Message to the Federation of Small Businesses: Every Business Can Go Green (Video)

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) annual conference was founded in 1974, and has more than 210,000 members across 33 regions and 230 branches, the largest organization representing the interests of small and medium businesses in the UK. 'Small Business and the Environment' was this year's conference theme.
The focus of  the keynote presentation was "Going Green in the Connected Era," something that every business (regardless of size) can embrace. I met with John Holbrow, FSB Environment Chairman, and we discussed how small businesses are making a difference. An FSB-commissioned report released earlier this year found that an overwhelming majority of small businesses (92 percent) are socially and environmentally responsible. Eighty-three percent are already engaged in waste minimization and recycling.

The good news is that we can all do a lot more to help ensure a cleaner future.

"We can all commit to being carbon neutral, designing environmentally-responsible products and offering free recycling to consumers everywhere we do business. We can also partner with our customers and members of the ReGeneration -- people of all ages who care about the environment."

Working together, we will make a world of difference!

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Early History of Sustainability at Queens College

Queens College began many of their sustainability initiatives during the three years between 2004 through 2007. They began participation in the peak load management program with Con Ed. They decreased their power use on certain summer days of peak demand of electricity and reduced energy load on our buildings. They have purchased only Energy Star rated air conditioners. They began replacing inefficient window units with split air conditioning systems. In the 1990s, they had installed light sensors in all of our offices and classrooms. We continued to maintain those sensors and they are operational. Beginning in 2005, we purchased electric utility vehicles for use on campus. By 2007, they had purchased 10 electric vehicles.

They are used for a variety of campus purposes, including security patrols, transportation of mail and maintenance equipment, and performance of grounds work. Over the years, the percentage of products that were “green” has steadily increased. Their custodial staff began using “green” cleaning products and paper products in 2004.

In 2004, they began replacing worn carpeting with carpeting containing recycled product and sustainable materials. This carpet can be recycled when it needs to be replaced. The paint that they use is water soluble and the dyes are green-certified. They started recycling their cooking oil, computers, and yard waste. They developed a program to encourage electronic communication by standardizing on one email system, creating a campus electronic announcement system called “QC mailer”, and installing plasma screens across the campus for announcements.

As a college, their faculty engaged in research to understand the processes in the environment and to recognize the impact we have on it. Examples include studying the impact of the World Trade Center clean-up on worker health and examining the effect of increased CO2 concentration on plant growths.

They also created academic courses of study geared towards the environment. Their Center for the Biology of Natural Systems focuses on urban environmental problems. Their School for Earth and Environmental Studies prepares students for careers in environmental science.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Queens College Sustainability Plan

Queens College Sustainability Plan sets goals in each of the seven pillars of sustainability and the steps to be taken to achieve those goals. These seven pillars are comprised of Energy, Water, Transportation, Recycling/Source Reduction, Procurement, Sustainable Nutrition, Education and Outreach.

1. Energy: A sustainable student residence and an addition to Remsen that incorporated energy efficiency measures. They are currently engaged in several studies of their buildings that will provide recommendations for energy efficient retrofits for building upgrades. They are working towards to have a solar project and a green roof. They are also working on a menu of energy savings projects in their energy audit of their facilities and they plan to implement any that are financially feasible. New equipment is evaluated in terms of its energy-efficiency. With adequate funding, their goal is to replace all of their outdoor lighting with either LED or induction lighting.

2. Water: They are focused on bathroom retro fits to save water including water-efficient toilet flushes and sensor activated sink faucets. They have a long-term goal of having some type of “grey water” project.

3. Transportation: They have Zip Cars, the car sharing vendor, on campus. They will continue to expand the percentage of our fleet that is either electric or hybrid. They will also create incentives for the use of alternative transportation, like biking, public transportation, and car pooling

4. Recycling/Source Reduction: They will reduce the total amount of waste produced and expand the percentage of the waste that is recycled. They will continue to use technology to reduce their use of paper, moving more or their processes and communication online. They will examine the amount of printing and copying and reduce their consumption. Their dining services will explore composting.

5. Procurement: They are now purchasing paper that has 100% recycled content for copying. They will expand the percentage of products that are “green”. They will continue to use “cradle to grave” sustainable products, like carpeting that has recycled elements and is recyclable at the end of its life cycle. They will engage in a mail initiative to reduce the amount of unwanted mail that comes to the campus.

6. Sustainable Nutrition: They have signed a 10 year contract with Chartwells, their food vendor that incorporates sustainable practices and goals including using “green” service ware, local sourcing, and recycling.

7. Education and Outreach: They will continue their education and outreach efforts through a website, ‘green” events and other means. They will increase student, faculty, and staff engagement. They will increase the number of courses they offer that have an environmental focus. Their faculty will continue the important research they are doing on environmental topics.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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Queens College Sustainability Mission

As reviewed in Queens College Mission statement, the school is serious about being green. Their campus is steeped in the culture of sustainability making them a model for the community. The school follows the well accepted approach outlined in the 1987 Brundtland Report (“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.) They have a Sustainability Council that oversees the execution their Strategic Plan to be carbon neutral.

Queens College is committed to energy reduction through efficiency. Their construction and renovation projects are environmentally sound and they make extensive use of recycled materials. They are reducing the overall waste and they have a robust recycling program. Further, they are becoming a “paperless” campus which uses only “green” products.

They promote water conservation initiatives and sustainable practices in their dining services. They also encourage their faculty, students, and staff to consider forms of transportation with less impact on the environment. Queens College also supports important environmental research.

Perhaps most importantly, through their environmentally oriented educational programs they work to inform their student body to be good stewards of the environment.

© 2012, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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10 Sustainability Initiatives for Small Businesses

Although the constraints of many small business often preclude the grand sustainability gestures of larger corporations, there are many things that these businesses can do to be more sustainable. Here is a summary of ten easy and inexpensive things that small businesses can do from Miratel:

1. Go as paperless as possible. Be mindful when printing an email, document or report and consider whether it is really necessary. When possible, print double-sided and in black and white.

2. Keep a running count of the pages you print off – it’s just like calorie counting. You’ll be more cognizant of your consumption.

3. Activate your computer’s standby/sleep/hibernate settings to reduce energy when not in use and power it off completely at the end of each work day Power down all other electronics when not in use. Take it a step further by unplugging them when not in use which will save additional energy

4. Eliminate all disposable dishes, cups and utensils and stock a communal set of dishes, drinking glasses and cutlery in the staff lunch room.

5. Lower your thermostat in the winter and raise it in the summer (by 1 to 2 degrees). Every degree represent a 5% reduction in use.

6. Encourage packing a lunch and going meatless one day per week. It will save money and the environment by reducing your carbon footprint by 28.5%.

7. Ban plastic water bottles and provide staff with reusable water bottles and filtered tap water.

8. Encourage employees to take public transit or carpool.

9. Switch to energy efficient lighting fixtures that use T5 fluorescents bulbs rather than traditional fluorescents.

10. Use green, toxin-free cleaning products.

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