HOW WE ARE GREEN and WHY IT MATTERS

At the risk of sounding preachy, right now we have only one planet to live on. And it’s rapidly becoming less pleasant to live here, not only for us but for many critical plant and animal species. We believe that everyone has a responsibility to do their part. If the challenge seems too daunting, we say: start small and work up from there.

We continuously observe the three “R”s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Some of our ongoing company environmental initiatives include the following:

• Most of our team works remotely whenever possible, reducing traffic, CO2 emissions and the use of fossil fuels. To a large extent, phone conferences have taken the place of face-to-face meetings.
• We reduce our energy usage by turning off all unneeded lights during the day and at the end of the work day; we use long life fluorescent bulbs wherever feasible.
• We use recycled paper whenever possible. Additionally, we print our laser paper on both sides, which all gets recycled through DeKalb County’s recycling program.
• We actively discourage the use of disposable plates, cups or anything made of styrofoam.
• We recycle all of the following items: newspapers, magazines, cardboard, glass, plastic, aluminum, catalogues and junk mail, and ink and toner cartridges.
• We safely recycle our used or broken electronic equipment, dead batteries and other materials containing potentially hazardous components.

BEING MORE GREEN CAN EARN YOU MORE GREEN!

A recent study published by George Mason University shows that corporations can profit from being environmentally friendly. The study looked at more than 2,600 manufacturing facilities in seven countries. It showed that organizations that improve their environmental performance by enhancing their internal efficiencies and developing new green products and technologies can offset the cost of regulation and even accrue a net gain. Read the whole article.

A February ‘09 article in TIME Magazine, “Being Green May Help Business in Bad Times”, makes a compelling case for companies to continue their green practices despite the recession. Joel Makower of GreenBiz.com says that green values – efficiency, reducing waste, managing carbon – have increasingly become standard practice for any smart business. "These are practices that don't go away during a recession," says Makower.

And in an April 13, 2009 issue of The Globe and Mail, a Canadian publication, “Even in a Recession, It's Worth Being Green” makes several points about the potential benefits of green practices. Example: As North America's first carbon-neutral airline, Harbour Air has reaped a 12% increase in ridership.
According to Bob Willard,
author of The Sustainability
Advantage, integrating
sustainability strategies can
result in up to a 38% profit
increase for large
companies and a 66%
increase for small
companies over a
five-year period.