HOW WE ARE GREEN and WHY IT MATTERS

At the risk of sounding preachy, right now we have only one planet to live on. And it’s rapidly becoming less pleasant to live here, not only for us but for many critical plant and animal species. We believe that everyone has a responsibility to do their part. If the challenge seems too daunting, we say: start small and work up from there.

We continuously observe the three “R”s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Some of our ongoing company environmental initiatives include the following:

• Most of our team works remotely whenever possible, reducing traffic, CO2 emissions and the use of fossil fuels. To a large extent, phone conferences have taken the place of face-to-face meetings.
• We reduce our energy usage by turning off all unneeded lights during the day and at the end of the work day; we use long life fluorescent bulbs wherever feasible.
• We use recycled paper whenever possible. Additionally, we print our laser paper on both sides, which all gets recycled through DeKalb County’s recycling program.
• We actively discourage the use of disposable plates, cups or anything made of styrofoam.
• We recycle all of the following items: newspapers, magazines, cardboard, glass, plastic, aluminum, catalogues and junk mail, and ink and toner cartridges.
• We safely recycle our used or broken electronic equipment, dead batteries and other materials containing potentially hazardous components.

BEING MORE GREEN CAN EARN YOU MORE GREEN!

Even in tough economic times, many small and large businesses are still implementing green practices. And it pays off, not only in terms of revenue and bottom line profits but also in more intangible but still critical ways, such as public relations and consumer opinion.

Below are links to several stories about companies that are doing the right thing when it comes to the environment… and still making a profit.

Read about 5 Businesses Where Being 'Green' Is Easy and Profitable from an article in Business News Daily: a hamburger chain, a solar-powered trash compacting system, a green consumer shopping site, a wine maker, and a retailer of plastic-free lunch and snack containers.

Better World Books is a B Corporation that's been making news for a while. You may have seen their big green drop boxes if you live in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee or four other states including Texas. The used books (in good condition) that you drop off are sold online to help raise funds for awesome non-profit literacy organizations changing the world through teaching kids, supporting families, building schools and filling libraries. In fact, 5% - 15% of the net sale price of every book goes to these great causes. Any books they can't sell are either donated directly to one of our non-profit partners or recycled.

Better World Books has been profiled as
one of the best B Corps in
Fast Company online, along
with other companies
deemed to be doing
great things for the
environment. You can
also download a full
PDF of the "Best of the
Best B-Corp Lists" and
read more.