Green Business

Sustainability Scores and Small Business

By Kelly Spors - Jun 21, 2010 - 9 Comments

Small companies looking to break into major retailers these days have to contend with something other than just coveted shelf space: Their sustainability "score." Increasingly, big-name corporations are assessing and selecting their suppliers based on environmental benchmarks. The concept … Read More

Sustainability Planning for Business Owners

By Kelly Spors - May 9, 2010 - 14 Comments

Sustainability Planning 101 for Business Owners Wise businesses are now weaving environmental sustainability into their long-term strategies, and they're doing it by writing comprehensive sustainability plans. The point: to identify key areas of eco-friendly opportunity and give your business a … Read More

Five Easy Ways To Shave Business Energy Bills

By Kelly Spors - Apr 11, 2010 - 6 Comments

Think "energy efficiency" and high-priced upgrades like replacing the office lights or installing a fancy energy-efficient heating system often spring to mind. In reality, though, many of the most effective energy-saving strategies for small businesses require little or no upfront cost, meaning you … Read More

5 Sites to Help Make Your Business Greener

By Kelly Spors - Mar 28, 2010 - 8 Comments

Access to information and resources that help small businesses become environmentally friendlier keeps getting easier. A growing array of websites are offering businesses help reducing their environmental footprint - or at least providing some guidance and information to do it themselves. Here … Read More

How to Donate or Recycle Old Office Equipment

By Kelly Spors - Mar 2, 2010 - 5 Comments

From computers and printers to scanners and copiers, businesses rely on electronics galore these days. But when it's time to replace all this equipment, it's not always clear what to do with it. Throwing away old office electronics hurts the environment, and is banned in many communities. They … Read More

Five Green Business Trends For 2010

By Kelly Spors - Feb 14, 2010 - 11 Comments

Small businesses are no longer cutting edge by calling themselves "green." Big corporations like Wal-Mart and Nike down to the corner cafÃ© are cultivating a greener image as consumer demand for environmentally responsible products and operations quickly goes mainstream. What this means: … Read More

How to Engage Employees in Workplace Greening

By Kelly Spors - Jan 28, 2010 - 4 Comments

A good test of the success of a business's "green" initiatives is employee buy-in. Do employees feel connected to the company's eco-friendly endeavors? Do they actually talk about it and participate? When I worked at The Wall Street Journal, our Top Small Workplaces project featured several … Read More

Get on the Fast Track to Green Tech Patents

By Rieva Lesonsky - Jan 11, 2010 - 10 Comments

Encouraging the growth of green technology and green jobs has been a priority for the Obama administration. The recent announcement that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will fast-track green technology patent applications is a step in the right direction. According to U.S. Commerce … Read More

7 Green Business Resolutions for 2010

By Kelly Spors - Jan 5, 2010 - 11 Comments

Being an eco-conscious business is no longer just something that's the right thing to do - it makes financial sense. Environmental policy and energy efficiency are priorities of the Obama administration, so businesses that don't take voluntary steps to reduce their carbon footprints may face … Read More

How to Stop Junk Mail to Your Business

By Kelly Spors - Dec 10, 2009 - 6 Comments

No time like the holidays to remind us how much needless waste clutters our mailboxes. Direct-mail outlets and retailers are in full force, sometimes sending two or three copies of 100-page glossy catalogs to the same business address. Not to mention all the credit-card offers, coupon packs and … Read More

Free Money for Energy Efficiency Upgrades

By Kelly Spors - Dec 4, 2009 - 5 Comments

Most small-business owners want to become more energy efficient - they just can't spare the cash for big upgrades or to replace older equipment. But some good news: Utility companies will actually help businesses pay for their upgrades, and thus recoup the initial investment much faster. Many … Read More

Green Business and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

By Anita Campbell - Apr 20, 2009 - 9 Comments

"Three out of 4 small business owners found a green vendor to be more appealing than a non-green vendor if the service and price are the same." (Emphasis added.) This statement comes from PayCycle, a payroll service from Palo Alto serving 85,000 small businesses. Recently they did a survey of … Read More