Green Teams Become New Trend in Business
Lansing, MI — Since the beginning of commerce, businesses have strived to be in the black and feared being in the red, but now many companies are proud to be in the green. The newest trend in business has seen companies creating “green teams” which usually consists of staff volunteers who focus on greening operations at the office and in some cases, in employee’s personal lives.
According to the Green Impact report on Green Teams: Engaging Employees in Sustainability by Deborah Fleisher, the business value of integrating sustainability into businesses includes:
- cost savings through integration of energy efficiency in the workplace, products and services;
- attracting and retaining the best and brightest talent who want to work for companies with an authentic green commitment; and
- increased market share and revenues from a stronger brand and new, innovative green products and services.
Efforts of a green team can be banning water bottles on campus, hosting bike to work weeks, and holding an electronics recycling event just to name a few. However, the main focus is educating employees on the importance of living a sustainable life and how they can achieve this not just at work but also at home.
Many large national and international companies like eBay and Wal-Mart have been trail blazers with these green team ideas. Even the State of Michigan has been encouraging green teams. A number of state facilities are forming teams to build upon the state’s paper recycling mandate and reduce energy use and waste.
Michigan Department of Energy, Labor, and Economic Growth (DELEG) Green Jobs Specialist Beth Sommers, is working to incorporate recycling into many of her green focused efforts on training and expanding Michigan’s green workforce. A meeting of recycling industry representatives in late November, including RRS Principal Jim Frey, helped Beth to identify where such green recycling jobs are and identify growth areas. According to her, “The working session provided strategic direction for DELEG and our Green Jobs initiative. It made me truly appreciate the various skills needed and job diversity that exists in Michigan’s recycling industry.”
Tags: DELEG, Green Teams, Jim Frey