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With the big green boom, it seems like everyone is going green—but what exactly does that mean? How do you go green with your business? Would you even want to if you knew what that would entail? You should; in the end, going green can save you and your company a lot of time, hassle, and money, in addition to all the altruistic benefits to the environment. You don’t have to be Bono to make this kind of commitment, though. Rather, in many instances going green may simply mean a clear look at different ways your company can conserve, in various ways, and taking active steps to make those conservations. Like any commitment, this sort of change begins with a vision. Vision, of course, entails image. What does this look like? To many people, the term going green conjures up an image of the ever-elusive paperless office. The question, of course, is how to make this passionate, paperless dream manifest. There are many ways to do this, but they all begin with lots of research, both introspectively, as well as externally. Read up on the matter. For the broad strokes, visit http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/how-to-go-paperless-bury-the-paper-before-it-buries-you.html. For a more in depth process analysis, check out http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/Jun2005/johnston.htm. Once you understand the fundamentals, take a close look at your company. Look at the overall workflow, and eliminate any redundancies. Look at any superfluous paper usage. Scan in old documents, such as invoices, and keep them digitally. Set a date, after which all primary copies of records will be digital, and all old records will have been digitized. The equipment and programming for these sorts of transitions, such as scanners, is cheaper than ever. Whatever you do, keep in mind that the manner in which the paperless concept will take form is unique to your company. If the idea of going paperless seems a bit daunting, don’t worry. Although one should not give up on the idea simply because it is difficult, paperless offices are not the only green ones. As mentioned above, practical strategies for going green do not necessarily entail clichés, so much as realistic, innovative ways of reducing in general. Reduction can be attained by any company, anywhere, regardless of size, product, or service. One leading example is Wal-Mart. Billionaire John Doerr, a partner in the renowned VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, cited Wal-Mart’s reduction efforts in a talk he gave at the Ted conference, which you can view at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/john_doerr_sees_salvation_and_profit_in_greentech.html. Doerr cites Wal-Mart as the largest private employer in America, and also as the largest private user of electricity. One might surmise that given Wal-Mart’s immense size, any sort of reformation would entail massive overhaul. Yet Wal-Mart, in the middle of its operation, committed to reduce its energy usage in existing stores by 20%, and usage in new stores by 30%. This was achieved through various innovative methods, including the addition of skylights to take advantage of daylight. There are two basic principles that can be observed from Wal-Mart. The first is commitment. It is not enough to say that something must, or will happen. If you want to save your company money, then you need to take the risk of saying that a certain action will be done by a certain date. This labels the idea as a priority, thus making it urgent. So set the goal, make the plan, and then make it happen. The second principle to be learned is innovation. Painting the roof white to keep the building cooler, using skylights—these are modifications that anyone take advantage of, but they are also specific to Wal-Mart’s needs, and ability to change. Reduction, in every respect of the word, begins not with a grandiose scheme to overhaul the entire company, but by looking at the things that you can feasibly change, one step at a time. Conduct a waste audit (which will be discussed later). Talk to a plumber about pressure reducers or flow constrictors for your water. These are just a few practical ways to conserve waste in your workplace. In the next article, we will start to take a look more specifically at ways you can accomplish this.