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Marketing

Green Business Supply Chain

by R Michael Richmond

There are two ways to Go Green. One is to claim to be environmentally committed, and the other is to promote that a business is Green via clever marketing without a serious commitment within the daily operation. We will also eventually arrive at a point of “Green Equalization” where all company have something Green to promote. The maturing consumer will look for more than Green tokenism in the businesses that they frequent.

This Authentic Green is not easily obtained, however. Most of the environmental emphasis has been on the marketing side of nearly every business while paying little of any attention to the purchasing side of the operation. This dichotomy of commitment will eventually become a glaring SNAFU. This is where the Green Supply Chain issue enters into the picture. More and more conferences and industry articles are making a point of the fact that if a business wants to Sell Green, it should also commit to Buying Green as well.

It is important that businesses practice a kind of Green ethics where they practice what they preach. It will eventually become all too evident that companies without Green ethics are talking our of both sides of their mouth. They are asking the public to make a commitment and accept the pricing differential for Going Green, but they do not practice the same philosophy when it comes to their purchases. This is one of the core issues of the Green Supply Chain. Yet, it seems completely lost on more than few companies who lack the integrity to make the same commitment that they are asking of others.

While some may see the environmentally crisis as just another opportunity to sell their goods and services by exploiting the angst over this subject, it seems obvious that the public will see through the Greenwashing strategy in due time. There should not be an anti-business element in the environmental, but a failure of Green ethics will likely bring bad press to a number of firms. I am sure that they will “get religion” then. Even the EPA has promoted a similar idea to the Green Supply Chain with its Environmentally Preferred Purchasing. We are approaching a time when it will be necessary to “Walk the walk a s well as Talk the talk.”

Installing Green practices in any size business is not just about the building. It is primarily about the operation, programming, or daily practices. It does not matter if you own, rent, or lease. Any business that sees the future needs to start into a thorough process of Greening the business from front to back. Frankly, this is more work than most people think because it takes more involvement than changing out your lighting with CFL bulb. This requires the assistance of a Certified Green Consultant who is someone who not only know hows to take a business Green, but can credit the business with the assigned points for each Green practice adopted. At 100 points, the business will earn its Green Business Certification which is something to that be legitimately promoted. A Certified Green Consultant is an outsourced advisor who can work with your company to develop a program that is Authentically Green because there are real Green practices in place and certification by an independent source.

Your local Certified Green Consultant will prove very helpful in Greening up your supply chain as well as the rest of your operation. Don’t be fooled, Going Green is not simple or done in a day. It requires knowledge and experience. In fact, your Certified Green Consultant can show you how Going Green will literally save your business hundreds and thousands of dollars. This is because we know understand that Green is about efficiency as well as health. Poorly done, Going Green is frankly a drudge and an expense. But, when it is done right, everyone is a winner and your bottom line will increase.

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