Tag Archives: resources

Sustainability Resources for Small to Medium Sized Businesses in Denver/Boulder Colorado

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Denver is leading the way for the denvernation in striving to become the “greenest” city in the country.  Greenprint, CORE, Alliance for Sustainable Colorado and many more sustainability groups have played a vital role in Denver being named recently as 5th Greenest City Overall by Siemens.

Each of these organizations offer a wealth of resources to support small and medium sized businesses in the Denver/ Boulder area including:

Certifiably Green Denver: An Environmental Business Assistance Program with Greenprint that assists Denver businesses in identify opportunities to reduce waste, energy, air pollution and water.

CORE Catalyst: A program sponsored by CORE that matches talented graduate students from our leading Colorado Universities to do sustainability assessment and recommendation plans.

Sustainability Calendar: Managed by the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, this calendar keeps track of all the Colorado sustainability events and activities.

Here are also some other ideas and initiatives to investigate in becoming a green business:

  • The Denver Energy Challenge will encourage energy efficiency investment in our state and help advance our energy independence through large scale upgrades.  They hope to have 1,200 businesses participating by May 2013.
  • A carbon calculator is a great way to find out how you can help lower the release of carbon dioxide into our air.  This tool will help you find ways that your business can save energy and money.
  • They challenge you to join the Energy Star® Change a Light Pledge by changing at least one regular light bulb to a compact fluorescent bulb.
  • You can also find links to LEED®-certified builders or Energy Star® builders who can help you with your design plans for your business or with additions to existing structures.
  • Of course, one of the simplest ways to make a real change with very little investment is to plant a tree!

At Officiency our mission is to support organizations and consumers in developing and implementing eco-friendly initiatives to reduce environmental impact, resource consumption and waste while maximizing efficiency within business and home environments.  We hope and strive to have Denver become the number one greenest city in North America!

Contact us and we can help you take small steps that will make a big impact.

Recommended Sustainability Resources for Colorado Small Businesses

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Because Colorado continues to be a leader in small business implementation of environmentally-friendly business practices, our state has created an abundance of organizations and resources which can help guide a business in their sustainability plans.

CORE

CORE is dedicated to helping Colorado denverorganizations implement sustainability in their operations, products, and workforce development, focused on small and medium businesses. They have success stories that share sustainability best practices of businesses in the Colorado community.

Certifiably Green Denver

They can give free and confidential assistance with your environmental questions and concerns.  Because they work specifically with the small businesses of Denver, they can give you knowledgeable information to help with avoiding environmental liability specific to this area, while not sacrificing your profitability.

Denver Energy Challenge

You can find information regarding rebates and also find help with your energy-saving efforts.  You can even talk to an expert by phone Mon. thru Sat. (8:00AM to 6:00PM) at (720) 865-5520.  These are the people to talk to if you are preparing to do an “energy upgrade” as they will help you throughout the process.

Watts To Water

This water conservation program recognizes and awards small business for their water conservation efforts. All hotels and offices with over 5000 sq. ft. of space can participate with minimal effort, but the benefits to your business are great.

Denver Regional Council of Governments

This organization focuses on enabling telework as an alternative to commuting which will help our community reduce pollution, ease traffic congestion and create higher levels of employee satisfaction.  They can work with your company to help you implement a tele-commuting plan that can work in your situation.

The Colorado Carbon Fund

They have created the first, statewide, voluntary offset program in the U.S., with special attention paid to the GHG reduction projects in our state, which will mean verifiable and permanent carbon offsets.

Eco-officiency offers sustainability consulting services in Colorado and nationwide. We provide expert business advisors to assist organizations and individuals in becoming more sustainable in their work and personal lives.  Contact us to discover how we can help you today!

Sustainable Packaging Design Options and Choices

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Even without considering the benefits of recycling on the environment (of which there are many), there are more benefits beyond that in sustainable packaging.  Consider the matter of cost.  The expense of packaging can be a major cost driver; indeed, an article from Environmental Leader reports that “sustainability will replace cost as one of the packaging industry’s major challenges” in the next ten years.  Fortunately there are resources available for those who want to explore sustainable packaging in earnest.

In 2012 Deloitte released a paper entitled “Thinking outside the box–Throw away your current approach to packaging” which includes several ideas for those who want to make the shift to sustainability.  This includes a “spectrum of sustainable packaging opportunities”

  • “Passive” materials switch–changing traditional packaging materials with environmentally-friendly ones
  • “Active” materials switch–changing traditional packaging materials with those that require a change in consumer behavior (like reusable packaging)
  • Packaging and product design changes–changing the packaging to require fewer materials or fewer steps
  • Supply chain process redesign–to reduce packaging needs

In the realm of the “passive” materials switch, Dell sustainable packagingan article about Dell’s switch to sustainable packaging catches the eye.  It discusses the use of bamboo, a high-tensile strength grass that is rapidly renewable.  It promotes healthy soil, grows 24 inches a day, and proper harvesting means that it doesn’t require replanting.  Plus, the treatment of bamboo doesn’t involve the dumping of toxic chemicals, and it can be dried in the sun.

The same site giving us information on Dell’s notbox sustainable packagingpackaging also gives us news about an “active” materials switch.  The Notbox Company, which has been serving the European community for several years, will be bringing its reusable packaging products to the United States.  According to Notbox, their reusable packages can make 20 or more trips, which is well more than the single-use-then-discard nature of regular cardboard boxes.

But, of course, it isn’t all about the cost benefit ratio when it comes to sustainable packaging.  It’s estimated that packaging makes up about one-third of municipal waste in the United States.  Considering the looming crisis in some states of running out of landfill space, that number becomes a bit too large to ignore.

For more information on this and other ways to green up your business, please contact us.

Sustainability Green Apps That Can Save The Planet And Save You Money Too

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Our smart phones and tablets are becoming a big part of our daily lives and not only are they great for texting and taking photos but they can also be used to help us achieve our goals for environmental responsibility.  We have listed four green apps that are useful resources that we encourage you to check out.  Perhaps you can use them to improve your own environmental footprint and maybe save some money too!

GoodGuide goodguide.com (free)

“The GoodGuide app instantly reveals whether products are safe, healthy, green and socially responsible while you shop. The app’s barcode scanning feature lets you quickly access GoodGuide’s science-based health, environment and social ratings for over 170,000 products. GoodGuide’s personalization features enable you to choose the issues you care about most – like nutritional value, safe and healthy ingredients, animal welfare, human rights, climate change, energy efficiency, and more. The app will then inform you whether products pass or fail on your key criteria. By making information about consumer products transparent, GoodGuide’s mission is to help you shop your values wherever you shop.”

iRecycle earth911.com (free)

“iRecycle can tell you how, where and when to recycle just about anything. Using your current location, ZIP code, address or city, get access to vital details for collection points, such as Web site, phone number, directions, hours of operation and other materials collected.”

iViro envirolytics.ca (free)

“Save money and reduce your home’s environmental impact quickly and cheaply by completing a full home energy analysis and getting results on the best places in your home to make energy saving changes.  Perform your own quick or detailed energy analysis with no prior technical experience. Get heating, cooling, lighting, hot water and appliance energy consumption break downs with yearly cost and CO2 emission estimates. Upgrade and retrofit suggestions include yearly savings, economic projections, payback period and information about various energy saving alternatives.”

Locavore locavo.re (free)

“Based on your phone’s GPS location, Locavore will make searching for in-season, local food a breeze by pinpointing farms and farmers’ markets nearest you. Read all about them on their profile page, find that specific local item you have been looking for or just check out what’s in-season right now. Plus, you can get recipe suggestions to make with your delicious local food and then, brag about it to all your friends through Facebook.”

If you have used, or know of apps that support the environment and sustainability, we would love to hear about it.

Recycling Resources- good for business and good for the environment

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Recycling isn’t just good for the environment. It is good for business. Taking used materials and re-purposing them not only saves valuable resources, it can save money and create a much cleaner, more eco-friendly world.

You may not have thought of many of the underlying reasons why recycling is good. For one, recovering old materials for new uses helps to keep manufacturing jobs located in the United States, according to the EPA. That can help the nation maintain its competitive edge, even in tough economic times.

Recycling also lowers the need for landfills and incinerators that burn rubbish, which in turn helps to preserve space for other uses and decrease the amount of trash-related pollution released in the air we breathe. Along the same lines, recycling also prevents toxins linked to making new goods out of raw materials from entering the atmosphere because those products don’t have to be made in the first place. Moreover, recycling helps us conserve valuable natural resources, including the forests where wood is found as well as water supplies and raw minerals.

In short, there are many reasons to recycle, but the first step always begins with businesses taking the initiative to set up systems to make it successful in the workplace.

Click here for a comprehensive list of recycling resources especially for hard-to-recycle items not usually taken by waste management facilities.

If you’re interested in setting up recycling for your business don’t hesitate to contact us.

Energy Efficiency and Sustainability Resources For Small and Medium Businesses In Colorado

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Here in Colorado we take the business of sustainability very seriously. In every corner of the state the push is on to improve our businesses to increase energy efficiency and support green business operations. Here are some resources, programs, incentives and guides available online to assist small and medium sized businesses;

The Main Street Efficiency Initiative (MSEI) is a Colorado Energy Office (CEO) program that helps small business lower energy costs as well as their carbon footprint.

Recharge Colorado has a resource page that is specifically for small businesses seeking information for energy efficiency, water efficiency and renewable energy projects in Colorado.

The Energy Efficiency Guide for Colorado Businesses will help you find ways for your company to save energy.  Their recommendations are sorted by sector that provides specific suggestions depending on the type of business.

Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency (DSIRE) has a website full of valuable information and tools for small businesses.

CORE, the sustainable business association for Colorado also has a separate page for resources that include articles, business success stories and downloadable reports.

And of course, we at eco-officiency provide a wealth of resources for businesses to become greener in their operations.

Contact us if we can help you find the answers you are looking for when it comes to finding resources and information to help green your business.

Phthalates: A Toxic Compound Hurting Our Children

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Phthalates are industrial chemical compounds used in a huge array of consumer products, including; beauty products, hairsprays, wood finishers, vinyl flooring, and medical devices. They are also found in a high majority of soft plastic type consumer products that make plastics more flexible. The global chemicals industry produces nearly six million tons of phthalates every year.

In an e-magazine article, Childhood Obesity and Phthalates, they note a study that related obesity in kids with phthalate exposure. It also noted exposure can cause reproductive problems and social and behavioral problems often seen in autism. Another report, The Problem with Phthalates, cites that phthalates ‘can damage the sexual development of children’.

Be mindful when shopping and try to purchase phthalates free products. Below are some resources to help guide consumers;

Training Employees to Think “Green”

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If you’re company is like many, you probably have employee training programs for a variety of different business-related subjects. But have you ever considered offering your employees education on how to think “green?” You know what we mean. Do you teach your employees – formally or informally – how to consider the ecological impact of their actions?

According to the article, “College Graduates Need to be Green to Get Best Career Opportunity,” writer and human resources professional Deborah S. Hildebrand notes that a March 2008 National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) survey:

… found that nearly 65 percent of the companies surveyed indicated that environmental knowledge and green training is a plus in job applicants because they are more likely than their non-green counterparts to have resource-saving ideas that can help cut costs. On top of that, 78 percent of the more than 1,300 participants surveyed felt environmental and sustainability knowledge will increase in importance over the next five years.

In order to create a successful sustainability-training program, Hildebrand offers this advice:

  • Incorporate green education into your company culture, starting with hiring and through performance management
  • Link sustainability practices to work and home life
  • Communicate the impact of environmental concerns on company growth and success
  • Utilize an effective training-delivery process based on what works in your organization
  • Incorporate green initiatives into other areas of the organization such as performance incentives

If you are an employer or an employee seeking further understanding related to the important connection between business and the environment, now is the ideal time to find sustainability education and employee training resources. For more information about embracing a green work environment, contact us.

Sustainable Behavior Change: Tools and Resources

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Doug McKenzie-Mohr, author of Fostering Sustainable Behavior and environmental psychologist has a great website to look up articles and cases studies that relate to fostering sustainable behavior. His focus is more on communities and public at large social marketing techniques but the resources and information can be applied to business too. He has five main topic areas of agriculture and conservation, energy, transportation, waste and pollution and water. Anyone can sign up for an account, just click on Account to sign up and you can access the discussion forums.

His book, Fostering Sustainable Behavior, is also available online to read. It is a comprehensive book on how to identify the behaviors a community wants to change and build a strategy around changing those  behaviors.

Tools of Change is another site that offers community-based social marketing resources. This site also has case studies as well as planning guides to help communities begin planning environmental strategies. Their topics include environmental, health and nutrition and safety.

Considering Purchasing an Electric Vehicle?

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With gas prices higher and the increased environmental awareness, electric vehicles (EV’s) are becoming a hot ticket item! It seems if you don’t have an EV in your car line-up then you aren’t hitting a car market trend in car buying. With more cars on the market and new technologies to consider it is hard to know which car to choose.

Here are a few resources to use if you are considering purchasing a new electric vehicle;