You’ve seen the list: 100 ways you can go green. Whether you’re a homeowner or a business owner, at first glance this list looks like a good idea. The problem is, among the 100 things you could do to go green, there are at most one or two things you should do right now-based on more than just a desire to do something green. In the rush to go green because of the pull of customer demand and the push of new compliance rules, many organizations leap before they think and spend energy, money, and valuable time for green initiatives that may have nothing to do with their business.

Try something else: Rather than deploying your green initiatives in a spray and pray method, hoping something sticks with your stakeholders and you can reclaim some of your cost, take a few baby steps first to prevent losing time, money, and possibly respect from your employees, customers, buyers, and other stakeholders.

For the understanding of the plight of the human race in relation to climate change, no other movie and companion book compares with Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.” Not only was the movie an award winner as a documentary, it served to open the eyes of millions of people worldwide to the fast-approaching dangers [...]

When expenditures for the basics of business are largely frozen after a slew of layoffs and budget cutbacks, what’s left over for continuing your sustainability strategy? We often consider each sustainability initiative on the same financial level: A recycling program is just as good as a new roofing system which is just as good as a new waste water treatment system. In fact, there are hundreds of things to go green but that doesn’t mean you implement the first five in the list. What you need is a plan for the right project at the right price.

At first glance, the website for Green America, formerly Co-op America, is overwhelming. But stay with it and you will realize that it is chock full of useful resources for your organization. Started twenty-five years ago by a small dedicated community of individuals who wanted to “stop corporate irresponsibility and create a green [...]

B Corp is on a mission: To create a new sector of the economy which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. More than just another certification for going green, B Corp wants to encourage change at the very inception of the business when the articles of incorporation are [...]

One of the first books about sustainability that I read was Good News for a Change: How Everyday People are Helping the Planet and I have to admit, at the time, it was scarier than reading Steven King. Not scary for the horror factor, rather because the people profiled in the book made such [...]

The fact that Cradle to Cradle was printed with completely biodegradable materials was the first indication that this book was going to be different. Focusing on the premise that rather than continuing on our current path of product design and develop, including recycling, it would be better to redesign everything from the beginning with [...]

At some point 2 years ago, the Institute of Sustainable Development (ISD), a spin-off from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce in North Carolina realized there was a need for better resources and certification of sustainable development for small to medium-sized businesses which comprise the vast majority of jobs and revenue in the U.S. [...]

Greenbiz.com® released their second annual report on “The State of Green Business 2009” in February which answers the question: How are U.S. businesses doing in their quest to be more environmentally responsible? The results are displayed both in text and graphical form and make it very easy to gain quick insights into the changes [...]

Rocky Mountain Institute® (RMI), based in Boulder and Snowmass, Colorado describes itself as “an independent, entrepreneurial, nonprofit organization that fosters the efficient and restorative use of resources to make the world secure, just, prosperous, and life-sustaining.” RMI provides consulting services, conducts research, and publishes reports that benefit businesses, organizations and communities to become more efficient. [...]