The Challenges of Getting on the Green Bandwagon

Chris Bjorklund: You’re listening to an AllBusiness podcast. If you’re getting this through iTunes and RSS feed or an online streaming-media player, you can hear more interviews with other experts at AllBusiness.com.

Bjorklund: This podcast is part of a series called Green Money, a look at the greening of the business world with Stuart Hampton from Hoover’s

Stuart Hampton: These days companies all over the world are facing the pressure to adapt to environmentally responsible policies around the ways they conduct their business. But what happens if your company or particular industry faces major hurdles in getting on the green bandwagon? Today we take a look at some of the industries and markets that are finding that sometimes, it’s not so easy being green.

Hampton: According to the Green Restaurant Association, a nonprofit organization helping restaurants to go green, eateries are a big contributor to pollution. However, since some of these food shops are local mom-and-pop places, most are finding that investing in the required environmental resources and technology can be expensive. To make matters worse, each restaurant is structured differently and potentially pollutes the climate in different ways. Food waste is a constant problem for restaurant businesses as is the massive accumulation of garbage. In addition, climate-friendly eateries are expected to record what percentage of their food being serviced is organic while at the same time ensure they are using nontoxic cleaning products. Another problem facing an ecofriendly eatery involves the gas emissions attributed to the long-distance transportation of food. For the restaurant, all these potential investments add up. Most of these local eateries simply lack the resources and infrastructure needed to implement the new green strategies associated with recycling, water conservation, and the ability to alleviate gas emissions by promoting more localized food. Besides the restaurant industry, the housing and development industry is finding it difficult to hop aboard the green revolution. Even though housing operations are widely developed according to the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council’s leadership in energy and environmental design, the industry has no control over its tenants’ water efficiency or energy conservation practices. Still, many developers encourage their tenants to submeter their utilities, a practice which gives them an incentive for conserving energy. The Building Owners and Managers Association is also releasing its Green Leasing Guide in 2008. The guide will call for more widespread recycling, efficient lighting and ventilation systems, and less use of volatile cleaning products. Despite these measures, the building industry knows it can’t force its tenants to go green. It has to just guide the way. Last but not least, when it comes to jumping on the green bandwagon, it’s not surprising that the air travel industry has its fair share of challenges. According to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, plane emissions are about three times more damaging to the environment than the carbon dioxide emitted from cars. So how are the airlines making the switch? Slowly. Chief obstacles for the aviation industry involve the money and time it takes to develop and test energy-efficient fuels and the lengthy process required for replacing its fleets with more environmentally-friendly aircraft. One unconventional approach already utilized by airlines involves charging its customers carbon-offset fees. The extra cash doesn’t go to the airlines but instead goes to selected organizations that promote sustainable development, help clean the water, and even plant trees. Does the industry’s new marketing push help counter the carbon dioxide emitted from its airplanes? No. But the airlines believe it’s the first step into a much larger, greener world.

Bjorklund: Thank you for listening to this Green Money podcast with Stuart Hampton from Hoover’s.com.