These are not difficult questions, but belies the problems incurred by businesses that have already agreed to the need for Green operation. The fevered rush to become an environmentally-friendly business suddenly runs into a morass of confusing information and partisan advocates that leads to limp results. Green (in its most precise definition) refers to the “health impact on living things by the actions we practice in our spheres of influence.” While Green has been expanded to include all things environmental, it should not be a replacement for the environmental topic. Green properly defined is about health and living things. Yes, I know that the earth is called a living thing too, but it is in a whole different class of applications. If Going Green starts with the health impact, we have a starting point. That starting point can effectively be a platform to launch into another related subject like sustainability (resource management), pollution (waste), and conservation (preserving nature). These I feel are the four major components of environmentalism, but conservation is not the single issue of our time. The same could be said of health, sustainability, or pollution issues. They come together to complete the full environmental puzzle. For a business, Going Green starts with the health issues currently at work in their facility. The health of workers is both the logical and rational starting point for any business. Issues of sustainability follow the health in the process. Therefore, the Green Business League has a month-by-month list of suggestions that can move any business toward an environmentally-friendly business. So, we have a starting point and a path for the Green business to eliminate a large part of the confusion.
Some of the well-intended mistakes are the belief that installing a solar panel system, buying carbon credits, or planting green plants on the roof will make a business Green. These are pieces of the puzzle, but they are not the singular or complete solution. There are those businesses that attend environmental seminars, make charitable contributions to environmental causes, or install CFL bulbs thinking that they are Green businesses. However, making the attempt to Go Green is not the same as a Green business. If Going Green is about the construction of a new business or the renovation of an existing business, what about the vast majority of businesses that rent or lease? They should not be exempted from the Green program because they do not control the facilities, landscaping, HVAC, or greenery on the roof. Green business is predominantly about the operation of the business and only partially about the construction of the building. You see, it is possible to have a relatively non-Green business operation in what might be a certifiably Green Business. Green is more a practice than it is a dual-flush commode.
Greetings and welcome my radio listening audience and online article readers. On this 19th day of October 2012, we will of course be discussing future technology, future innovations, and futuristic concepts. Indeed, I surely hope the Mayan calendar was wrong, or perhaps those carving it merely ran out of stone simply, ran out of rock to chisel on, therefore the world will be saved from whatever it was that the Mayans thought might bring about a new age or renewal. Okay so, I’d like to dive into our topics for today’s radio talk show and I’m sure by now you understand the format, basically, “I will do the talking for about 30 minutes minus commercials and your job is to listen carefully, come up with comments and questions, and then I’ll open up the phone lines to hear what you have to say.” As you also probably know I do not respond to online comments which are not intellectually based. That doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion, nor does it mean that it has to be the same as mine. In fact, if you do too much preaching to the choir, I will simply cut you off, perhaps agree with you, and go to the next caller. Our job is to have an intellectual discussion, dialogue, debate, and discourse. That’s why you’re here, and that’s my mission, and we will complete it. Now then, obviously there is a tremendous amount of talk about innovation, and the need for innovators and entrepreneurs in our nation to keep us strong, vibrant, and on the leading edge of technology. You won’t get any disagreement here on that reality, nevertheless, it seems as if the word “innovation” is perhaps one of the most overused words in the English language currently, perhaps other than “unsustainable” which by the way, some things which may appear to be unsustainable or dire problems we believe we face today, but may very well be solved with the technology of the future.
