Sustainable Living Consultant

When we think of ‘green’ jobs, we often picture a new opportunity, which may require a new set of skills, or a new place of employment with a job title and description that "sounds" green.   This may lead us to believe that ‘green’ jobs are elsewhere - and definitely not our current job.  Frequently, in our sustainability consulting, we are asked, "How do I find a green job?"
 
Keep in mind, every job is a green job: it's all in how you do it.  Granted, there are designated "green" jobs out there.  However, if it is making an impact and making a difference that you are truly after, then transforming your current job into a green job is the ticket.
 
Whether led by a sustainability executive or traditional management, your role in a sustainable organization can have an impact. 
 
•    Supply Chain Professionals: these roles interface with the company’s supply chain and can implement new sources of supply or work with current suppliers to incorporate sustainability concepts that improve operations.  Procurement play a role in coordinating sustainable purchasing practices across various departments within the organization. 
 
•    Environmental, Health, and Safety Professionals: these roles interface with the company’s operations and establish and implement the company’s sustainability policies.  They can also function as a communication vehicle to the organization.
 
•    Sales and Marketing Professionals: these key roles interface with the company’s customers represent the face of business sustainability and communicate the organizations values and commitment to sustainability.  Sales and Marketing link consumer preferences for sustainable products with the offerings of the company.
 
•    Human Resource Professionals: these key roles interface have a key role to play to help a company achieve its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) objectives.  HR professionals are encouraged to check out the new book, CSR for HR by Elaine Cohen for sustainable impact within the organization.
 
At its essence, the desire for a green job is an opportunity for meaningful work.  Specifically, work that transforms our environment and gives back in a meaningful way.  It is the reward of expanding eco awareness through deliberate eco action that generates shifts in business and personal lives.  Follow your eco friendly passions and take on new and exciting opportunities as they become available. Watch your job transform into the sustainability role you have always wanted.        

Sometimes when I talk about green living or a sustainable lifestyle to someone unfamiliar with environmental values, I get the "deer in the headlights" look.  You know, the eyes gloss over, there's a lost look in the face, and there's a gentle stare of confusion.  As a green living consultant, I view these moments as a gift in time to share the value of living a sustainable lifestyle for myself  -  with someone else.  
 
In my professional consulting, I've discovered the easiest way to promote a sustainable lifestyle to others is by sharing with friends, neighbors, and in the community.  Sharing is a genuine expression of the value found in the sustainability concepts that are embraced in your life.  It's easier for others to make the connection between the ideas of living green and how it's put into action when examples are shared. 
 
Following are suggestions mentioned in our eco friendly training to help get the conversation going.
 
•    Want to talk about the weather?  Grow that typical conversation about local weather patterns into an expanding discussion about climate change.  Take the lead and solicit opinions about global warming, pollution, emissions, or a host of other environmental issues and opportunities related to the weather.  Explore possible solutions and eco actions to take.
 
•    Want to talk about work?  Turn that uninspiring workplace problem into an exploration of business sustainability solutions.  Leverage those issues into a discussion of business innovation, operational efficiencies, or exciting new technologies.
 
•    Want to talk about family and children?  Explore conversations about green living, eco travel, or fun green activities for the kids.
 
•    Want to talk about projects around the house?  There is a number of topics to choose from, either though personal experience or thoughts of doing in the future.  As a starter, energy efficiency is always a conversation starter for home improvement projects and appliance upgrades.
 
Remember to share what you are doing and why you like taking those eco actions.  If it feels good to preserve natural resources, say so.  Are you saving money? Say that too!  We all have different motivations and your sharing of your sustainable lifestyle may very well inspire your friends, neighbors, and family members to discover the value in green living for them. 

According to the post, Who's the Biggest Greenwasher of Them All?, consumers are the biggest greenwashers.  And perhaps, rightfully so.
 
The author, Joel Makower states, "For more than two decades, they've said one thing and done another, making outsized claims about their environmental commitments — and the actions they take where they live, work, and play — with little evidence to back up those claims." “If consumers were a corporation, we'd be boycotting them."
 
Which brings us to the case in point: Sustainability is two sides of the same coin.   Business sustainability and personal sustainability.   Businesses are stepping up to the plate.  As a consumer, are you?  At the PEW Center for Climate Change's Energy Efficiency Conference held in Chicago last April, one of the plenary session speakers stated a remarkable statistic.  Only 8% of what you DO is sustainable -- the other 92% is in the supply chain -- in other words, what you BUY.
 
As a result, we may not always have time to participate in the latest cause or campaign, but we do have one very powerful tool to affect social change… our consumer dollar. How we spend our money speaks volumes about our beliefs and values.
 
Noted in our sustainability consulting, sustainability needs educated consumers.  Everything you buy affects the Earth, but some choices have a lesser impact. Educating yourself about the products you buy can empower you to make a difference in protecting the planet. It's called "green purchasing," and it's easy to do. As a green living consultant, I've found the problem is, most people are simply not aware of the problems associated with purchasing less sustainable products, let alone the solutions.
 
So if the problem is a lack of education, then who is responsible for fixing it? We are.  Individually, we have a responsibility to seek out information on sustainable products and companies.  The easiest way to promote a sustainable lifestyle is by living your values. Sustainable purchasing is one way to demonstrate that value.  In fact, getting others involved in your purchasing habits is a great way to spread eco awareness to friends, neighbors, and others in your community.   

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed". Translated into today's language that equates to actions speak louder than words.  Translate again to sustainability language, and eco actions speak louder than eco speak.
 
So, how do you walk your green talk?  Misconceptions encountered in our eco friendly consulting illustrate that people falsely believe that a sustainable lifestyle is an all or nothing approach.  The truth of the matter is that you do not have to live a 100% sustainable lifestyle to make a significant difference.
 
Consider a growing movement of buying local food.  While buying local is a sustainability concept, to some, that isn't even factored into their decision process.  They just want to support local businesses.  However, buying local extends beyond that of food purchases.  Purchasing locally made products also supports sustainable businesses in our communities.  Consider the additional benefits to buying local. 

• Local businesses produce more income, jobs, and tax receipts for local communities. 
• For every $100 you spend at one of our local businesses, $68 will stay in the community.
• Local businesses are more likely to utilize local ads, banks and other services.
• Local businesses donate more money to nonprofits and are more accountable to their local communities.
• Supporting local businesses preserves the economic diversity of our communities and the unique character of our neighborhoods.
• Supporting local businesses is good for the environment, because it cuts down on fuel consumption.

 
As you can see, living a sustainable lifestyle doesn't mean you have to have an all or nothing approach; you can select the sustainability concepts that resonate the most with you and walk your green talk that way. 

So often sustainability is communicated to others in terms of the quality of the earth and our natural resources that we leave for our children.  Business sustainability programs are intended to address this on a corporate level and companies on the leading edge of sustainability are implementing ‘green’ decision process into all areas of their business, including their procurement and supply chain functions.
 
But as individuals, how does this participation show up in our daily lives?  What about the events in which we choose to participate?   Just this week, Taiga Company was represented in the TransRockies (TR3) mountain bike race.  Not only was this a dream come true, but more importantly, the values of the event parralled those of our company values. 
 
As noted in the TransRockies newsletter,”For years, the TransRockies has prided itself on leaving no trace on the trails we ride and in the places we stay. Because we ride through parkland and use public campgrounds, we have developed a very strict set of internal guidelines that ensure that we leave no garbage behind.
 
Some of the initiatives we take include trucking out every drop of grey water from our showers, leaving a crew behind to walk our campgrounds and pick up all refuse, tasking our sweep riders to take down all marking tape and pick up all wrappers as they clear the course . . . and penalizing riders for dropping garbage.
 
This year we're taking it a step further with the help of mygreenbin, who specialize in reducing landfill waste generated. With support from mygreenbin staff, we've been using multiple bins with separate paper, plastic and metal recycling to divert as much waste as possible making sure that it doesn't end up in landfills. It's a small step but one which will help to reduce the TransRockies carbon footprint."
 
As a sustainability consultant, the reward of riding my bike through breathtaking views in an event committed to similar values of waste reduction, environmental stewardship, and respect of natural resources was immensely fulfilling.  Thank you TransRockies!

With coal, oil, and natural gas receiving most of the popular press, the often forgotten resource that may present the greatest challenge to many local communities is the availability of fresh water.  Unlike energy constraints, water cannot be economically brought in from neighboring areas in tankers, on trucks, or even in transmission pipelines.  For the most part, communities rely on the access and availability of a local water supply.

While water is not a new issue, rapidly increasing eco awareness may be expanding individual participation in management options.  Our sustainability consulting finds communities are becoming increasingly aware of their water supply and are actively managing demand.  According a recent report, the everyday consumer is becoming more aware of the community risk and economic trade-offs of water management.

Taking it down to an individual level, we encourage our eco living consulting clients to be actively aware of their consumption and water disposal.  We stress the inclusion of water management as a sustainability concept in an overall business sustainability program.  Some simple personal actions might include:

•    Create a personal water management philosophy
•    Identify high consumption activities (showers, watering lawn, washing clothes and dishes, etc.)
•    Identify and practice water conservation actions
•    Install water efficient equipment and fixtures

Want to learn more?  Visit the Taiga Company blog for tools and resources to raise your eco awareness and to implement solutions that meet your specific needs. 

They say a hug is a great gift – one size fits all, and it’s easy to exchange.  But as a sustainable living consultant, I wonder, how do you hug the planet? 
 
Perhaps it's in the expression of our daily choices.  Maybe hugging the planet is by living a sustainable lifestyle.  Consider that while we are here on this planet, many of us want to make a difference in the way we treat our environment.  Many want to make a significant contribution to the role business takes in shaping our economy, society, and environment.
The human values of kindness, generosity and willingness are ways we can all hug our planet:
 

• Kindness in living green is not only being kind to our planet, but kind to each other.  Compassion for where each of us is in relation to the green path.
• Generosity in green living is not only sharing eco awareness and eco resources, but also going above and beyond to inspire, promote, and encourage others on the green path.
• Willingness in green living is demonstrating your values through eco action and generating results

 
As you are going about your day, approach your world from the place of appreciation for our natural resources and community.  Discover ways you can hug your planet!  Here are some ideas:
 

• Pick up litter you see as you are walking on the sidewalk.
• Turn the lights off after someone else has forgotten as they left the room.
• Collect scrap office paper and bring it to the recycling center.
• Bring an organic meal to friends after just having a baby.
• Treat a friend to organic fare at a local sustainable restaurant.
• Teach a child how to ride a bike.
• Invite a friend on a nature walk.
• Share your favorite green blog with friends.
• Volunteer to clean up the break room and use eco friendly cleaning supplies.
• Feed the birds from a park bench or feeder.
• Adopt a pet from your local animal shelter.
• Donate a bag of organic coffee and share with your office.
• Make a contribution to your favorite charity.
• Volunteer your time for a worthwhile organization.
• Notice and compliment the sustainable efforts other are doing.

 
As Bill Keane said, “A hug is like a boomerang - you get it back right away".

Two emerging buzz words have accompanied growing eco awareness in our society:  Sustainability and Green.   As explained in our business sustainability consulting, sustainability is a macro concept that applies more broadly to entire systems and infrastructures. The term can be somewhat elusive, but can be characterized as it spans a multitude of topics.
 
Green, on the other hand, is a micro concept.   We deal with green in our everyday lives with things like clothing, food, transportation, and a long list of "how to go green today" suggestions. Green is a pretty easy concept to understand in part because it’s relative and tangible.   It is measured on a scale from dirty to clean or eco friendly vs. traditional product.   Also, tangible eco actions are oftentimes associated with being green, as in recycling. 
 
So, what is green living and is it the same as a sustainable lifestyle?  Living green or a sustainable lifestyle is a primary focus on eco awareness with actions towards reducing ones carbon footprint, managing waste, and embracing sustainability concepts in decision making.  A sustainable lifestyle often means different things to different people.  For those well versed in sustainability concepts, a sustainable lifestyle may be very different compared to someone just beginning to make sustainable life changes.
 
In our eco friendly consulting, we begin by asking, "Which sustainability concepts are you most familiar with?" 
•    Energy Efficiency
•    Waste Management
•    Eco labeling
•    Buy Local
•    Fair Trade
•    Carbon Offsetting
 
As a green living consultant, I encourage clients to transform the buzz words of green and sustainability into lasting behaviors and lifestyle choices that support the environment.  Expand eco awareness by having colorful green conversations with friends.  Share the sustainability concepts that you embrace and inspire eco action in others.   

Double dipping that potato chip in the dip can be gross, but helping to preserve the environment for the generations of the future is an important responsibility.   A growing concerned expressed in our sustainability consulting is the issue of E-waste.   According to the Environmental Protection Agency, E-waste is now the fastest growing part of the municipal waste stream.
 
What are the eco action options available to responsibly dispose of e-waste? Here's the double dip part: help out a charity and help the environment with Recycling for Charities. 
 
Recycling for Charities allows individuals an opportunity to recycle cellular phones, PDA’s, Palm Pilots, digital cameras, and iPods for value that is then donated to the charity of their choice.  What sets Recycling for Charities apart is the fact that they are the only 501(c)(3) Non Profit Organization recycling cell phones.  This sustainable business strategy not only helps protect the environment but the donations provide funds for the charitable cause of the donator's choice.
 
As a sustainable business, Recycling for Charities is committed to recycling mobile phones and wireless gadgets properly.
 
For those living a sustainable lifestyle, you can double dip without the guilt! Recycle for Charities is an environmentally sound means to dispose of your e-waste and positively contribute to others.  It is also an innovative small business resource for environmentally responsible businesses.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed". Translated into today's language that equates to actions speak louder than words.  Translate again to sustainability language, and eco actions speak louder than eco speak.
 
So, how do you walk your talk?  Misconceptions encountered in our eco friendly consulting falsely believe that a sustainable lifestyle is an all or nothing approach.  The truth of the matter is that you do not have to live a 100% sustainable lifestyle to make a significant difference.  By aligning personal incentives with just a few sustainability concepts, you can reduce your carbon footprint almost immediately.
 
•    Vehicle Fuel Consumption: The most significant area of personal impact and one that is well within your sphere of influence.  Sustainable actions directly aligned with personal savings include: alternative fuel transportation, fuel efficiency and personal reduction (commuting, ride share, alternative transportation).
 
•    Electricity Consumption: By switching to wind or renewable sources, the average family could save the equivalent to thousands of miles driven in a car.  Sustainable actions include: source control (wind, renewable, offsets), home efficiency (energy star appliances), and personal energy management.
 
•    Water Consumption: Clear fresh water is rapidly becoming an endangered resource in even the most developed countries.  Sustainable actions directly aligned with personal savings include: water management (personal use and outdoor watering) and waste water management (controlling what goes down the drain and into the storm drains).  
 
•    Waste Disposal: A large portion of what goes into the average garbage is recyclable.  By separating your plastics, glass, and paper, the weekly volume sent to the landfill could be cut by more than half.  Sustainable actions include: inquiring about recycling programs with traditional collectors and locating recycling centers in your area.
 
When you consider that over 80% of our personal impact can be bucketed into four major categories, taking eco action becomes easier. Take eco action today! Walk your green talk. 

In our personal and professional consulting, we express to clients that pursing a ‘green’ career is a natural extension of living a sustainable lifestyle.   When you embrace eco awareness as a part of your daily life, it is natural to pursue the same in searching for a career.   Until recently, the future of the ‘green’ job market had been a little bit uncertain and not all that attractive financially.  While green jobs are on the rise, some are considering the path of   the ecopreneur.   But what exactly is an ecopreneur?
 
According to Glenn Croston, author of "75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference" believes that it's a combination of business savvy and a commitment to the future that defines the successful green entrepreneur.”Ecopreneurs have got to believe in the importance of working for a greener future and a sustainable economy," he says. It's also important to "be a solid business person, someone who knows a good product and can deliver it."

Within our sustainability consulting, we're frequently greeted with questions pertaining to starting a green business:
 

• Am I qualified?
• How do I get started?
• How do I build my business?
• How can I use social media to generate exposure and sales for my new business?
• What are the "must knows" to start and run a small business?
• What small business resources are available to help me?

 
Fortunately, we have a service to address those questions and more.  It's called, The Farmer's Market.  It's specifically designed for quick questions and advice on matters of building a sustainable business.
 
Building a business might seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.  As a professional consultant in the area of building business sustainability, it's rewarding utilizing the small business resources available to assist new environmental businesses get off to a great start.  Ecopreneurs bringing eco awareness to business contribute to positive change in the business world as well as help the planet.      

Children are quickly gaining eco awareness and are in many cases educating their parents. Given access to and experience with sustainability concepts, children often take the lead on green living ideas. Why not give them the sustainability tools they need?
 
With summer is coming to an end, the kids will soon be back in school. Take this as an opportunity to expand your children’s eco awareness and introduce some concepts of sustainable living as they head into a new year of learning.
 
Going back to school can be an exciting time for both parents and children. It is a time of renewal and discovery, as you visit the stores to load up on the supplies needed for the coming school year. It can also be a great way to introduce your family to some fun sustainable alternatives.
 
As a green living consultant, I most often speak with adults about incorporating sustainability concepts into their daily lives. Here are a few tips to raise eco awareness at home while ‘greening’ your back to school:
 
    · Parents take the time to teach your children about sustainable living.
    · Children educate your parents on green choices.
    · Use as many of last year's school supplies as possible.
    · Seek out recyclable canvas and cardboard binders instead of plastic.
    · Promote the use of recycled paper.
    · Use reusable water bottles instead of plastic.
    · Use a lunch box, not paper bags.
    · Reuse or donate last year's clothes instead of throwing them away.
    · Reuse your backpack. Decorate it with cool patches.
    · Buy local and organic food for lunches.
    · Turn your computer off when you're not using it.
    · Carpool with friends and neighbors daily to school and to school functions.
    · If you live close, ride your bike or walk to school.
 
As a personal consultant to individuals seeking a more sustainable lifestyle, I encourage parents and children to continually evaluate alternatives in all areas of life.  A large part of building a personal sustainability plan for your family includes choosing options and products that are good for both the environment as well as your personal well being.  Take this new school year as an opportunity to expand the thinking of your children and to explore alternatives which promote a more sustainable lifestyle.

Forward thinking designers around the world are merging fashion with eco awareness.  Hence the term,  “eco-fashion.”  It refers to stylized clothing that uses environmentally sensitive fabrics and responsible production techniques.  
 
As a green living consultant introducing sustainability concepts to living a green/ sustainable lifestyle, it makes sense to look for different ways to integrate eco awareness into your life.  The most impactful areas of our lives are those that we do by habit.  We dress daily, so why not add eco awareness to our fashion? 
 
With eco awareness on the rise, more and more sustainable options are becoming available.  Even traditional brands like Levi's, American apparel, and Nike are offering eco friendly apparel.  Also, noted in the post, Green is the New Black, "A new crop of natural fabrics are hitting the fashion scene. Some materials are new to the fashion world, such as soy, bamboo and hemp. Others have been around for years, but you may not have known they were natural, like ramie, rayon and modal." 
 
Integrating eco fashion into your wardrobe can be a fun process.  It's not an all or nothing approach but as suggested in our eco friendly consulting, it's an opportunity to express your personal style with eco awareness.  Check out two resources to help you do just that:

• Eco Fashion your Passion  to employ sustainability concepts of reduce, reuse, and recycle
• Green is the New Black for a snap shot of these natural fabrics the green (and not so green) aspects.
• Your One-Stop-Shop for the Top 20 Eco-Fashion Sites

 
For those on the path of living a sustainable lifestyle, there’s power in leveraging purchases to support credible and sustainable businesses.  With business sustainability permeating the apparel industry launching the Eco Index there are more and more options available to look and feel great while wearing fashionable eco wear.

Economic circumstances often define and dictate business perceptions.  In 2009, our sustainability consulting observed most business, large and small, cutting back on operational spending, capital investment, and on internal resources. 

Over the last few years, business sustainability took on a whole different meaning to most looking to simply weather the storm. Common business sustainability strategies across all industries included:

•    Live within cash flow
•    Do some business high-grading: redistribute resources to key assets
•    Scale less profitable developments and operations to maintenance levels
•    Establish positions to capture opportunities in the future

As one of our business peers commented, “We will keep the powder dry”. 

This simple yet clear message captured the essence of most business strategy from 2007 to even the present day.  The plan for many was to survive and be ready to take action when the time was right. 

So when is the time right?  Our sustainability consulting believes the perfect time to regroup is right before the masses take action.  Now may be the perfect time to get your house in order, build a sustainability plan for the future, and position your business to capture the opportunities that are on the horizon.  Start by asking your current business model a few questions:

•    Are consumers responding to sustainable offerings in a rebounding economic environment, how will consumer behavior change?

•    Are my business customers setting business sustainability guidelines?

•    What sustainability differentiation do I have from the competition: demonstrations, measurements, labels or certifications?

•    What is most likely on the horizon for me and how you can proactively respond?

By anticipating and taking proactive steps to address change in the business world, your business will not only capture first-mover value but define itself as a business sustainability leader to consumers and business customers.  Recognizing the need for change and taking action can get a business on the right track.  Audit your current business sustainability strategies today.

Napoleon Hill  got it right! "First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.  The post, What is the Quality of Your Sustainability Intent,   addresses sustainability as it originates within each of us at the core or our thoughts, choices, and eco actions.  Questions prompting curiosity on how can our individual actions transform our world:
 
•    What is it that you want to create for yourself and this world?
•    What contribution do you want to make?
•    How can your words, your actions play a role in the bigger picture of sustainability?
 
While it's essential to aspire to big and lofty goals, it's also important to note the resistance that often accompanies transformation.  Successful businesses and individuals recognize that change can be unsettling, and it needs to be understood and managed.  If you force change on people, or even yourself, you often encounter problems. 
 
Sustainable change needs be realistic, achievable and measurable. Before taking action, ask a few questions:
 
•    What do we want to achieve with this change?
•    Why and how will we know that the change has been achieved?
•    Who is affected by this change, and how will they react to it?
•    Is the desired outcome within our control or do we need help?
 
Businesses often try to sell change to the organization as a way to attain agreement and accelerate implementation. Selling change to people is most often not a sustainable strategy for success.  An alternative approach is to align business sustainability with the needs of the employee.
 
•    Focus on facilitating sustainability learning for employee development.
•    Encourage employee discussion about business direction
•    Stage implementation at a rate that is manageable for your workforce
•    Encourage feedback from stakeholders about change management processes
•    Take ownership in the outcome of each step and make improvements going forward
 
At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting works with clients to build sustainability concepts into business core practices and employee personal lives.  We work with individuals and groups to recognize the importance of change management as a key process in the pursuit of personal and business sustainability.   

Packing for college can be a lot of work.  In the face of the many pre-college activities, it’s easy to fall into old habits and fall amiss to living a sustainable lifestyle.  With a little planning, the move to college can still embrace eco awareness and keep you on course with your personal sustainability plan. 
 
In our eco friendly consulting, we advise clients to employ the sustainability concepts reduce, reuse, and recycle whenever possible.  Moving to college offers a great way to revisit old moving habits and replace them with choices that get the job done as well as reduce the impact on the environment.  Here are some tips:
 

• Reduce the packing load by minimizing the items you bring with you.
• Make use of your empty suitcases to pack up items and accessories.
• Look for used boxes on Craig’s list, local liquor stores and grocery stores.
• Put storage crates from around the house or boxes used for bulk purchases to good use.
• Ask neighbors and friends for bubble wrap, cardboard boxes, padded envelopes and other packing materials instead of purchasing them new.
• Newspaper and towels as great packaging material.
• Consider the use of a greenbox.
• For new purchases, make them at the destination to avoid additional transportation cost of moving it.  Good sources include: Goodwill and Salvation Army stores.
• Evaluate your moving options: is a hybrid car or biodiesel-powered truck available?
• Once moved in, take eco action to reduce moving waste by re-listing boxes and material on Craig’s list or Freecycle and recycle the boxes beyond repair.

 
Keep in mind, that while at college, you are building a new life of sorts for yourself.  From life-long friendships and relationships to jobs, classes and internships, the college years of a person’s life are sure to be memorable.  Personal sustainability can touch every area of your life and usually encourages others to become involved.  As a green living consultant, I can't think of a better time to begin a lifetime of good habits embracing eco awareness and eco actions.

When it comes to daily choices, our personal and professional consulting views each decision point as an opportunity to integrate eco awareness into an eventual outcome.  While the result of every decision does not have to be directly aligned with sustainable values, the inclusion of sustainability concepts in the thought process can greatly improve the evaluation.  Seems simple enough?  The truth is the term ‘sustainability’ often confuses and delays personal and business action.

Rather than getting bogged down with the enormity of the sustainability discussion, our sustainability consulting advises clients to first focus on solutions that are within their control and which have immediate impact.  For example, two areas of immediate personal impact lie in energy conservation and source control.  We encourage individual efforts to identify the ‘low hanging fruit’ at home first.

Conservation is a solution within everyone’s control and can be a huge difference maker.  Our green living consulting helps clients identify personal mitigation strategies as well as understand the nature of their consumption.

•    What appliances and/or equipment are consuming the most energy?
•    How are these high energy consumption items being run (simultaneously, non-efficiently, etc.)
•    When are these high energy consumption items running (when not needed, during peak load times, etc.).
•    Are appliances and/or equipment left plugged in when not in use?

However, conservation is not the end of the story.  Managing your energy source can be very simple and often does not have to be a huge capital expense.  Depending on where you live and work, you may have a choice in your electricity provider.  While the debate over deregulation continues, the ability to choose may offer you the opportunity to make a significant difference. 

•    By simply choosing a “100% Wind Energy” option, the average household can have the same impact as not driving their car 20,000 miles in that same year. 

•    The same choice made for a “Renewable Energy Option” (typically 90% hydro, 10% Wind) would equal a 2,000 mile reduction.

Whether you have the capital to make home improvements, the power to choose, or simply a desire to consume less, the decisions you make have real impacts on your business, life, environment.  Feel free to search the Taiga Company blog for more helpful ideas.

"If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn't need motivation to speed him up, he needs education to turn him around." ~ Jim Rohn
 
With that being said, does it make sense to blast or "make wrong" those individuals and businesses that have not yet embraced sustainability?  Think about it from a personal perspective.  When someone points out a fault or wrong doing, does it encourage you to make a different choice?  Or, does it create resistance, justification, and denial?
 
To create change, what other options are available?  As mentioned in our eco friendly consulting, first and foremost, awareness is a first step to sustainable change.   Whenever you want to improve in a specific area or program, just the process of increasing awareness will yield improvements.  The same applies to living a sustainable lifestyle.  Most of us recognize that change can be tricky:  habits and convenience make it far easier to slip back into the comfortable way of doing things.  However, implementing effective sustainable change does not have to be a laboring process.  The key is conscious awareness.
 
Additionally, educating yourself about the products you buy can empower you to make a difference in protecting the planet. It's called "green purchasing," and it's easy to do. As a green living consultant, I've found the problem is, most people are simply not aware of the problems associated with purchasing less sustainable products, let alone the solutions
 
So if the problem is a lack of education and unconscious choices, then who is responsible for fixing it? We are.  Individually, we have a responsibility to seek out information on sustainable products and companies.  The easiest way to promote a sustainable lifestyle is by living your values. Sustainable purchasing is one way to demonstrate that value.  In fact, getting others involved in your purchasing habits is a great way to spread eco awareness to friends, neighbors, and others in your community.  
 
Each day we are presented with opportunities to expand our eco awareness and make informed choices.  The trick to capitalizing on those opportunities is being aware and making educated choices.  As Louis Nizer said, "When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing at himself.”

The concepts of social responsibility, business sustainability and living a sustainable lifestyle have been around for a long time.  However, these conversations have traditionally been between a smaller set of social and business practitioners.  Today, we are all exploring sustainability as an engrained part of our lives.
 
At the 1972 United Nations Conference in Sweden, the modern day principles of sustainability were introduced.  Over the last 35 years, these modern sustainability concepts have gradually made their way into daily living and the business world.   Today, in many larger organizations, business sustainability has already moved from just a nice to have concept to a real topic of discussion in board rooms around the world.  It continues to expand past traditional thinking of it being a costly add-on to now an integral part of business profitability. 
 
However, despite the sudden surge in global eco awareness, we find the exploration of sustainability concepts, particularly in small business, is still largely in reaction to an undesirable outcome rather than a pursued business gain.   Combined with recent economic challenges, sustainable business strategies have been ignored or put on the back burner awaiting direction from larger companies- specifically supply chains, pending legislation, or other drivers.
 
What these organizations don't know is that small businesses are specifically poised to benefit from sustainability strategies.  Those subscribing to a sustainability plan are realizing that small businesses can save money, increase sales, and improve brand value by implementing social and environmental business sustainability practices.  Why? Small businesses are characterized as having:
 

• Greater flexibility to respond to market changes.
• Reduced decision chains to accelerate approvals and business action.
• Closer relations with business stakeholders to capture feedback and address concerns.
• Greater speed to transform business sustainability resistance into corporate action.

 
Our business sustainability consulting experience has shown that each business has its own focus and value drivers, which give a company a unique view of sustainability.  Our sustainability consulting practice works with clients to build a focused business sustainability plan and sustainability concepts into a company’s long-range business objectives.  We work with business leaders, work groups, and stakeholders to recognize the importance of business sustainability as a critical value component of company growth and success.

Many in the field, including our sustainability consulting practice, agree that the gap between eco awareness and action may represent the single largest opportunity for global sustainability progress.  While traditional ‘green’ efforts have focused on expanding awareness, the recent explosion of information and global interest indicates that the message has been sent out and received. 

In fact, a recent Gallup poll shows 94% of Americans are aware of Climate Change issues and 75% feel something needs to happen.  The next step (opportunity) is closing the gap between knowledge and personal action.  With the limitless option available, you may be asking yourself:

•    Where do I even begin? 
•    What should I focus on?
•    How do I know what if I am making a difference?  

Don’t worry you are not alone.  Our eco living consulting encounters these questions, among many others, in our daily practice.  We remind clients the answers are within each of us to discover.

To help you get started or past that sticking point, here is a suggested reading list:
 
•    Following Your Personal Sustainability Passion 
•    Rewards of Personal Sustainability
•    What is a Personal Sustainability Plan?
•    Keeping It Green in Today’s Environment
•    Live Green- Conveniently
•    Are YOU and eco inspiration?
 
The pursuit of a sustainable lifestyle is a continuous improvement process , commonly described as a journey, that can only be defined by personal experience and discovery.  Our sustainability consulting practice provides information and resources to help release resistance and embrace the benefits of personal and business sustainability.