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Quarter 4, 2009 Contents
Greening Your Business Greening Your Business newsletter is a quarterly e-newsletter containing stories, resources and ideas for established businesses that details how you can reduce their environmental impact. This newsletter serves those looking for ways to modify corporate attitude for reducing carbon footprint – a corporate "grass-roots" movement, if you will. Visit our website at Greening YourBusiness.com to connect with other subscribers. We are always interested in new green solutions and the progress of your green business. |
The mug makes a comeback: by Jessica Moore
Starting in 2008 the Green Committee is a group of employees ranging from staff, to senior, to partners. As an employee owned company, everyone's effort makes an impact. "Not only is 'going green' the responsible and right thing to do, we also know that by investing in the environment we can find cost savings and boost company morale," says Tom Stout, Managing Partner. "As we continue with the aggressive growth plan we have in place for the firm, we plan to seek out ways to mitigate any negative effects our operations may have on the environment." After the team got the green light to make the switch, mugs with the "green SC&H logo" were ordered. Mug distribution went hand in hand with a new recycling program. The company had never before recycled bottles, cans, or plastic. Working with a few waste removal vendors, the team found they could easily coordinate pick-up for recyclable material; they just needed a strategy for collecting it around the building. Bins for paper, and bottles, cans and plastic were placed in the kitchen and coffee stations around the building. Another set of paper bins were placed by the mailboxes.
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An accounting firm is surely good with numbers, but after an audit of the number of paper cups the company used in a week, the members of the green committee were in shock. Employing 270 people, SC&H Group is tucked away in Sparks, Maryland. The committee found that they used a whopping 1,000 paper cups a week. Not only did this take a toll on the environment, but also in the supplies budget.
The team stayed late to leave a mug on everyone's desk and all paper cups were removed from the coffee stations. Also, new hires are given a mug on their first day, and extra mugs left in the kitchen. The next morning, employees were sent an email about the mug and recycling initiative, as well as tips and reminders for the ongoing green effort – it never hurts to remind people to turn the lights out when they leave a room!
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