Step 10: Join Industry Partnership and Stewardship Programs
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsors a wide variety of industry partnership and stewardship programs that aim to reduce the impact of industrial activities on the environment. These partnerships will help you build relationships with other green business owners in your industry, and build a brand that's credible with your customers.
source - http://www.business.gov/guides/startup/green-business/index.html
Source: GLOBE-Net
Published Oct. 8, 2008
The upcoming October 14th federal election may be a Canadian first - the first time environment and climate change issues might play a defining role in a federal election. While this is a positive step, Canadians should be wary of positions that ask them to choose between the economy and the environment. We are in the midst of the third election in four years and, despite the polarization of environment / economy issues in the campaign rhetoric, the reality is that our economic health and the environment are inextricably linked - more now than ever before.
As numerous political commentators have noted, the election may well be won or lost on pocketbook issues as Canadians feel the impact of the global economic slowdown and rising prices for food and gas begin to eat into household budgets. The current meltdown in U.S. financial markets and the downturn in our own stock exchange are also raising anxieties among the electorate.
In the 1970s, when economic times got tough, it marked the end of an era of environmental progress. Here’s hoping we do not to fall into that trap again. Recent polls show that the environmental theme continues to drop down in the list of priorities for Canadian voters. A Globe and Mail/CTV poll found that some 15% of voters believe the environment should be 'the most important issue in the next election.' While l 20% thought the economy should be given priority over all other issues. A more recent Ipsos Reid poll places environmental concerns a distant third behind the economy and healthcare. This is a significant drop after the environment had topped the list for the last year.
Notwithstanding, we do not think that Canadians have abandoned their long cherished desires for a cleaner, more environmentally friendly future, or that we collectively should scale back our willingness to shoulder the burdens of dealing with climate change.
In our view the Canadian public still has an appetite for a more aggressive climate change policy from the federal government although there continues to be uncertainty on what that policy should be.
For example commentators and economists continue to debate the merits of a ‘carbon tax’ vs. a ‘cap and trade’ system even though most would agree that it is imperative that a price needs to be put on carbon if we are to reduce carbon emissions. Economists seem to favour the ‘carbon tax’ which is not politically very attractive in these times of financial crisis while others, we here at Globe included prefer a ‘cap and trade’ regime. Whichever way we eventually go the real need is for coordinated and concerted action.
Indeed there are a number of pressing environment-related economic issues that need to be dealt by whatever government is in power, including:
* Ensuring diversified future energy supplies;
* Retooling our industrial sectors to make them more sustainable and competitive;
* Attending to the replacement of our aging infrastructure to better deal with the unavoidable impacts of global warming;
* Improving drinking water quality for all Canadians; and
* Doing a better job in mitigating the environmental impacts associated with one of our key economic assets - the Alberta oil sands.
* The oil sands have been a favourite target in the national and international media as a symbol of Canada’s failure to attend to a clearly pressing environmental issue, and in some respects the criticisms are deserved.
No one disputes the need to clean up our act with respect to the oil sands, but as noted recently in the National Post by Lawrence Solomon, executive director of the Urban Renaissance Institute, 'oil sands developments, far from being among the worst of energy technologies, now have less of a long-term negative impact on the landscape than many of the energy technologies touted as environmental saviours.'
We must do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the oil extraction process and must ensure that remediation of excavated sites proceeds as promised. But shutting down the oil sands is both unnecessary and unrealistic.
The energy companies involved are keenly aware of the importance that Canada’s politicians and voters have placed on the environment even with the current financial crisis. While the environment as an election issue may wax and wane in the polls, we believe Canadians are committed to taking action on the key environmental issues of the day. Neither they nor the government that will be elected on October 14th will be able to avoid these obligations. Nor can they ignore the fact that we are headed towards a North American conversation about energy choices, security and climate change.
Regardless of who wins this contest, the price of carbon will undoubtedly rise and will slowly lessen our dependency on fossil fuel. So too, the next government will have to tackle environmental challenges that not only affect our economic well being, but which also will test our resolve as a nation to deal with the realities of climate change. The real test will be who turns the environment vs. economy trade-offs into winning strategies for economic development and competitive advantage - domestically and globally.
The trick now is to make sure that any environmental policy in Canada is sufficiently clear and concise so that business can plan and make the massive investments needed for major technology shifts such as carbon capture and storage systems, industrial transformation, electricity diversification, renewable energy, or the rebuilding of our crumbling infrastructure into more sustainable systems.
We need to know the rules of the road. Business can live with higher costs and higher taxes; but it can’t function properly under conditions of bad policy or patchwork regulatory regimes. As we have said repeatedly in GLOBE-Net, we need certainty and leadership so business can innovate, invest and compete.
This truly will be Canada’s first ‘green election’ the outcome of which will greatly influence how the business of the environment unfolds for the next few years - and what policies will ultimately set the price for and reduce carbon emissions.
Voters and business are looking for solutions beyond pitting the environment against the economy. Consequently, the question we should ask ourselves on October 14th it is this: Who can deliver the policies that ensure Canada’s natural resources and economy are managed for a greener, more competitive future?
Stop thinking, start doing!
RecycleLife
