Every month META hosts a “Beyond the Bottom Line” workshop on current business topics. This month the topic is “Greening Your Business” and Sattler Eco-Clothing founder Dave Sattler will be out there with Idaho Green Expo Vice-President and Sustainable Growth owner Lindsay Schramm to present on that topic.

Who is META?

META (MicroEnterprise Training & Assistance) provides business growth strategies in the form of technical assistance, microloans, business plan training to eligible women, minorities, immigrants, and other underserved populations for the purposes of starting or developing their Idaho-based business.

I figured since I was preparing some materials to present on this topic anyway I might as well post it here.

To begin, let’s try to get a grasp exactly what we are talking about - in a business perspective. A report recently published by the conservative Ernst & Young titled “Strategic Business Risks of 2008” read –

“A specialist in science and international affairs wrote, “Current climate predictions are based on models and, naturally, the scenarios communicated to the policy world are the scientifically conservative scenarios (i.e., those which most scientists agree are likely). Yet scientifically conservative scenarios are not necessarily what will happen; it is possible that the hazard is actually more imminent than is commonly understood. In this case, we may see physical climate surprises as well as an increased policy response that is more abrupt than most firms are currently planning for.”

Even with conservative forecasts of climate changes the reality is imminent and merits immediate attention. If you live in CA or FL, that is why your governors are trying to work together to protect their coastlines from being underwater. (See Video) One of the most important things to realize about taking your business green is that, just like anything else, if you drag your feet and “go green” because everyone else is and your boss wants to know your “green strategy” by the end of the week then it will be most likely result in an expensive, frustrating failure.

Michael Porter, the same guy from Harvard that gave us the 5 Forces model, wrote a must-read article on the topic of integrating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in this case – being eco-responsible - into the operations of a business. Of this likelihood for failure he wrote –

“The fact is, the prevailing approaches to CSR are so fragmented and so disconnected from business and strategy as to obscure many of the greatest opportunities for companies to benefit society. If, instead, corporations were to analyze their prospects for social responsibility using the same frameworks that guide their core business choices, they would discover that CSR can be much more than a cost, a constraint, or a charitable deed – it can be a source of opportunity, innovation, and competitive advantage.”

Essentially, half-hearted efforts don’t work. Your industry or business has a unique value chain for which there may not be a model to follow when greening your business – if you have no model to duplicate and you are not fully vested in going green then it will be a struggle for you to find the motivation to identify opportunities to reduce your impact on the environment.

We’ll post more on this topic later but we wanted to provide some excellent resources for anyone considering taking their business green so we have listed some of our favorite resources on the subject.

My Top Resources for Taking Your Business Green –

Pew Center on Global Climate Change; Getting Ahead of the Curve: Corporate Strategies that Address Climate Change

HBR – The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility. Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer

KPMG - Climate Change Risk Report

Strategic Business Risks of 2008 – Ernst & Young – Radical Greening

Green Consumer Segments

Nielsen: More Than Half of U.S. Consumers Would Give up ‘Convenience Packaging’ to Help Environment

Interesting HBR Article “Don’t Bother with the “Green” Consumer”

Green Marketing Tips for Eco Entrepreneurs in 2008

Green Energy / Operations – Dell Gets Green Energy

GE – Greening Current Needs with OLEDS

The 4 Green Fashion Consumers – Which One for You?

John Davies – “How to Identify Sustainability Strategies That Deliver: Plucking Low-hanging Fruit Green Initiatives” Webinar

Up to 75% of a company’s carbon footprint comes from transportation and logistics

Harris Interactive – Corporate America’s View on “Going Green”

Environmental Leader