Going Green without Wasting Green

Many graphic artists and studios come from a generation where they care about the world around them – including a variety of environmental and social issues. However, many are also business owners, and therefore have to exercise financial responsibility in all their decisions. It may appear that these two goals are in conflict with each other.

As it turns out, there are a large number of small things you can do in running your business that add to your loftier goals without subtracting from your bottom line – in fact, some practices enhance both. Here are some ideas we’ve compiled to date:

Recycling

One of the most significant additions we made to our office was a simple blue recycling can. Once we combine our discarded mail, magazines, and catalogs, empty FedEx boxes, and consumed cans and bottles of sugar and caffeine, we found that our recyclable waste averages two to four times our non-recyclable waste per week (we would never have guessed). Consider placing blue cans near the mail, printer, magazine, and beverage centers in your office.

For the hard core, an additional practice that reduces how much goes into our non-recyclable waste is a program of composting. Virtually all non-animal foodstuffs (like banana peels, tea bags, wilting salad and fruit) can be composted, which also saves money on potting soil and fertilizer. We also recycle virtually all of our green waste back into our property – more on that below.

Utilities

Whenever a tape machine, video monitor, or other electricity-eating heat-spewing piece of equipment is not going to be in use for over an hour, turn it off. They typically only take a minute or so to revive, and will yield double savings – reduced power consumption, plus reduced cooling bills for your office or studio.

Consider replacing some of your lighting with compact fluorescent bulbs. They consume a mere fraction of the electricity of normal bulbs, and are quite bright. The energy savings usually pays for the added cost of the bulbs in about a year, and compact fluorescents are long-lasting. In addition to some interior lights, we use them for exterior lighting; our 24-hour safety lights only consume 5 watts each.

Many cities now allow you to choose your electricity supplier, including those who sell "green" or renewable energy. Our studio is powered by the Green Power for a Green LA program. The additional surcharge is about 6% per month. Plus the city of Los Angeles gives you a couple of compact fluorescent light bulbs for joining – this alone pays for the first couple months of surcharges. Take the additional steps mentioned above, and your overall bill will probably go down, not up.

Water is another important utility, especially in Los Angeles. We've landscaped with water-conserving California native plants – after all, they’re already used to living in these conditions. Most of our property gets watered only once a week to once a month – and that’s during the middle of summer! And we can turn off the irrigation in the winter. (We have also chosen plants that attract wildlife, which makes our breaks from the computer more pleasant.)

Part of what helps us reduce our water bill is recycling our plant waste. Virtually all of our garden waste is chipped and shredded, then re-applied to the landscape as mulch. This keeps the soil cool and helps retain water, plus the mulch improves the soil naturally as it decays. It also means our green can is empty most weeks, resulting in less waste being hauled off to the landfill. For more on gardening for wildlife with native plants, please visit our Habitat page or our separate web site, Wildscaping.com.

Purchasing

There are several ways you can donate to various charities and causes as part of your normal business activities, at no additional cost to you.

First, all of our credit cards are aligned with various charities we support, including the World Wildlife Fund, National Wildlife Federation, Nature Conservancy, Wilderness Society, and Mountain Lion Foundation. This means a small percentage of our purchases go these foundations, at no additional cost. In our experience, MBNA America is the most common issuing bank for these cards; we also find their customer service to be excellent.

A number of these organizations also work with Message!Products to produce checks with their logos on them. The charities receive royalties, and the printing on the checks makes your clients and vendors aware of their existence as well.

Do you buy books, CDs, electronic goods, and other products online? If so, check out GreaterGood.com, which has links to many common online retailers. By going through this site, a percentage of your purchase price go to a variety of charities and causes, at no additional expense to you.

On the flip side of purchases, are you ready to retire an old computer, hard drive, or scanner? There are a large number of schools, libraries and non-profits trying to get by with even older equipment. Nothing should ever go to the landfill (or haz mat) without first seeing if someone else could use it.

Telecommunications

There are a lot of long distance and wireless phone companies to choose from; we use Working Assets Long Distance. The quality is excellent, cost is competitive, and a portion of your bill goes to a number of worthy environmental and progressive causes. Not to mention you get FREE Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream when you sign up.

Finances

Finally, a reality for many of us working in this field is that we’re having to plan for our own retirement. There are a large number of socially responsible mutual funds available for you to consider investing in – and contrary to popular belief, a number of them regularly beat the market. There are numerous web sites available for researching green investing; our favorite is SocialFunds.com for their articles and research resources. A good consolidated list of many funds (including performance information) can be found at the Social Investment Forum website.

If nothing else, consider using a socially responsible money market fund (such as the one from PAX World) instead of an ordinary savings account to manage your reserve capital.

Everyone Benefits

Note that virtually all of the suggestions above either cost you nothing, or actually save you money – after all, we assume you’re trying to run a successful business. It’s just nice to know you can be successful, while helping others around you as well.