Small Business Week - Eco-Friendly Practices

USA Today has a great little article today by Rhonda Abrams about how eco-friendly practices in small business can be financially beneficial as well as considerate to the earth and our communities.

It notes that this week is Small Business Week (who knew?) - which I hope is positive foreshadowing for me.

She goes on to list four ways small companies can/should incorporate positive environmental activities in one's business. Let's see how my business will stack up against these:

1. Improve your internal operations
Ms. Abrams suggests turning off electronic devices and utilities overnight. I agree. My laptop, which will track sales and the like will come home with me at night and will receive the rest it hopefully will deserve. As for lighting, in addition to turning off most lights at night, I plan to use long-lasting/energy-efficient bulbs. We've designed the electrical circuitry to have independent zones which will allow for changes in lighting depending on time of day and for during the hours that the store will be closed.

2. Differentiate yourself from the competition by emphasizing your green practices
When it comes to cleaning products, I plan to treat my business as I do our home. We pay a little more for the green, environmentally-safe cleaning products, specifically those made by Seventh Generation, Method and Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day products.

3. Sell a "green" product or service
The products I will be selling, whether they be cheeses, chocolate bars, produce or crackers are, as often as possible, organic, sustainably produced or procured, of the free-trade variety and in many cases, artisan made. A high percentage of the cheeses I will be selling are made right here in the USA, so air freight and the like will be limited. There are so many excellent farmstead, artisanal cheeses here in the states that I'd be silly to snub. That said, there are some European standards that I simply cannot avoid: Parmigiano Reggiano, Emmenthaler, Roquefort and Epoisses to name a few. Also, I am looking into environmentally-sound, biodegradable take-out containers, cups for iced-tea/lemonade, straws and other things that will go with our sandwiches and things.

4. Invent something
I personally think that this is a cop-out for a conclusion to the article. So I'll remark on something said elsewhere in the article having to do with commuting to work. My wife, who previously drove to Secaucus every day for work will soon be commuting via train to Manhattan (new job for her too) and I will have the luxury of being able to ride my bike or walk to work every day, though I will take exception on rainy, sleety and otherwise unpleasant days. So that's something.

You can read the article here.