While our government has been a little slow to act to reduce climate change, the business community is taking the lead. More than 90 companies across the U.S. issued statements last year calling to legislate energy efficiency and put a cap on carbon emissions. However, “going green” is not just good for the environment. This business trend has proved to be beneficial to the bottom line as well. Corporations around the globe are increasingly considering environmental programs and operations reform as a way to appeal more to potential customers, attract more capital from environmentally conscious investors and save on fuel and electricity bills.
According to recordonline.com, DuPont was able to cut its energy usage by 7 percent in 4 years. In the proccess it decreased greenhouse gas emissions by 72 percent and increased ouput by 30 percent, which made investors very happy.
It is clear that the future of big business is in reusable products, high emissions standards, healthy employee relations and transperancy in the way companies do business. All of this is great from a public relations standpoint.
According to Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau:
Dell inc. has pledged to go carbon neutral by cutting back on emissions, using more renewable energy and investing in environmental projects around the globe.
Coca Cola Co. has made design improvements to its Atlanta headquarters that cut energy usage by 23 percent and water consumption by 15 percent, while they’ve also launched a program to help save polar bears.
Delta Air Lines has decided to use portions of tickets sales to purchase carbon offsets.
Walmart Stores Inc. pledges to use more solar power in its stores, sell more sustainable products, and explore alternative fuels for their trucks.
and Google now powers its headquarters with one of the world’s largest solar power arrays. Its pledges to go carbon neutral and launch a massive program to reduce energy consumption in its giant data centers. Google is also investing hundreds of millions of dollars to figure out how to make renewable fuels as cheap as coal.
However, despite this promising business trend, some critics are quick to accuse many big businesses of “greenwashing”, or trying to make themselves look more environmentally friendly than they really are.
The idea of “greenwashing” brings a whole new level to transperancy. Claiming to be green when your just plain dirty is no way to attract customers, and investors are becoming especially keen of companies that will become an environmental liability in the future.
Recordonline.com, the online link to the Times Hearald-Record has some truely geen suggestions for any business looking to jump on the band wagon.
