Corporations around the globe are going green---lessening their carbon footprint and contributing to environmental causes. They do this both to bolster their marketing image, and simply to be good citizens and contribute positively to their communities. Corporations can go green by embarking on any number of projects involving procurement and administration, human resources and personnel, or partnership with organizations recognized for their environmental leadership.
Energy Efficiency Challenge
Boosting energy efficiency is a project that any corporation can undertake, and it has the advantage of producing results that are relatively easy to measure since the business can compare past months' and years' energy use with present energy bills.
The city of Charleston, S.C. encourages corporate energy efficiency with the Go Green Charleston Green Office Challenge. The Challenge is a voluntary competition in which local corporations that choose to participate have one year to replace outdated appliances with more energy-efficient models and undertake other conservation and efficiency demonstration measures. The city provides advice and resources and awards participating companies with public recognition.
Corporations elsewhere can create their own challenges, throwing down the gantlet to competitors or business neighbors and offering prizes and publicity for the business that cuts its energy usage by the highest percentage.
Bike and Walk Programs
Corporations can have a dramatic impact on air quality and traffic congestion---and make a positive impact on their employees' health---by initiating bike and walk to work programs. The Alliance for Biking and Walking provides grants and technical assistance to communities seeking to increase pedestrian and cycling activities in the community.
Corporate walk and bike projects could include advocating for car-free Fridays, installing bike racks as well as locker rooms for employees to change into work attire and lock up helmets and sneakers, and working with the community to designate or build safe biking and walking routes. Corporations can also encourage biking and walking by sponsoring company race teams, providing corporate logo attire and water bottles and offering positive recognition and support to team members who race for charitable fund raising events.
Go Paperless Partnerships
The Nature Conservancy, among other recognized leaders in the environmental field, offers the opportunity for corporate partnership projects that can reduce a business's negative environmental impacts while bolstering marketing potential. Under the Nature Conservancy's "Go Paperless" project, a corporation makes a donation to the Nature Conservancy for each customer who agrees to receive online billing or subscriptions rather than paper copies. In exchange, the corporation can use the Nature Conservancy's project logo on their website and materials, and the Nature Conservancy will list the corporation as one of the participating companies, bolstering marketing through creating exposure to the organization's loyal membership base.
The corporate donation is offset by the money the corporation saves in not printing and mailing paper documents, so going green with a partnership project can be a win-win for both business and the environment.
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