Being Green. Myth?

[Emily Quirk]

When businesses claim they are trying to be more 'Green', what are their reasons?
Is there any point in trying to save the environment, do they actually care? Is it helping them make money? Or are they just doing to increase publicity?
Many businesses claim they are ecofriendly but are they only really recycling/keeping their emmisions down to the minimum amount (legal requirement)
Who exactly are businesses targeting when they claim to be Green? People that are on minimum wage don't really care how companys can get their prices low, they just want cheap food.

 

[Gotum]

Sad to say; but most people who I approach regarding green energy say; 'I don't really think I can make a difference so what's the point' and 'Why should I pay the price so others can benefit'. The unfortunate truth about most of us is that we only focus on the short term personal benefits.

It is by-in-large a personal passion to do what we can that drives those who are really trying to help on.

I constantly get accused of jumping on the band wagon. Usually by people with a personal guilt complex There is however money to be made in the renewable energy business and every little bit helps to keep those involved moving forward.

As for companies conforming to the legal requirements needed to keep the gov happy, I think they are to busy to invest the time needed to look into it. BUT they are always amazed at how much they can save from one simple energy consumption evaluation. It's usually at that point that they express their environmentally friendly side )

icare3000 would love to see everyone do just a little, which we believe could make a BIG difference. That's why we created a win-win for everyone. After all isn't that what will drive any good idea.

 

[allington-marketing]

Hi
It forms part of a Corporate Social Responsibility Package, which many misconstrue as having a few recycling bins strewn around the office.
CSR is more about pleasing shareholders, staff and stakeholders through long term strategies that add value to a company which has such a strategy (it's also great for a PR disaster; 'yes, we killed five children, but we did build a school in Africa').
I think a lot of companies have jumped on the CSR bandwagon and assume it's all about being green.
Similarly, when I've done bids for public sector projects for clients, they always want to know about a green policy, so it's likely that companies who have a lot of work with public sector clients have such policies (as opposed to strategies).
Terri

 

[td2011]

It is sad and it makes me wonder why I bother to rinse my jars before recycling and why my dad breaks his back putting his recycling bins out if huge companies won't bother because they don't believe in it.

 

[vAn_734]

Good point. We people always think small of our part in the going green movement. But who can blame us when we see big companies contributing massive volume to carbon emission.

 

[TheBAB]

Sadly as individuals we have little influence, but that shouldn't put you off from doing your bit and trying to influence others.

As a business, even if it is a small one, you have a surprising reach. You have suppliers, customers and the local community to share the 'green' message with. If you keenly promote the benefits then you never know, they too might pass on the message to their own stakeholders.

Of course, simply claiming to be green is pretty feeble. You need to back it up somehow, from developing an Environmental Policy, to a proper Environmental Management System that is certified by a third party.

Internally, sometimes it is difficult to get buy-in from everyone. Without everyone doing their bit, it certainly feels like you're swimming against the tide! This week i'm starting a piece on changing behaviour/culture though, so i hope to share this soon

 

[martinbailey]

A few years ago we made a big thing about being green in our regular workshops that we do for prospective customers. (We have an extremely green approach for customers acquiring our software and the product itself helps companies to often go completely paperless, run much leaner and identify other savings that their business can make, which often have positive environmental impact).

However, it often fell on deaf ears. Employees of a company are paid to make the right cost-effective decision for their company, so unless there is a very clear green initiative from the top down they will not care whether one option is greener than the other.

That has not stopped us focussing on our environmental efforts, and to that end we were shortlisted for the Green IT awards in 2010 and have again been shortlisted for them in 2012.

I personally strive to be very green, both in and out of work. I work from home, minimising mileage, buy all my magazines electronically and have solar panels on my roof. I always use (and push for others to use) Skype, along with other remote desktop/conferencing solutions.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

I drove through The City a few weeks ago.
A majority of the offices had their lights on - at 3am on a Sunday morning.

 

[Pattestinguk]

Why be green when there is no conclusive proof of global climate change being caused by humans and not just natural fluctuations.

 

[astutiumRob]

A majority of the offices had their lights on - at 3am on a Sunday morning.

It reduces the wear-and-tear on all those un-green plastic light switches, as well as reducing teh councils carbon-emissions from having run extra street lights, and the obvious environmental damage from all thsoe extra ions leaking into the soil from the cables ...

 

[vAn_734]

Why be green when there is no conclusive proof of global climate change being caused by humans and not just natural fluctuations.

what's more to see? We know the Earth's changing because of us. Not entirely but we are making the process much faster. I think it's a good news about the fuel's price going up in the market - soon , many would be riding bikes ;>

 

[rouithe]

Why be green when there is no conclusive proof of global climate change being caused by humans and not just natural fluctuations.

Because nobody will be affected in case of calamity but us.

 

[Talay]

No myth but not at the expense of absolute performance. If a green product isn't up to the job, then we don't use it and we continue to look for one which is.

Is there a marketing advantage to being a "green" company ? yes, some but there is scepticism as well.

I think about it as going in the right direction, rather than trying to get to the end goal overnight.

 

[Passive]

If Green is to happen then it needs to be an economical and sensible option in comparison to it's alternatives. There is already the beginnings of a shift in building design (beginning for UK anyway) and I'm certain that this is occuring in other areas. Good Energy for example provide only renewable energy and are often cheaper than the big six. So Green isn't necessarily a myth, it can be done.
Green options will become economical sooner or later, either as they're desirable or because we've used up/can't access the unsustainable alternatives.

 

[Rhyl Lightworks]

I think that many companies (not all) are just trying to increase sales by jumping on the green bandwagon.

Most members of the public just don't care. When we tried to influence people to buy products which left less of a carbon footprint, etc. by saying such things as 'you will think differently when all Rhyl is under water' they said 'I will be dead by then'. We now try to appeal to their pocket by saying such things as 'although the initial cost may be greater, the eventual cost will be much less'. This seems to convince about 20 - 30 % of customers, although the majority still want less eco-friendly products.

I think governments (and not just in the UK) have gone completely the wrong way about this. By making the message very forceful, they have shot themselves in the foot - many people don't believe governments. A much more subtle way is required.

Barrie

 

[Matt G]

I think we are facing with Big and Huge Corporate Companies ready to do anything to save their huge amounts of money versus Planet Earth. Somethimes, we are fighting with the technology time, when people is more interested to have all accessed on one single button.

But, never say never. Probabaly the environment will have its own stability once they will see the situation will be very bad.

 

[4success]

Businesses want to pretend they are going green or eco friendly because the world is changing back into a more enlightened cycle of civilization and businesses want to be a part of the solution instead of being just a part of the problem that creates the declining amounts of money, nutritional food or healthy environment available to people who choose to be on a fixed income.
Although it appears that the individual can not do much to change the political economic system that robs the majority for the temporary gain of a few. Yet remember the right action by a person can free a country so "Be the Change You Want to See in the World" - Gandhi because it is only your choice to give away your power to the future with worry & fear or to the past with resentment that stops you enjoying an abundant life now.
Those businesses that continue to attempt to get customers to buy harmful products like

• tobacco,
• alcohol,
• processed foods with sugar, fat or salt included to make them addictive
• intensively farmed food with their increasing amounts of poisons in
• drugs that just suppress the symptoms of the side effects of other drugs
• fear generating media eg the news & soap operas
• products with excess or non-recyclable packaging that consumers have to pay for 3 times over for (1 in the price of the product, 2 in the Council Tax for renting space in the landfill sites & 3 in extra taxes to pay for the subsidy the Government choose to give businesses by only charging tax on profit not a business's income or the true cost of their activities.)
• cancer producing beauty products used to suppress the effects of society's belief that women are not worthy of love for being their true self.

Will go out of business when people remember that their every choice of where to spend their money is either part of the problem keeping them away from their dream life or part of the solution. Which will you choose?

 

[Moneyman]

Alcohol bad? people bad for drinking too much.

Stop blaming companies. Customers make the decisions where to shop and what for. There was a great local capaign against a supermarket with "100%" local support. They have been packed since they opened. 6 months of boycott and they would have closed, but humans are horribly human. I still buy local.

There is a great deal of muddled thinking on the farming side. One day the green lobby will be the ones pushing genetic modification. get the gene from mint into the wheat plant and you dont need pesticides. Do it with a cutting or breeding and they love you. do it with a bit of cut and paste gene shifting and it is all freaky foods. ditto nitrogen fixing gene from spuds into wheat roots and you dont need artificial fertiliser.
Science and companies are not all demons it is just a matter of how you look at it. If a bit of dna is ok in one plant whats wrong with sticking it in another?

that said if you get a few extra sales by going green then everyone will move that way but if everyone just buys the cheapest then you make going green a real disincentive.

 

[detgadget]

Going green is just a selling point for most companies. Since it is the "in" thing now to be green and the fact that their competitors are using green as a selling point, most companies have no choice but to follow suit.

 

[Davek0974]

I think it's a good news about the fuel's price going up in the market - soon , many would be riding bikes ;>

That is a foolish, blinkered view.

Do you not realise that the price of ALL the goods we use are affected by the price of oil, either at manufacture, transport or both. Its got bugger all to do with riding a bike, most people cant ride a bike to work, many others don't want to.

You will not stop car usage simply by increasing the cost of fuel.

 

[detgadget]

Riding bikes to work is not the alternative. Taking public transportation instead of the car is.

 

[Davek0974]

Riding bikes to work is not the alternative. Taking public transportation instead of the car is.

When it becomes cheaper and mor reliable than taking the car, I might reconsider.

 

[Maxwell83]

Riding bikes to work is not the alternative. Taking public transportation instead of the car is.

Getting people to use public transport where available is one thing, but to do it by increasing fuel prices is ridiculous.

As said, increased fuel prices doesn't JUST have the effect of making drivers take the train, it has the effect of making everything more expensive.

 

[detgadget]

Of course, I admit that depending on the job, not everyone is able to use public transportation as an alternative to driving a car but I believe for many it is a feasible alternative provided that it convenient.

Raising fuel prices is not the only way to discourage private cars. Many Asian cities like Singapore resort to imposing a toll on private cars entering busy city districts and would be car owners have to bid among potential owners for one of a very limited number of "Certificates of Entitlement" for the right to own a car.

 

[Davek0974]

Of course, I admit that depending on the job, not everyone is able to use public transportation as an alternative to driving a car but I believe for many it is a feasible alternative provided that it convenient.

Raising fuel prices is not the only way to discourage private cars. Many Asian cities like Singapore resort to imposing a toll on private cars entering busy city districts and would be car owners have to bid among potential owners for one of a very limited number of "Certificates of Entitlement" for the right to own a car.

We already have the "congestion charge" in london, it made no difference and is now just another tax on the motorist that needs to get into london.

my nearest station is a drive away, so i might as well finish the journey in the car.

 

[herewegoagain.]

Riding bikes to work is not the alternative. Taking public transportation instead of the car is.

and if you run a business you cant carry stock on a bike or a bus !

 

[Timoxendale]

Being green has never been a factor for me but being green and saving money ill have that one! I came across a company called Litelite they are offering finance where you only pay back a percentage of what they save for you, they come to your business evaluate your lighting and replace all your old lights to new LED lights. I have been researching it and quite a few new companies are doing the same deal. According to the report (I got 2 companies to do a report to make sure no one was trying to rip me off). Although LED lights are expensive I will have paid of the loan within 2 years and it will save me just under £3,000 a year on electric costs! Ill let people know how it goes got a LED specialist installing the lights in 2 weeks!

 

[Treebox]

Whilst I do agree that big business could certainly do more to 'be green', I do think that things are changing for the better. Perhaps that may be more to do with employees changing attitudes as opposed to the directors, but its not all negative. We supply and fit green and living walls to many corporate companies, who are only too aware of green issues, and want to be seen to be green. Not only does this have the obvious environmental benefits, but makes them look like a forward thinking, modern company who are aware of the issues of today, and they want their clients and staff to know that.

 

[ITsoldUK]

In answer to your question Myth? Yes it is. IMHO

Unless your business is about sitting in a field, with no requirements for leccy or gas and staring at the sky.

You CAN reduce your impact on the green stuff, course you can.

But to be A TOTALLY GREEN BUSINESS? Not possible unless you do the above (or something that does not use anything to function...:|)

But it is a good way for 'the man' to market products at a premium price...discuss

 

[Danmill]

I own a 'green' business and yes I do care. I am sure there are people within the bigger corporates that care, maybe not all, but some.

 

[MoritzL.]

Well looking at the CO2 emission trading, you will realise that the current prices are way to low to motivate people to change their behaviour.
Nevertheless since beein green enables high savings in procution, especially such as metal production. You will see quite relevant changes happening right now. Just browse through their homepages. It is impressive.