Environmental Consulting Firms

Environmental Consulting Firms- Environmental Consulting Firms Will Help Your Company Become Truly “Green” and Attain Environmental Sustainability

I know lots of persons, representing small to large companies, who proudly declare, “We are an “ecological” business!” This tag is a euphemism that means they are abiding by strict principles concerning ecological sustainability rules and norms. This “green” tag is in and it is a worthy aspiration, for sure. A lot of companies are jumping on the “band wagon”. They are employing the title as a technique to openly and implicitly promote their services and/or products. However, what does it signify to be “green”? And, how can any size business execute a strategy to comply with ecological sustainability norms to be on the way to growing into an “ecological” business?

Agenda 21 was the main production of the United Nations Conference on environment and development (the, “Earth Summit”). The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) presents norms or offers support on good management norms in encouragement of Agenda 21. The ISO 14001 offers its conditions for an Environmental Management System (EMS) that confirms global significance for all size companies wishing to function under environmentally sustainable processes. It is a globally acknowledged requirement. With the aid of environmental consulting firms, the norms can be appropriate for any business, large or small, whatever its product or service, in any industry, and whether it is a commercial venture, a public administration, or a government department.

The principle elements, stated in an EMS are explained below:

1. Environmental Policy Statement (ecological characteristics and effect of products, activities, and services, including intra-and inter-business processes),
2. Planning (ecological characteristics, legal and additional requisites, aims and measurable targets, ecological management programs),
3. Implementation and Operation (configuration and reliability, preparation, conciousness, and competence, communication, ecological management process documentation, document control, operational control, crisis vigilance and response),
4. Checking and Corrective Action (checking and measurement, non-conformance and counteractive- and protecting- action, documentation, ecological management process audit)
5. Management Review

Well, you’re probably thinking, “I’m a little overwhelmed by all of this! And, what can I do to really denote my business is “green”?” It’s completely probable in your business your Environmental Management System is only an approach for doing things that you believe are “green”, e.g., turning out lights, recycling, walking or biking to work, etc. (Don’t get me wrong! These are all important things to do.). But your process isn’t on paper and likely acknowledged only by one or some persons in management with little or no communication. Everyone has the “green essence” and every one is contributing by doing his or her personal action.

Not all organizations will wish to go through the ISO 14000 certification procedure (lots of large organizations do). Businesses that don’t wish to become certified can execute the norms to be considered as third party compliant. Environmental consulting firms can suggest several methods to execute an “ecological” business system that minimizes harmful outcomes on the environment caused by its actions in an effort to attain continual development of its ecological execution:

1. Plan – Define aims and make plans (examine your company’s situation, define your general aims and establish your temporary targets and develop plans to achieve them.
2. Do – Execute your plans (do what you defined).
3. Check – Evaluate your outcomes (evaluate/check how far your real accomplishments encounter your set aims.
4. Act – Fix and improve your plans and how you implement them (fix and understand from your errors to improve your plans in order to get best outcomes next time.

The thoughts that go into your strategy are derived from your specialized discipline type. The deepness and detail is also driven by your business’ size, but lots of the similar rules apply:

- Waste and toxics elimination that includes, but is not limited to, product making, materials, manufacturing procedures, distribution, consumer and end of life for products you utilize in your every day business actions or products that you sell to others,

- Toxics decrease and elimination (“The Ban List”),

- Decrease Greenhouse gas emanations by performing teleconferencing and web conferencing instead of traveling,

- Location and decrease of wastes,

- Buy automobile hybrids,

- Other Transport (walking, car pooling, biking, public transportation),

- Community involvement and volunteering,

- Decrease utilization of non-biodegradable products (plastics),

- Enroll and contribute with groups devoted to giving control, observing field and implementing obedience,

- Buy from ISO 14000 certified sellers and manufacturers with active plans for soil, groundwater, surfacewater, and air regulations in third world countries that are defensive of human health and the environment (to US Environmental Protection Agency norms),

- Utilize used products,

- Protect resources (e.g., water),

- Substitute ineffective equipment that consumes power,

- Help and support state and local government (towns, counties) to establish and implement ecological sustainability policy, guidelines and regulations for companies that want to run business in their areas,

- Join organizations in your specialized field that help you in executing ecological sustainability for your services and products,

- Take action following Best Management Practices (e.g., reusing).

The objective of any EMS, directing to ecological sustainability, and the goal of environmental consulting firms, is to decrease our carbon trail on the world. I hope I have been successful in increasing your attentiveness, awareness and integrity about what “green” means. Today it’s time for action! In the future after your business builds and executes an EMS program you can be proud to represent that your business is “green”.

www.VernonEnvironmental.com – Environmental Consulting Firms

Environmental Marketing Tips For Small Businesses

While marketing strategies has not seemed to change in the last fifty years, there is a new surge to give a green PR spin on companies now. This is a sudden trend that promotes the environmentally friendly aspects of businesses and industries, and obviously this is helping companies reach new markets by using green public relations strategies.

Environmental PR can be done for almost any company. Even if you are a business that solely works in an office providing a service to your customers. You can easily promote your green initiatives by letting people know how to you are switching to a paperless office to save waste, or how you have put in action donations or volunteer hours to environmental groups. For businesses that are deep into pollution issues may have a tougher time getting people to notice their green initiatives, but this is all the more reason that this type of company will need environmental PR services.

If a company is struggling to look good in the eyes of the public because of past danced with pollution or some aspect of contributing to global warming, the company will need to put into action many large green initiatives to get the public off their back about the pollution and onto their new plans for making the world better. Companies cannot just volunteer with an environmental group and say they are doing their part. Instead, they will need to point out the aspects of their company that is green. The company will also need to make plans in order change their current procedures so that they can being to incorporate green initiatives into all aspects of business.

Announcing your green initiatives is just the first step. You can tell the public exactly what they want to hear, but if you do not eventually follow through with it, they will catch on. So it is best to work out a plan where you can add these environmental changes slowly. This way you have time to work out all the logistics, but you can still announce your green plan to the public.

If you need an example of a company that has great green PR, you will want to look at something like Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. They are an environmentally friendly company all around, and they use this to their advantage when it comes to PR and advertising. It works because they have found the right green PR firm that will play up the best in their environmental works.

Even if you do not think you can play up anything green abut your company, you will find that environmental PR experts will always be able to find something that you can talk about when in comes to helping the environment. Everyone can make a difference, so companies should be at the front of the movement. Even if the company has to make changes in order for it happen, you will get more attention for your efforts than your ignorance about environmental issues.

Environmental “green” Accounting Primer

As we all know, businesses are formed to deliver services or produce products in order to earn a profit. In the 21st century accounting goes beyond the bottom line of black or red – – it includes “green”, too. With the growing green consumer awareness, companies are more than ever expected to align its business strategies with environmental initiatives. Environmentally conscious companies have already discovered that they can generate business strategies to help them reduce their carbon footprint, minimize their environmental impact, make the best use of natural resources, become more energy efficient, reduce costs, and exhibit social responsibility – all at the same time.

Companies who are ready to become an integral part of President Obama’s Green Economy through governmental initiatives will need to expand their accounting staff by hiring accountants who specialize in “green” or environmental accounting.

Definition of Green Accounting

The term, green accounting, has been around since the 1980s, and is known as a management tool used for a variety of purposes, such as improving environmental performance, controlling costs, investing in “cleaner” technologies, developing “greener” processes and products, and forming decisions related to their business activities.

Green Management Accounting

According to the EPA, green or environmental management accounting is “the identification, prioritization, quantification or qualification, and incorporation of environmental costs into business decisions.” Green Management Accounting uses “data about environmental costs  and performance for business decisions. It collects cost, production, inventory, and waste cost and performance data in the accounting system to plan, evaluate, and control.”

Environmental management accounting thus represents a combined approach which provides for the transition of data from financial accounting and cost accounting to increase material efficiency, reduce environmental impact and risk, and reduce costs of environmental protection.

Green or Environmental Accountants

Green accountants are held responsible to identify and track green costs often times working with site, research and development, and production managers when planning their budgets. In the past, such costs were buried in overhead preventing a clear picture of the cost savings and benefits to the product, process, system or facility responsible for the green initiatives.

Green accountants help management recognize that the tax benefits, rebates and lower costs of being environmentally friendly add up to a real bottom-line reward for doing the right thing.

“Public environmental, social and sustainability reporting is the main route through which corporate accountability and integrity can be demonstrated,” claims the London-based Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in its report, Environmental, Social and Sustainability Reporting on the World Wide Web.

Get Green: Use Environmental Public Relations

More and more these days’ people are worried about the environment. You will find that many more companies are now launching public relations campaigns in order to show their customers and the rest of the potential customer market that somehow they are changing their ways and going green. This is a great move for companies to show that there is more to worry about than just the bottom line.

If you own a business and you want to let your customers know about your new green strategies, environmental public relations will come in handy. This is more than just regular PR; instead, it is a type of PR that is focused solely and preparing and presenting your company with green initiatives.

There are many companies that believe that green marketing would be a competitive advantage, yet many companies are still avoiding coming up with a green marketing plan that will prepare their customers for the possibility of higher prices in products, inform them of the company’s green initiatives, and provide updates on how these green initiatives are working.

Environmental public relations are something that every company should consider. You will find that with environmental public relations, the company you own can now be well prepared for the possibility of questions about the environment. You will also be able to prepare all of the evidence of your green initiatives. This will come in handy when you are asked about it from the press at any given time. With environmental public relations, you will have a friend in your corner.

Many of the questions that the press will ask to companies that have not already announced that they are going green usually deal with the company’s future plans. Even if green initiatives are years away from being present or implemented in your company, you should still create a plan and get it out to the public before the press comes knocking at your door. What the press wants to know is if you take part in corporate social responsibility. Make sure to them know that you are responsible and have the evidence to back it up.

Your specific environmental PR team will be able to aid you in all of the issues that come along with going green initiatives. Not only will they help you to understand the impact of your choice on the public, they can also find ways to let the customers know that because of these environmentally friendly choices, prices might be going up. It is important to let an expert in environmental PR prepare your company to answer all of the important questions that will not just come from the customers, but the press as well. This preparation will make your company knowledgeable about your projects and have a leg up on most of the competition that have yet to use the services of environmental public relations.

Green Accounting: Environmental Accounting?

 

As we all know, businesses are formed to deliver services or produce products in order to earn a profit. In the 21st century accounting goes beyond the bottom line of black or red – – it includes “green”, too. With the growing green consumer awareness, companies are more than ever expected to align its business strategies with environmental initiatives. Environmentally conscious companies have already discovered that they can generate business strategies to help them reduce their carbon footprint, minimize their environmental impact, make the best use of natural resources, become more energy efficient, reduce costs, and exhibit social responsibility – all at the same time.

Companies who are ready to become an integral part of President Obama’s Green Economy through governmental initiatives will need to expand their accounting staff by hiring accountants who specialize in “green” or environmental accounting.

Green Accounting Definition

 

The term, green accounting, has been around since the 1980s, and is known as a management tool used for a variety of purposes, such as improving environmental performance, controlling costs, investing in “cleaner” technologies, developing “greener” processes and products, and forming decisions related to their business activities.

Green Management Accounting

 

According to the EPA, green or environmental management accounting is “the identification, prioritization, quantification or qualification, and incorporation of environmental costs into business decisions.” Green Management Accounting uses “data about environmental costs and performance for business decisions. It collects cost, production, inventory, and waste cost and performance for business decisions. It collects cost, production, inventory, and waste cost and performance data in the accounting system to plan, evaluate, and control.”

Environmental management accounting thus represents a combined approach which provides for the transition of data from financial accounting and cost accounting to increase material efficiency, reduce environmental impact and risk, and reduce costs of environmental protection.

Green or Environmental Accountants

 

Green accountants are held responsible to identify and track green costs often times working with site, research and development, and production managers when planning their budgets. In the past, such costs were buried in overhead preventing a clear picture of the cost savings and benefits to the product, process, system or facility responsible for the green initiatives.

Green accountants help management recognize that the tax benefits, rebates and lower costs of being environmentally friendly add up to a real bottom-line reward for doing the right thing.

“Public environmental, social and sustainability reporting is the main route through which corporate accountability and integrity can be demonstrated,” claims the London-based Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in its report, “Environmental, Social and Sustainability Reporting on the World Wide Web.”

Center for Environmental Health and Michael Green

CEH’s new promo clip featuring our Executive Director, Michael Green, speaking to the harms toxic industrial chemicals place on children, families, and communities. Video produced and created by David Hodge: www.hodgepictures.com.

Greening your Catering Operation through Environmental Assessments

Managing and operating a catering company based on eco friendly norms and with an environmentally conscious mandate has become the moral responsibility of many catering entrepreneurs today. There are several reasons why you should consider “going green” in your catering operation especially if you are committed to your social responsibility, increasing your market share and generating multiple income streams by providing catering services to several events simultaneously. However, before you can embrace the latest environmental standards of operation, you need to identify the various functional subsets of your catering operation—areas in which you foresee the possibility of improvement from an ecological standpoint. Here are two environmental assessments you should conduct prior to articulating your eco friendly Green Action Plan. If you have a functional subset that is unique and specific to your catering niche, incorporate it as well because you will be perceived by your prospects, existing customers and the media as a responsible operation. Conducting an environmental assessment is a fancy way of saying that you should give your catering company a thorough look-over to see how you can become an environmentally friendly operation. This incidentally, is very good for business in these days of carbon credits, ecological footprints and innumerable discussions about GHG and other related subjects.

Energy Assessment

According to a recent survey conducted by a utility research group, the food services industry, of which the catering industry is a part, spends approximately $10 billion each year for energy consumption. Most unfortunately, 80% of the energy, regardless of the source—electricity, gas and others, is wasted due to energy inefficient appliances and human activated waste. A periodic assessment of your use of energy resources will keep you updated on the amount of energy you spend during a specific period of time. Let a representative from your neighborhood utilities company, of which you are a customer, come to your assistance to conduct an energy audit. Most utility companies provide this as a free service where as others may charge a small fee. A highly effective way to conserve energy resources without compromising on quality and service delivery is by investing only in commercial kitchen appliances that carry the Energy Star logo. This is a reliable, federally mandated program that is sure to reduce your utility bills. Visit the Energy Star Resource Page at energystar.gov for more information.

Water Assessment

Conducting periodic and timely water assessments of your catering operation is as vital as conducting energy assessments. A dripping faucet will always come as an additional burden on your budget in the form of increased water bills. The best way to perform this function is by asking your plumbing company to go on a calendar-based retainer and visit your catering company’s cooking premises to check for leaks and other related problems. If you are a small operation and prepare your food only on customer sites, there is not much you can do about conserving water resources except to ask your employees to use water judiciously. However, you are bound to expand into your very own commercial kitchen in due course where you can implement the suggestions we have offered in this regard. You can also consider calling your local water treatment plant and request a quick and thorough water consumption audit. Very often, the problems that cause water wastage are to be found outside your building.

The most efficient method of saving the environment from potential disaster is to educate yourself and your employees about the various environment friendly and energy efficient alternatives available today. Teach your employees the habits, which will help your catering business to go green, and your catering company is sure to soar to new heights of success.

Go green: Sports world picks up environmental pace

EPA won’t get involved in CSX bridge dispute
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has declined to become involved with a citizen complaint regarding potential lead contamination from a CSX Transportation railroad bridge over the Barren River.

Read more on Bowling Green Daily News

Go green: Sports world picks up environmental pace
MINNEAPOLIS — Chris Dickerson remembered cringing as he looked at the excess of empty, discarded plastic bottles by his Triple-A teammates in Louisville.

Read more on SportingNews

Cynicism lingers over green bags
‘Green’ businesses fail to impress, writes Clare Kermond.

Read more on The Age

Green czar wants answers on solar power rate cut
Ontario’s environmental watchdog is demanding answers about a huge cut in the guaranteed price for some solar power projects.

Read more on CTV Toronto

Go green: Sports world picks up environmental pace
Associated Press – July 22, 2010 1:14 PM ET MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Though the sports world has lagged on the environment, progress is being made.

Read more on WXOW 19 La Crosse

Earth and Surf Fest promotes environmental awareness

Continuum Helps Recycled Household Products Manufacturer Preserve Broaden Its Brand Awareness and Consumer Appeal
Team Develops Innovative Mail-Back Pack Toothbrush Packaging; Drives 37% Increase in Sales Within 21 Days

Read more on Marketwire

Rubbish dumped at neighbours’ homes
Thoughtless residents fed up with Black Country binmen working to rule have resorted to dumping their uncollected rubbish bags outside their neighbours’ homes and in their gardens.

Read more on Express and Star

National Grid launches recycling program for old refrigerators, freezers
SYRACUSE – National Grid is starting a new recycling program for old refrigerators and freezers. The utility is giving customers a $30 rebate if they call to schedule a pickup of second refrigerators or freezers.

Read more on Central New York Business Journal

Hard fiscal times hit inmates
The nation’s unemployment crisis is now reaching far inside prison walls. Since 2008, thousands of inmates have lost their jobs as federal authorities shutter and scale back operations at prison recycling, furniture, cable and electronics assembly factories to try to make up $65 million in losses.

Read more on Daily Record

Earth and Surf Fest promotes environmental awareness
N. TOPSAIL BEACH – Having fun and being good stewards of the environment were all part of the activities at the Earth and Surf Fest last Saturday.

Read more on Topsail Voice

Going Green, Seeing Red: Environmental Activism and Corporate Social Responsibility

Sarah Soule discusses her research and insights on the environmental movement in the United States, and how states and firms respond to the movement. Her research is distinguished by the fact that she examines activist movements against the business sector and not just against the state or a state entity. In addition Professor Soule studies shareholder-initiated resolutions, membership in environmental organizations such as Sierra Club, and the number of environmental lobbying organizations to determine the power of external influences on policies and actions both inside and outside of the corporate realm.

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