Why Green Business is Good Business

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Why Green Business is Good Business
Michael Patton, Executive Director The
Metropolitan Environmental Trust
Business Solutions Series
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The M.e.t.

• Recycling Depots
• Bixby
• Broken Arrow
• Tulsa (5 Locations)
• Claremore
• Collinsville
• Glenpool
• Jenks
• Owasso
• Sand Springs
• Coming soon
• Coweta Catoosa

Fairgrounds Household Pollutant Collection
Event Litter Cleanups Eco Expo
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Funding
Member Governments Bixby Broken Arrow Tulsa
Claremore Collinsville Glenpool Jenks Owasso
Sand Springs Tulsa County
Sale of Recyclables
EPA ODEQ Corporate Sponsors M.e.t. Friends
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Top Five Reasons Why Green is Good Business

• Your customers want you to
• The government wants you to
• Your employees want you to
• Your planet wants you to
• It can save you money

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Government Reasons

• They are going green
• Alternative road materials
• LEED buildings
• Mayor Taylor Green Team
• Regulatory help
• P.A.C.E.
• Environmental Mandates
• Ozone
• Recycling
• Roads

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Customer Reasons

• Eco-tourism
• Follow Wal-marts lead (worlds largest purchaser
  of organic cotton and produce)
• 12 Tulsa-area farmers markets
• It helps you stand out
• Green is the new
• red, white, and blue

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Paper Usage

• Dont print e-mails
• Email vs. Fax
• Update mailing lists
• Print double-sided
• Make scrap pads
• Share handouts at meetings

• Instead of paper use
• Websites
• Flash drives
• PDAs
• Chalkboards

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Paper Choice

• Printing paper
• Advertisements
• Letterhead
• Envelopes
• Business cards
• Paper towels
• Toilet paper
• Paper cups

• Two criterion
• Virgin vs. recycled
• Post-consumer percentage

Preference purchasing policy
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June 2008 Staples Paper Prices
0
30
100
36.09
39.99
49.99
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Employees

• Telecommute
• Four-day work week
• Encourage carpooling
• greentraveler.org
• Subsidize bus rides
• Facilitate alternative transportation- provide
  bike racks
• Provide reusable break-room items
• Encourage employees to eat in the office

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Ozone- Take Action All Summer Long

• Drive less- leave your car home 1 day a week,
  prevent 55lbs of pollution per year
• Dont idle longer than 30 seconds
• Bring lunch to work or walk
• Combine errands to avoid cold starts
• Refuel in the evening, dont top off the tank
• Save lawn care for the evening, or use electric
  tools
• www.ozonealert.com

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Monitoring Stations
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Recycling

• Paper is easy first step
• You can recycle lots of other things too
• www.metrecycle.com/directory
• Create a recycling coordinator
• Two bin or not two bin

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Purchasing

• Recycled content products materials
• Oklahoma Recycled Manufacturers
• 17 companies, 5000 jobs, 200 million pay roll
• Buy durable, or used/ reconditioned items
• Carpet made from pop bottles
• Buy local

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Shipping

• Right size packaging
• Pillows better than peanuts
• Concentrate products when possible

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Facility Energy Efficiency

• Light switches- use motion detectors and timers
• Revolving door principle
• Energy Star and energy wise

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Landscaping

• Cut energy cost- strategically plant trees
• Extra shade reduces cooling costs
• Up With Trees sponsorships
• upwithtrees.org

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The Planet Wants You To

• Good planets are hard to find
• From dust bowl to green country