Companies in a wide range of sectors are pioneering green business and are encouraging others to follow suit. Manufacturing businesses, insurance companies, telecommunication providers, financial institutions, sports firms, internet giants, and dental practices are all doing their part to improve the environment.

A Number of Sustainable Business Practices

Increasingly businesses are opting for green business practices, and they are doing so for good reasons:

• Improving the condition of the environment through greener choices.
  
  
• Providing more environmentally-friendly service for raising profits in an ethical manner.
  
  
• Using/building eco-friendly products, saving money in the long run.
  
  
• Harnessing solar power to lower energy bills after a reasonable ROI period.
  
  
• Sharing resources and building eco-friendly partnerships for business growth.
  
  
• Cutting carbon-emissions, lowering pollution, and improving climate change.
  
  
• Encouraging others to be environmentally-friendly and building partnerships.
  
  
• Reducing traffic congestion through employee car pooling and use of bicycles.
  
  
• Recycling products for re-use within business; good examples include recycled printer paper and refilled printer ink cartridges.
  
  
• Reducing contamination of water for better health; also gaining in popularity for home and commercial use are EcoloBlue Water from Air devices which minimizes or eliminates the need for using the public drinking water supply.
  
  
• Raising green publicity for business promotion, leveraging increasing public awareness and their desire to transition to a more sustainable lifestyle.
  
  
• Saving on energy use and decreasing business overhead operating expenses.
  
  
• Making buildings greener for a healthier and happier workforce.
  
  
• Working with communities for healthy environmental change; again, leveraging public opinion as an advertising option.

Eco-Friendly Businesses in the Spotlight

IBM, Hewlett Packard, Dell, and Yahoo! are working greener. IBM has been pioneering eco-friendly changes in their business practices and policies since the 70s, by reducing their energy consumption and traffic congestion.

Hewlett Packard is a leader in energy-efficient models, supply chain greenhouse gas reporting in the supply chain, and recycling of their business products.

Similarly, Dell has altered their product production process to recycle plastic and equipment from customers. Yahoo! sports green websites and encourages thousands of users globally to go green!

Each business has a green contribution to make. Finance and insurance groups such as Munich Reinsurance Group chose to recycle waste paper and do so at a 75 percent success rate.

The National Australian Bank is an example to other banking institutions, buying energy from Australia’s own wind farms and operating more efficiently to reduce tons of greenhouse gases.

Qualifying for LEED Certification

Certain businesses are in the midst of converting their business models as well as their facilities to an eco-friendly one. During new construction or a major remodel many are considering making changes that will result in LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

This is done by earning between 45 and 90 points, for the lowest (basic) to the highest (Platinum). Of course, it doesn’t have to be done all at once; For example, British Telecom (BT) aims to reduce 80 percent of their carbon emissions within three years.

Like the Australian National Bank, BT is investing in wind farm technology. Similar to IBM, BT’s goal is to reduce traffic congestion and employee travel by introducing flexible working hours and video conferencing technology.

More and more companies recognize the benefits of becoming socially responsible and being ethical in practice. Tapping into solar power, recycling, and reducing chemical toxicity are ways to do this. The medical and dental industries are doing the same.

All types of dentists use greener dentistry products and choose to invest in technologies for reducing energy consumption and making their practice more efficient in terms of the environment.

Changing policies and practices, such as infection control and reducing risk of contamination are part of the greener plan.

Eco-friendly is not just a buzz word. It is a global consciousness among individuals, groups, businesses, and institutions to grow with environmentally-friendly and healthy manners.

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