Green Options

Called refreshingly realistic and pragmatic, Auden Schendler, Director of Sustainability for Aspen Ski Company has written a new, provocative new book. The book, “Getting Green Done,” comes out today and Auden shares insights.

I’m reading an advance copy of Auden Schendler’s “Getting Green Done,” coming out next week. It’s filled with lots of wisdom from the front lines and its a great read. It has also given me some great insights for the book I’m writing on greening small businesses. I thought I’d share three nuggets of wisdom with you here:

1. Sustainable practices are proving to make business sense—but ethics also have to play a role. We all know that sustainable business, is good business. For example, a recent Aberdeen Group study of green practices among retailers found that green mandates were “essential cost control and customer service practices.” On average, best-in-class retailers achieved a 20% decrease in energy costs, an 8% decrease in their overall logistics and transport costs, and a 5% decrease in merchandise costs through their green initiatives. But, Schendler says, ROI is not enough:

“Ethics have to play a role…an economic pitch in a vacuum may not make sense to managers if there’s no context, no broader environmental mission within the company.”

His point is that it may be easier to “sell” sustainability when you start by getting everyone at the table to agree/admit that businesses have a responsibility to help protect the environment.

2. Do a sexy project. Schendler’s advice is to start the greening process with things that you will find fun to implement. Things that interest you. Things that are sexy. This will get everyone engaged.

This morning I found myself thinking about inaugurations past. In particular, John F. Kennedy’s 1961 Inaugural Address. That, along with meeting Auden Schendler Executive Director of Sustainability at Aspen Ski Company a few weeks ago, got me thinking about my ideas of greening small businesses.

What would happen if we reframed the issue: ask not what the country can do to green you; ask what you can do to green the country?

We all know that in order to be a green business we have to walk the walk, as well as talk the talk.  And, walking the walk needs to be more than greening your individual business. Changing your business practices is only one piece of the greening puzzle. Just because you can’t afford to install solar panels right now, doesn’t mean you can’t make a big difference. In fact, the time you invest in making a difference may be as valuable to environmental progress as installing CFLs. What if every small business owner in America got involved?  Joined a green business organization? Strengthened their green requirements for suppliers? Provided customers with greener alternatives?

I just met with Auden Schendler, Director of Sustainability for Aspen Ski Company. I had some questions for him about the book I’m writing on greening small businesses and he was kind enough to spend a good deal of time with me discussing small businesses and climate change.

Schendler, a charismatic, hunky guy, politely suggested that talking about greening business operations was a distraction from the real issue. Helping small businesses implement recycling programs and change their CFLs let businesses off the hook for doing the tough stuff: effecting public policy change. My book would be insignificant. Ouch!

After further discussion, Schendler begrudgingly conceded that greening your business was necessary and also essential for lending yourself credibility.  His bigger point, however, was that greening should be done concurrently with higher order activities.  He wants to make sure that before we discuss how to green your business, we discuss how to effect public policy or how to green all your customer’s activities.  In other words, since we can’t all afford to install solar panels, we all need to make climate change policy our business. In fact, it seems like Schendler believes that your time may be as valuable to environmental progress as your CFLs.