{"id":269,"date":"2017-01-19T14:41:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T21:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/?p=269"},"modified":"2017-01-19T14:41:26","modified_gmt":"2017-01-19T21:41:26","slug":"being-kind-to-the-planet-micro-strategies-for-minimizing-your-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sdc-sage-editing.com\/sdc-sagewit\/?p=269","title":{"rendered":"Being kind to the planet: micro-strategies for minimizing your impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Oak<\/a>In last week\u2019s post, we explored the idea of setting New Year\u2019s resolutions (or goals) for one\u2019s business. Specifically, we focused on setting one or two specific, meaningful, and doable goals intended to help your microbusiness become (more) socially responsible. This week, we are going to explore what it means for your business to \u201cgo green\u201d and what that might look like for microentrepreneurs and solopreneurs.<\/p>\n

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Green Dreams: Getting Started and Grounding the Ideal in the Real<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you think of an environmentally sustainable business, what do you imagine? Do you imagine a company that manufactures earth-friendly products and is housed in a state-of-the-art, LEED certified building, replete with low flush toilets, nontoxic carpeting made from recycled materials, solar panels, LED lighting, a living roof, and not a plastic cup or bottle to be seen anywhere on the premises? If the next image that went through your head was multiple dollar signs accompanied by the thought, \u201cGads, how would my microbusiness ever be able to pay for a green makeover on this scale?\u201d you can relax. While the mental picture I\u2019ve just painted might be an achievable goal for some companies (yes, even for some microbusinesses), this might not be the ideal goal (never mind whether it\u2019s even feasible) for your particular business structure or model. It especially shouldn\u2019t be your short-term (three months out) or even medium-term (1-2 years out) goal.<\/p>\n

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I can assure you that even when microentrepreneurs have<\/strong> successfully achieved many of the ideal green benchmarks outlined above (a living roof, no plastic cups, plates or bottles to be seen, a small eco-footprint), these savvy business owners got there through small steps taken over many years. Toby Barazzuol, the owner of Eclipse Awards<\/a>\u2014a Vancouver-based socially responsible business[1] featured as a case study in Small Business, Big Change: A Microentrepreneur\u2019s Guide to Social Responsibility[2]<\/strong>\u2014<\/em>emphasized that the path to environmental sustainability was an ongoing journey: one that he and his business had been traveling for six years (that was back in 2012). Yes, I know we\u2019re encouraged to dream big, but as I emphasized last week, in order to achieve one\u2019s goals, it\u2019s often better to be a realist, start with something small and manageable, and keep taking small steps forward.<\/p>\n

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Whereas Toby made the decision to transform Eclipse Awards into a socially responsible business several years into running his business, other entrepreneurs I interviewed for the book\u2014for example Linh Truong (The Soap Dispensary<\/a>)[3] and Lori Del Genis (Conscious Elegance<\/a>)[4]\u2014had consciously started their businesses with the intention of running environmentally sustainable companies that reflected their personal values and commitment to the three Rs of sustainability (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). Whether you started out as a sustainable business or you\u2019ve been in business several years and have recently decided to transform your business practices and philosophy, your starting point for the S-R transformation process is an assessment of where you\u2019re at right now.<\/p>\n

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On Your Mark, Get Set …<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gather your utility bills, your financial information, a notebook (and pen if you plan on using a paper-based notebook), and find a quiet place to reflect on the following questions. What green practices do you already have in place? In what areas do you know you\u2019re falling short and would like to make some changes? What\u2019s your motivation for greening your business processes? Are you ready to take on these changes? Do you have the resources (both the financial and social capital) to implement the changes you want to see? Do you have the time to take on changes that are a multi-step process? If you have employees, are they on board with your vision? What about your customers? If you implement a change in business processes and some portion of that cost is going to be passed along to your customers, will they still be as supportive of your green transformation? You will also need to assess three footprints that tell you how lightly (or not) we\u2019re stepping on the planet.<\/p>\n

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There are two ways to proceed with the environmental assessment process. You can either invest in a professional audit, or you can opt for a D-I-Y approach. As I explain in Chapter 2 of Small Business, Big Change<\/em>, a professional audit might be worth considering if you own or lease your business space, you know there are some aspects of your business that are resource or energy intensive (2012, p. 73), and\/or a professional audit might be a required component of becoming a certified sustainable business. A professional audit will assess your business practices and processes in terms of your carbon, water, and ecological footprints, and will then provide you with a set of recommendations and strategies to reduce the size of your footprints. For solopreneurs and microentrepreneurs whose enterprises are not especially energy or resource intensive, a D-I-Y approach might make more sense, especially if your office space is in your home. There is also the not-so-small matter of the cost (money, time, or both) of doing an audit. A professional audit is the \u201cchampagne budget\u201d version of the assessment process. If your spending capacity is more in the \u201clemonade budget\u201d range at the moment, consider taking advantage of various D-I-Y tools available in books and online.<\/p>\n

If you opt for a D-I-Y version of an environmental assessment, you\u2019ll want to head over to the online assessment tools to calculate your carbon footprint<\/a>, water footprint<\/a> and ecological footprint<\/a>. Once you have the results of these online assessments, consider them in the context of your responses to the questions posed above. But first, take a few minutes to congratulate yourself for any green processes that you already have in place. Have you already gone paperless? Great! Do you make an effort to print double-sided or only purchase recycled or ecofriendly paper? Give yourself credit for taking some steps in the right direction.<\/p>\n

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Get Started, and Keep it Simple and Small<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s start giving some thought to a reasonable goal or two that you can set and achieve, given your current level of resources and time. Small, simple goals that will yield a success or \u201cwin\u201d in a reasonable time frame are more likely to keep you motivated if you\u2019re just starting out on your green transformation. Although it may be tempting to be swayed by slogans such as \u201cgo big or go home,\u201d taking on a project that it too complex or too far outside of your comfort zone will not serve you well if it derails and topples your confidence, financial resources or professional reputation along with it.<\/p>\n

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If you are overwhelmed by a long list of \u201cto dos\u201d and don\u2019t know where to start, pick one or two small action items that you can put into place with a minimum of fuss and expense in a short space of time. Remember: sustainability is about conserving existing resources. <\/em>Start by choosing actions that either reduce consumption of a resource (or the need for frequent replacements) or reuse existing resources.<\/p>\n

Here are a few strategies from Chapter 2 of Small Business, Big Change<\/em> (2012, pp. 76-77) that you can implement almost immediately. These are relatively low-cost options and will yield positive outcomes[5] within a few months:<\/p>\n