Comments on: Five Green Business Trends For 2010

By: Evan Stoecker

Evan Stoecker — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:54:58 +0000

Tim, you are absolutely spot on. After reading through some of the discussion, I was going to be sure to mention how you have to include not only energy savings but, as I call it, “employee savings” as well. There is no question, for me anyways, that going green is the right call. You are helping the environment out, you will be saving money via savings, tax breaks, etc, and improving your reputation among constituents. And in response to Dale, while there may be those people that are “turned off” by companies who think they are “saving the world”, I think the fact of the matter is that those companies are indeed doing that or at least contributing to making our world healthier and that is something to be proud of and in the long run, if not the short run, the best choice. I’ve read articles stating that Wall Street investors take into account green practices of companies to help them determine if the business will last into the future. Long and short, it is a good move.

Someone who I have found to be extremely helpful in this business is Jim Simcoe. You can check out his website here: http://www.jimsimcoe.com

By: Tim Kovach

Tim Kovach — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:28:49 +0000

I have to say that I disagree with you on that, Robert. Most people tend to see sustainable practices in that black-and-white perspective, but there is a third, potentially more beneficial road to follow when considering the business incentive of sustainability – increased productivity. Study after study continually shows that switching to more energy efficient lighting, redesigning or reformatting office spaces to make use of natural lighting, improving indoor air quality through any number of means, engaging employees in sustainability, etc. can significantly increase productivity within your business and can be a major boon to your bottom line. The fact is that if a business only considers the potential energy savings when analyzing a efficiency project, it is doing itself a major disservice. It is true that doing a lighting retrofit – while one of the efficiency projects with the fastest payoff – may take updwards of 2-3 years to reach 100% payback if you simply consider energy savings and utility avoidance costs. But you also have to consider increased productivity, reduced employee strain and absenteeism, and the decreases in employee errors that result from a project of this sort. This can cut the payback period down substantially and take ROI up to more than 100%.

By: Five Green Business Trends For 2010

Five Green Business Trends For 2010 — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:14:59 +0000

[...] Kelly Spors is a former small-business reporter and blogger for The Wall Street Journal and has also freelanced for Yahoo! and The New York Times. She is now communications and outreach coordinator for Energy Smart, a Minnesota nonprofit helping businesses save money through energy efficiency. http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/02/five-green-business-trends-for-2010.html [...]

By: Does it Pay to Be Green? | Information Engineering and Management

Does it Pay to Be Green? | Information Engineering and Management — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:08:55 +0000

[...] on dalecallahan.com under the title “Does it Pay to Be Green?” A recent post by Small Business Trends hailed that businesses need to do more than claim they are green and environmentally friendly – [...]

By: Does it pay to be green? | Dale Callahan

Does it pay to be green? | Dale Callahan — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:23:06 +0000

[...] it pay to be green? A recent post by Small Business Trends hailed that businesses need to do more than claim they are green and environmentally friendly [...]

By: Five Green Business Trends for 2010 : Harvard Business Services BLOG: Information on Delaware LLC, Registered Agent, Franchise Tax Payments in DE.

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:31:49 +0000

[...] the full post HERE. [...]

By: Robert Brady

Robert Brady — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:37:58 +0000

Being green has to make financial sense. Either you save money by going green or you are able to command a price premium because your product or service is green. If you can’t meet at least one of these conditions being green is just a gimmick.

By: Dale Callahan

Dale Callahan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:18:33 +0000

Are we sure? I wonder if there is any research to show that customers really care. And do customers on the west coast care more than others?

And how are the challenges to global warming data changing this game?

On my side I find a lot of people who love the “green” stuff – but I also see people turned off by companies who think they are saving the world.

While I am not commenting so much about is global warming true or not (although as a recovering scientist I do have an opinion about the science) — I am just wondering are we all jumping up and down thinking our customers care without knowing for sure.

By: Noel Wiggins

Noel Wiggins — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:14:23 +0000

Indeed there is a need for companies to start putting their money where their mouth is in regards to their going green promises…

Its no longer “trendy” to say your a green company you now have to prove it and I love the emerging trend of being more transparent. I believe the more you expose to your customers and the more accessible your are will lead to better business…

–

Thanks and Regards

Noel for Nopun.com
a graphic design studio

By: Divinacomms

Divinacomms — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:51:23 +0000

I completely agree with all the trends listed here, mainly because I saw them emerging in late 2009. I’m happy to see them moving to the forefront as all of them involve communicating with the customer on a deeper level and helping the environment.