Going Green VS Saving Green. What is your priority?

[Adam Le Grand]

Firstly, let's keep this discussion clean. I don't want to see any tribal antics going on.

Right here, right now, today, what is your businesses main priority.

Within your business are your focusing on 'Going Green' or is Going Green still currently taking a backseat to running your business as economically as possible, 'Saving Green'?

Lets be honest, in an ideal world I am sure we would all obviously be saying "Going Green" but these are tough times for businesses. With utility bills, wages, fuel and material costs all shooting up at rapid rates, the idea of paying premium prices for green, sustainable equivalent services and products is a tough pill to swallow.

It is not to say that you can't sit on the fence and be somewhere in the middle. At the end of the day, any steps towards Going Green is better than doing nothing at all.

If anyone has any examples of successful actions that they have put in place to become more of a Green company it would be great if that knowledge was shared.

Somethings that I am currently looking into at the moment are recycled carboard based racking solutions and a Biodegradable airsac packaging solution.

 

[antropy]

Firstly, let's keep this discussion clean. I don't want to see any tribal antics going on.

What on Earth are you on about? ?

Paul.

 

[Adam Le Grand]

What on Earth are you on about? ?

Paul.

I thought it was a fairly simple sentence structure.

Your response has completely proved my point to why I made the comment.

Too busy trying to look big in front of all your friends instead of just simply answering the question. Or not answering at all if you have no interest in the subject matter.

I thought this was a Business Forum, not a playground.

 

[simon field]

The materials that our business uses are SO un-green that we see it as a total waste of time and resources trying to negate it.

Apart from that, paperless.

 

[Adam Le Grand]

The materials that our business uses are SO un-green that we see it as a total waste of time and resources trying to negate it.

Apart from that, paperless.

What kind of materials do you deal with if you don't mind me asking?

That has raised a good point. There are going to be a lot of businesses out there whereby Going Green is going to be near enough impossible.

I have got to say we're in a terrible industry for paper use. All the pick sheets, POs, consignment documentation are all paper. We go through and receive hundreds of sheets a day.

 

[Ozzy]

Your response has completely proved my point to why I made the comment.

I may be wrong, but I think you may have missed the irony of the joke @antropy was making ?

 

[simon field]

What kind of materials do you deal with if you don't mind me asking?

That has raised a good point. There are going to be a lot of businesses out there whereby Going Green is going to be near enough impossible.

I have got to say we're in a terrible industry for paper use. All the pick sheets, POs, consignment documentation are all paper. We go through and receive hundreds of sheets a day.

We are GRP (glassfibre) moulders.

So the materials - the glass itself is produced in huge furnaces which would never be allowed to operate in the UK, or any country where they care about emissions!

To go with the glassfibre, we have polyester resins and gelcoats, which are all either crude-derived or by-products from other really questionable industrial practices.

Prices have risen by at least 100% in the last two years, so we just keep on passing it on…

 

[Adam Le Grand]

I may be wrong, but I think you may have missed the irony of the joke @antropy was making ?

It looks like it went straight over my head! What happens when you flick on to something quickly to check between day to day duties

 

[Adam Le Grand]

We are GRP (glassfibre) moulders.

So the materials - the glass itself is produced in huge furnaces which would never be allowed to operate in the UK, or any country where they care about emissions!

To go with the glassfibre, we have polyester resins and gelcoats, which are all either crude-derived or by-products from other really questionable industrial practices.

Prices have risen by at least 100% in the last two years, so we just keep on passing it on…

That most definitely doesn't sound like an industry that can go green anytime soon.

Can't you just simply substitute everything you use and produce for biodegradable cardboard haha! That seems to be the answer for everything.

We have a print arm to our business and we've seen paper stock prices go up near enough 100% since last June. I find it hilarious how many people still think we're just increasing our prices for a bit of a laugh and profitability. They storm off to go and speak to other printers and then inevitably call back a bit sheepishly a few days later realising that even with out increases we're still very competitive within the industry.

 

[fisicx]

Within your business are your focusing on 'Going Green' or is Going Green still currently taking a backseat to running your business as economically as possible, 'Saving Green'?

If you want to go green don't use the internet which is heading towards 20% of all energy consumption. And all those devices are using up resources the extraction, refining and processing of which is the opposite of green.

And ban the dead tree press, printing on plastic, junk mail and most paper products.

 

[japancool]

If you want to go green don't use the internet which is heading towards 20% of all energy consumption. And all those devices are using up resources the extraction, refining and processing of which is the opposite of green.

I wonder how much of that though is ******.

 

[alan1302]

If you want to go green don't use the internet which is heading towards 20% of all energy consumption. And all those devices are using up resources the extraction, refining and processing of which is the opposite of green.

And ban the dead tree press, printing on plastic, junk mail and most paper products.

That is backwards thinking - you need to find better ways to do what we want to do now. Find more efficient ways to do things, use more renewable/recycled. Otherwise you can't ever progress.

 

[fisicx]

That is backwards thinking - you need to find better ways to do what we want to do now. Find more efficient ways to do things, use more renewable/recycled. Otherwise you can't ever progress.

We now have huge data centres around the world using huge amounts of energy and resources all doing things that don’t need to be done over the internet. A simple example: why do I need to be online and connected to write a letter? Why do I need an online application to look at picture I took on my camera?

 

[paulears]

My business is small. profits are hard to earn. Green is nice as a philosophy, and where I can and have a no cost choice, I support green aims. Do I specifically order green stock, or have an electric van, or any of those things? No. All my stock comes from overseas sources, mostly China and the USA. Large quantities of end of job materials go to landfill. Little is recyclable without cost to me, so into the ground it has to go. If I could find the cheapest disposable cost and it was green, I'd use it, but in the main, it's landfill.

If I have a no or very low cost green option, I take it, but it's rare, being honest.

I have to say that I took the hump at your tribal antics comment at the top too - it kind of sounded like you were a new member out for a conflict topic, and that was a pointed stick? I see now this was wrong, but you did kind of steam into the club dictating rules?

 

[MOIC]

All the packaging we use for our products are eco-friendly, using vegetable pulp, cornstarch and recycled paper. This is what our customers have demanded over the past 2-3 years.

We are now developing eco-friendly audio and charging products with wheat as the main body materials, as well as recycled plastics and Bamboo.

If you're working with any large groups, this is the path you have to take.

 

[alan1302]

We now have huge data centres around the world using huge amounts of energy and resources all doing things that don’t need to be done over the internet. A simple example: why do I need to be online and connected to write a letter? Why do I need an online application to look at picture I took on my camera?

You don't need to be online to write a letter or look at a picture - people are choosing to do that.

 

[fisicx]

You don't need to be online to write a letter or look at a picture - people are choosing to do that.

Companies like Microsoft are making this more and more difficult. Saving pictures often defaults to onedrive. O365 is always connected. Phones constantly pass data back to the data centres. Alexa and other listening devices are passing data. Fridges are connected to the internet. All of these things are unnecessary. Reduce the data traffic and you reduce the consumption of energy needed power the data centres.

Except of course this isn’t going to happen. The energy required to keep us all connected and to stream huge amounts of data will keep increasing.

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

We run new Euro6 vans These are the most environmentally friendly and practical for long distance work

 

[Adam Le Grand]

My business is small. profits are hard to earn. Green is nice as a philosophy, and where I can and have a no cost choice, I support green aims. Do I specifically order green stock, or have an electric van, or any of those things? No. All my stock comes from overseas sources, mostly China and the USA. Large quantities of end of job materials go to landfill. Little is recyclable without cost to me, so into the ground it has to go. If I could find the cheapest disposable cost and it was green, I'd use it, but in the main, it's landfill.

If I have a no or very low cost green option, I take it, but it's rare, being honest.

I have to say that I took the hump at your tribal antics comment at the top too - it kind of sounded like you were a new member out for a conflict topic, and that was a pointed stick? I see now this was wrong, but you did kind of steam into the club dictating rules?

I really appreciate the honest and it is answers like yours why I asked the question in the first place. Going Green and reaching net zero are crucial targets but in reality we are far from being anywhere close to achieving it.

That is by no means to say, "what is the point in trying". There is every point in doing everything that we can.

I see tackling the environmental crisis similar to someone looking to quit an addiction.

I know people that smoke 20+ cigarettes a day. They try to quit smoking, fail and go straight back to the old habits of smoking 20 a day again.

My argument is why not try and cut down to 15, master that for a period of time and then cut down to 10, and so on. It may take a little longer but if inevitably it means you actually reach your goal of quitting then it is in fact a quicker solution than just repeating going cold turkey over and over again.

People simply being told that we must hit net zero by 2050 - get on with it - is the same as trying to go cold turkey. If people and businesses are not provided with economical green options and manageable, realistic process to achieve the target they will just become despondent. We need the "dropping 5 cigarettes a day" solutions first that people can achieve and start to see the positive impact.

You being honest @paulears and saying that a lot of your materials go into landfill but you are doing all the things you can, I do not see as a bad thing. I am sure as circumstances chance and technology evolves you will continue to go green where you can.

Unfortunately like everything else, the environment has become politicised. Which political party can offer solutions to become net zero earliest. That's great but what about all these businesses and processes that are out there that are nowhere near being able to go green? What, you simply shut them down?

 

[Adam Le Grand]

We now have huge data centres around the world using huge amounts of energy and resources all doing things that don’t need to be done over the internet. A simple example: why do I need to be online and connected to write a letter? Why do I need an online application to look at picture I took on my camera?

I am not trying to be clever here or go against that you have said, I am just wanting to make sure I am understanding your comment correctly.

I think what you have said about the amount of energy used to power the internet and all the data created by the internet is fascinating - 20% is huge.

When you say people going online to write a letter, or online for a photo, am I making the correct assumption that you mean reverting back to photo's and written letter?

If so, and this is a genuine question that I do not know the answer to, what is the the environmental impact of going back to written letter? When factoring in everything from the pens, paper, ink, stamps and then the obvious bit impact of the vans needed to transport the letter around the world.

 

[Adam Le Grand]

All the packaging we use for our products are eco-friendly, using vegetable pulp, cornstarch and recycled paper. This is what our customers have demanded over the past 2-3 years.

We are now developing eco-friendly audio and charging products with wheat as the main body materials, as well as recycled plastics and Bamboo.

If you're working with any large groups, this is the path you have to take.

It sounds like you are certainly embracing going green where you possibly can. All credit to you.

It is interesting to hear that it is being customer lead with their requests for you to be more green. That is not to say you don't have a green ethos as a company anyway.

 

[Adam Le Grand]

Companies like Microsoft are making this more and more difficult. Saving pictures often defaults to onedrive. O365 is always connected. Phones constantly pass data back to the data centres. Alexa and other listening devices are passing data. Fridges are connected to the internet. All of these things are unnecessary. Reduce the data traffic and you reduce the consumption of energy needed power the data centres.

Except of course this isn’t going to happen. The energy required to keep us all connected and to stream huge amounts of data will keep increasing.

Some great points made here.

I personally think things have started to go a little mad when even fridges have to have wifi. I personally hate the idea of a fridge trying to figure out what I need to order based on things I have ordered before, I am constantly changing my eating habits.

You are totally right, data use is just going to keep going up and up and up. I suppose the argument is to not fight the inevitable and to concentrate on how we make that data sharing more energy efficient.

 

[Adam Le Grand]

We run new Euro6 vans These are the most environmentally friendly and practical for long distance work

That is good to know. I think I'll definitely be getting in touch sometime soon for your services. We have courier requirements out of Gloucestershire.

 

[MOIC]

It sounds like you are certainly embracing going green where you possibly can. All credit to you.

It is interesting to hear that it is being customer lead with their requests for you to be more green. That is not to say you don't have a green ethos as a company anyway.

We supply to large groups, so their do's and dont's are like an encyclopedia (remember those?).

Eco-friendly & sustainable materials, as well as employee welfare are in every supplier's requirements, bar none.

It's the way to go, if not you'll be left behind.

 

[Adam Le Grand]

We supply to large groups, so their do's and dont's are like an encyclopedia (remember those?).

Eco-friendly & sustainable materials, as well as employee welfare are in every supplier's requirements, bar none.

It's the way to go, if not you'll be left behind.

Haha, yes, I do just about recall encyclopaedia's. My Nan in fact used to spend about half an hour a day simply reading through a dictionary and an encyclopaedia, if definitely kept her mind sharp.

We're in a funny place. We are internally looking for greener options for our processes and services but then by the nature of what we do we are also in the hands of lots of different businesses.

We have nearly 200 clients and they are all at different stages of going green. We advise where we can but we still unfortunately see a lot of single use plastics, needless paperwork etc.