Sustainability: Designing & Managing a Sustainable Business

Sustainability is a big word these days...but what does it mean to your business?  Can any business be sustainable?  Is sustainability an important issue to everyone or just to big manufacturing firms?  The answer is "every busines can achieve - and should strive for - sustainability.  But what that means and how you get there will vary tremendously, depending on where you are and what type of business you have.

For instance, we are a consulting and training company.  The Ecological Footprint Wheel represents our impact on the environment, and what we can do to lessen that footprint.  Any organization that provides employee training (which is every organization) has these same areas of impact, although not always of the same magnitude.

We will work with you to:

 Understand your impact (not just from training, but from everything you do)
 Build a business that lowers that impact
 Maintain (and even get better) a sustainable business

What is YOUR impact? Click on the wheel to calculate your "Ecological Footprint" from training, travel, and driving to work...

Click on the Wheel to spin it!

In our business (of training and consulting), our biggest impact comes from:

• Printing of manuals and other documents
• Traveling to and from classrooms (not just us, but all of the students as well)
• Use of hotel and conference spaces while our homes and offices are empty

We have reduced our impact by relying more on technology, such as Moodle e-Learning, email, and conference calling.  We encourage electronic documents instead of printed ones.  We don't drive if we don't have to and we fly a whole lot less.  We have a virtual office, where everyone works from home, so there's no commuting to work, heating or cooling an office building that sits idle 75% of the time, or materials used in the production of mostly-unused furniture, rooms, etc.  We still get together a couple of times of year; just not five days a week.  We have not only significantly reduced our footprint, but we've recovered a whole lot of time in the day that can be spent working - or relaxing. 

What can you do in your business that will help both you and the environment?  We'll help you find out!

Some more on sustainability and how everyday activities contribute to our footprints:

Print your own wheel...a fun project that you can print, cut out, and assemble.  But don't print any more than you need - and keep it forever!  Want your own wheel?  Contact Flexigroup and tell them you want an e-wheel!

  Offset your carbon emissions and learn more about what you can do to help reduce them.  Carbonfund.org supports carbon-reducing projects such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects.  Visit their website to calculate your carbon footprint and find out what you can do to help...

  Stop junk mail and plant trees.  One hundred million trees are chopped down annually to produce the 62 billion pieces of unsolicited paper that end up in American mailboxes and subsequently, their wastebaskets. TonicMailStopper (formerly GreenDimes) has teamed up with Planet Green (part of the Discovery Channel) and created the Precycle program.  Visit their website to find out more...

Bottled Water...A discussion (data available) on the enormous impact this has on the environment, and it really isn't always necessary.  Drink lots of water, but think before you twist that cap!

Barrels of Oil...A discussion on flying vs. driving...You'll want to stay home when you read this!