I found this story, from a recent edition of The Economist, really interesting. Just where does one go to hire people with good green business skills, particularly here in Washington?

www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm

The note about Aaron Corvin's latest piece is very interesting, and I think reminds us all why we have a responsibility to contribute, even if you own a small company, or even a consulting business of one. We all contribute to creating greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and here in Washington nearly half of GHGs are from transportation related activities (percentage is lower in other parts of the country mainly because of the of coal-fired electricity, as opposed to hydroelectricty in the NW). So whether your a big aerospace or software company or a small business, one small green step that can bring big change is to offer incentives to get your employees out of their cars. Offer transit passes. Work to expand the transit network to serve your employees and your clients. Find ways to combine trips or get fuel-efficient cars if you cannot eliminate every vehicle trip.

Whether you?re a service provider or you produce widgets, a huge company or consulting out of your home office, every single business endeavor consumes resources and creates waste; paper, electricity, water, computer equipment, the list is endless, and so are the possible solutions. A benefit to going ?green? and reducing the waste stream and finding efficiencies is that it often puts dollars back into the bottom line, sometimes significant money. No matter what your business or what size, you can probably find at least a few things that are green and save money as well.

Aaron Corvin just posted a great piece on his blog about addressing our collective carbon footprint.
Here's an excerpt:
The U.S. is the largest emitter worldwide of greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Transportation accounts for one-third of carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S., and that share is increasing, growing from 31 percent in 1990 to 33 percent today.
In "Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change," the Urban Land Institute (ULI) argues that technological improvements in vehicles and fuels are "likely to be offset by continuing, robust growth in vehicle miles traveled," or VMT, which in layman's terms refers to the amount of driving we do.
Here is a link to the full post: www.washingtonceo.com/home/blogs/post/article/128/the-carless.html

We are an office of 18 people, so I can really relate to this question. I am a strong believer that every measure matters. And, luckily, we live in a region that very much supports our sustainable initiatives. For example, our building management supports not only the recycling of paper, but also the recycling of cans, plastic bottles, and glass bottles at everyone's desk! In addition, we were able to convince our building to implement a composting program for our entire office. But before recycling, we constantly push ourselves to reduce and use less to begin with -- like buying the larger 2 liter bottle of beverages instead of multiple individual cans, printing everything 2-sided, setting-up team lunches family style to avoid the waste generated by individual box lunches.
Don't be afraid to ask questions of those providing your services -- does your janitorial service use environmentally friendly cleaning supplies? (Find more at www.greenseal.org) This is not only a healthier choice for anything that goes down the drain, but also for those who breathe the products that are used in your office -- that's you and your co-workers!
Finally, don't forget about power and energy. Setting your monitors and computers to go into a sleep setting or turning them off when you're not using them makes a big difference. Your equipment and appliances are actually still using power when they're in an "on-ready" state (like that TV or DVD plugged in waiting to be clicked on with the remote). It's easy to relate to lighting, because you can see the light "on" but not always as obvious on our equipment.
Even small, you can make a big impact and set an example for others.

What if you are a small business, like a software or services company. Other than putting a recycling bin next to the microwave in the office kitchen, what else can be done to contribute to sustainability and green practices?

Being "green" means making a conscious effort to protect the environment for present and future generations. This core value of sustainability is at the heart of Sound Transit's environmental or green efforts. We ask ourselves "Will the environment be able to support and SUSTAIN what we're doing, or are we creating an unsustainable burden on the environment with this action?"

Obviously, providing regional high capacity transit options and helping get people out of their cars is a big green effort and is Sound Transit's core mission, but there is another layer to it when we examine being green in how we operate on a daily basis.

This is a great question to ask, because the term "green" has a lot of meaning for today's consumers as a great shorthand term for environmental consciousness and environmental friendliness, but it also has become a convenient slogan for those trying to beef up their eco- credentials. These days, just saying you're "green" is not enough. Platitudes and wishful thinking are quickly unmasked by clients and consumers today, so company must be able to show actions and show results to make the "green" claim.

Green, as it relates to the design and construction industry, means utilizing construction methods which have a lessened impact on people and the planet. Some examples include: specifying less first - sometimes concrete alone is suitable as a flooring and it's not necessary to add another layer of finish. Less is more in this case.
With respect to people, access to natural light and views of nature have been proven to contribute positively to productivity in the workplace. Designing spaces which allow more occupants to take advantage of views and daylight have a lessened negative impact on people.

This is an entirely virtual question and answer session with a few local green experts.

We have assembled a panel of experts from around the region to tackle some questions about sustainability and green practices as they directly effect business in Washington State.

Our panelists are:
John Kinsella of The Shaw Group, Tom Lindley of Perkins Coie, Jon Naimon of Light Green Advisors, Kim Parsley of IA Interior Architects, Perry Weinberg of Sound Transit and Linda Robson also of Sound Transit.

To start things off, I'd like to discuss what it means to be "green". I think the word is used often lately, but what does it mean for a business to be "green" other than some free PR?