Green Business: The Right Frame for Sustainable Practices

By George Zens

Considering the seemingly never-ending stream of bad news we are confronted with about the state of the environment, climate change, public health, and not to mention the latest hysteria about the performance of our economy, putting our society on a sustainable footing, let alone trying to save the planet from ourselves, might seem like a daunting task.

But just as all of these problems have arisen from the cumulative effects of countless decisions that have been made and measures that have been taken over the course of the past decades and centuries even, so chances are that many small steps will lead us in a more sustainable direction.

After all, let’s face it: We usually have no clue what all the ramifications of our actions are – which is why grandiose government-hatched solutions normally create more problems in the form of unintended consequences than they solve.

On the other hand, through our everyday-behavior we do have the power to provoke quite a bit of change. Not just in our private lives, but also at work. Whether we work for private corporations or for the government, whether we are self-employed or do volunteer work, we can all be catalysts for change in our workplace.

Granted, it is easier for some than for others. It is easier for an independent business-owner to decide to switch to energy-efficient lighting than for a clerk in a large government bureaucracy to convince the powers that be that they should make the switch.

Still, more and more businesses, large and small, are recognizing the importance of being ‘green’. Whether they are really committed to sustainability or whether it is mainly a public relations exercise varies from one company to the next, but just the fact that the whole discussion about sustainability and green business practices has moved from the fringes of our economy to the mainstream is an encouraging sign.

In principle, sustainability should make good business sense anyway. Since every form of pollution can be traced back to waste and inefficiencies in a production process, one would think that it would be in every business’s best interest to minimize pollution. Due to a number of factors, however, including government regulations, unaccountability of indirect – external – costs, and sheer short-sightedness – thanks in large part to our parasitic financial markets, our economy is not nearly as efficient as many free-marketeers would have as believe.

The silver lining on this cloud is that the potential for improvement is enormous and, not least with rising energy costs, becoming more and more practicable, even within the present twisted regulatory frameworks.

Heidi Blankenship of Strategic Sustainability Associates has a master’s degree in sustainable development and a background in business and community activism. She specializes in sustainability consulting for businesses and community organizations and points to three main reasons why it makes sense for a business to adopt sustainable practices:

“One: cost savings. Two: new market opportunities. Three: don’t miss new trends. Take rising energy costs for instance. How do you deal with that as a business? If a business doesn’t introduce sustainable practices, it will be unable to deal with new regulations, higher costs and new business opportunities.”

For her, efficiency is a big part of sustainability, and even some easy-to-implement measures can have a big impact, including saving the business money. Size and nature of the business hardly matter, and neither does whether they are in their own space or renters.

“Even as renters they can use recycled paper, print on both sides of the paper, refill ink cartridges and use green cleaning products. Larger companies can for instance reduce toner and printer costs by getting rid of personal printers and leasing a central one.”

Our ingrained way of doing business and looking at things is often an obstacle to greener practices, but one that can be overcome fairly easily. Heidi Blankenship:

“Part of becoming more sustainable means that we have to reevaluate our standards, for instance for what is attractive. Marketing brochures shouldn’t have to be glossy and they could also be shorter to the same effect. Sustainable business practices offer an opportunity to look at doing business differently.”

She finds that businesses are generally quite receptive to the idea of becoming greener.

“It takes a bit to get them to understand what sustainability is, but once they see that little steps can be sustainable and save them money, then become usually quite enthusiastic. It is also important to get the employees involved. They are a great resource and the businesses that have their employees actively participate see great results.”

Marty Smith owns the Fast Frame franchise in Middleton, and he has decided to introduce green business practices at his store, showing that even franchise-holders can take steps towards sustainability.

“It was our own decision to offer green alternatives,” explains Marty Smith, who has owned the franchise for a little over two years now. “We started at home, when we switched to energy-saving lighting, and then it occurred to me that we could do that in the store, too.”

Besides using energy-efficient lighting in the store, Fast Frame also buys renewable energy through MG&E’s Green Power option. They recycle all their materials, like glass, aluminum, plastics and cardboard, while they donate their excess materials, like glass and matting, to area schools, so they can use them in art projects.

Besides this end-of-pipe approach, Marty Smith also tries to influence the supply-side of his business:

“All my vendors had to give me a statement about their reforestation policy, and so no wood comes from endangered forests,” he says.

Together with one of his suppliers, Evald Moulding of Watertown, Wisconsin, he has been looking if they can mill used flooring into frames, and has found a local source for frames in Spring Green.

Within a couple of months he wants to be able to offer his customers a complete line of alternative green products, including organic cotton mats, recycled paper, all-natural hinges, wood frames and backing boards from sustainable sources, and recycled glass.

Finding local sources is an important part of being sustainable for Marty Smith:

“I could get frames made by a company that only uses wood from dead trees, but if you consider the amount of fossil fuel it took to get the wood from Africa to Italy and then the frames from Italy to here, that’s not very sustainable.”

Through his previous professional background in organic food he is used to dealing with strict standards, which is something he misses in his present efforts:

“Green is all over the board; a lot of products or services that are advertised as ‘green’ really aren’t. Ideally, ‘green’ should be more defined.”

For his own business, he would like to eventually be able to offer a one hundred percent green alternative, but as he admits himself, he isn’t there yet:

“We try to position ourselves soft now and then become more hardcore as we move along.”

For more information:

Fast Frame
6921 University Avenue
Middleton, WI 53562
Telephone: (608) 831-4146
www.madisonfastframe.com