Improve My Business

Today I want to point out two great posts made by Professor David Dornfeld on his Green Manufacturing Blog (http://green-manufacturing.blogspot.com/). The posts are about low hanging fruit for manufactures to improve their environmental impact without expending a ton of resources. The posts draw on research that Professor Dornfeld and his students will be presenting later this year at a green manufacturing conference and have some great advice for smaller manufactures who want to decrease their environmental impact but can’t spare the resources to role out a huge environmental campaign. The first post can be found at http://bit.ly/8AXCLf and the follow up can be found at  http://bit.ly/5legqq. I hope you enjoy the posts as much as I did.

Technorati Tags: Business, enviornment, improvement

There is a lot of positive press lately for green initiatives – you know, doing something that not only makes sense from a business standpoint, but is also environmentally friendly? Everything from hybrid cars, to turbine power, to solar cells, is getting some press.

Consider that process improvement is also a tool in the green toolbox – after all, if you are working to become more efficient, that promotes using the minimum… and if you are efficient, you will be more competitive, so you have a better chance of being, and staying, productive in your industry.

The next time that management is considering which green tool to champion, remind them that process improvement is the best green tool since it takes product quality, minimization of resources, employee innovation, and customer satisfaction into account.

Technorati Tags: enviornment, green business, green initiative, process improvement

What classifies a business as green? Could you be certified as a green business? There are a million questions surrounding being green, but it’s not really all that complicated.

We all know the obvious things: recycle, reduce paper use, turn off lights, etc. But you can take it a step further by implementing an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for your business. The EPA Small Business Division has produced a workbook to help small businesses develop their very own EMP. The 80 page workbook is free and can be downloaded from the Business.gov website. It is a great resource whether you want something simple to help educate your employees and customers on your efforts, or if you’re looking to implement a full Environmental Management System (EMS). (If you’re after the latter, may I remind you that McDCG is available to assist you). Either way it’s a great place to start and you may find that you’re greener than you thought!

For more ideas visit the Green Guide for New Businesses on the Business.gov website.

Technorati Tags: EMS, enviornment, green business, green living, improvement

Ah, the air is cooling, the leaves are turning - can the avalanche of holiday catalogs be far behind?

As an environmentalist, I prefer not to get catalogs for things I will never purchase.  I prefer to do a web search if there’s something specific I’m looking for.  I prefer not to have to recycle these catalogs - I’d like not to receive them in the first place — and this is where the good folks at Catalog Choice comes in.  If you go to www.catalogchoice.org and sign up, you can eliminate catalogs from being delivered to you.  [I found this particularly helpful when moving also.]

So do the right thing, eliminate the excess catalogs, and your mailperson’s aching back will thank you for it!

Technorati Tags: enviornment, green living, save a tree