Taiga Company

What's most fun about the Super Bowl?  The game or the commercials?  Both!  As is the case after the Super Bowl, people often discuss more than just the aspects of the game.  For many, the commercials are often as big of an attention draw as the game itself.   During yesterday’s game, one advertisement especially grabbed my attention.

By far the best commercial of yesterday’s Super Bowl -  Audi’s Green Police advertisement.     Taken to the extreme for the sake of humor, the ad sparked enthusiasm and eco awareness around sustainability concepts, but more importantly, demonstrated that green is a mainstream concept. 

For skeptics out there still questioning the consumer market's shift for sustainable options, this commercial may shed some light on the growing knowledge amongst everyday consumers.  If run only a few years ago, the humor of this ad may have been misunderstood and lost.  Yesterday’s appeal came, in part, from the expanded eco awareness of sustainability concepts that has occurred with the general public over the past few years. 

From my own sustainability consulting perspective, the ad was especially brilliant because it was promoting an alternative choice product in the context of a shifting mindset.  While having fun with the extremes, the advertisement promoted expanded eco awareness in a fun way.

At Taiga Company, our hats are off to Audi for making ‘green’ one of the top moments of the Super Bowl.  Take a moment to check out the video.

Whether your company is just becoming familiar with the concept of business sustainability or you are a sustainability leader in your industry, there are change management challenges facing every business implementation.  Our experience has shown that rush of enthusiasm at the front-end of sustainable change is somehow lost along the way.  The initial passion and momentum of the organization slows as business processes and resources are called upon to take action. 

Observed in my professional consulting experience, is continuous engagement is often the most challenging yet critical aspects of any business process change. Value capture from business sustainability will come from a successful implementation of strategies that are accepted by the business’s key stakeholders.  Keys to success often include:

•    Engaging key stakeholders (e.g. employees, investors, customers) early in the process.
•    Developing sustainable business strategies based on stakeholder feedback.
•    Clear and continuous communication of an action plan to the entire organization.
•    Shift the mind set from sustainability implementation to a sustainability culture.

At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting provides information and resources to companies seeking to build a sustainability plan which incorporates the sustainability knowledge of the entire organization.  We work with business leaders, work groups, and stakeholders to recognize the importance of business sustainability as a key value driver for the company’s growth and success.

Making the choice on becoming an entrepreneur can be a challenge unto itself but add to that the uncharted waters of being an ecopreneur.  How do you know where to start and if you have what it takes? 
 
Entrepreneur's article, "25 Common Characteristics of Success Entrepreneurs" list 25 home business must required to start, operate and grow a profitable business.  Following is a review of 8 of those characteristics from an environmental business perspective.  First, see if you have what it takes to be a successful sustainable business owner. 
 

• To begin, do what you enjoy.  Embrace your passion.  What areas of an environmental business inspire you?  By embracing your passion, you are creating meaningful work for yourself and others.
• Purposeful Planning:  Sustainable business requires long term planning for the business itself, as well as designing products and services with eco awareness.  Planning includes design, energy usage, resources and so much more.  Be sure to take a comprehensive approach in your planning for business sustainability.
• Manage money wisely: Consider managing cash flow as tools to not only help your business get off the ground but also as a means to integrate sustainability concepts to your business processes.  
• Know your customers and stakeholders.   Learn who your stakeholders are and connect with them.
• Level the playing field with technology.  The internet is a small business resource that offers exceptional functionality for sales and marketing.  Utilize online contact management software for sales and social media sites for marketing. 
• Build a top-notch business team with eco awareness.  Consider conducting all of your sales in the most eco friendly means.   This includes, bringing eco awareness to your meetings, sales, literature, travel, and exhibits.
• Create a competitive advantage.  Small businesses and entrepreneurs may be more equipped with the speed and flexibility to incorporate sustainability concepts directly into their business model.  Create brand differentiation through successful implementation of sustainability concepts in your small business.
• Design your workspace for success: Design your physical space with eco awareness.  Create your policies and procedures to support sustainable business practices like recycling, energy efficiency, using less paper.

 
Did you pass the test? Great!  The next step is to transform that creative idea into reality. 
Whether it’s looking on how to establish your business, where to find funding, or getting LEED certified, you are going to need small business resources to help you.  Following are resources sure to help any aspiring green entrepreneur.
 
Steps to Starting a Green Business

• Business.gov This is great for all the basics of starting a business from location, planning, funding, forms, etc. From the US Govt.
• Start a Green Business - Entrepreneur.  Great resources and tips for finding your green “niche” and using each customer as a marketing tool.
• Green Business Startup Ideas - GreenEcoServices.  Offering ideas for green businesses in your local area.
• US Green Building Council - This is the official guide for learning about and understanding what it takes to become LEED Certified.

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.  At Taiga Company, we encourage new and existing small businesses to claim their position as sustainability leaders in the market and accelerate sustainable change.

The Super Bowl is going green and so can you!  Want to green your Super Bowl party but just don't know where to start?  Why not host a green Super Bowl party to celebrate the day and introduce friends, co workers, neighbors, and family to sustainability concepts to go green!
 
Parties are a fun way to spark the green enthusiasm in others.  Looking for ideas?  In our sustainability consulting practice, we offer sustainable suggestions you can use for your eco party as well as everyday living.
 
Eco Actions for a Green Super Bowl:

• When throwing a green Super Bowl party the menu should be eco-friendly. The main objective when setting the menu is to avoid being wasteful.
• When entertaining your guests, use glassware. If that's not an option, extend eco awareness into your party by using compostable plates and utensils.
• Set up convenient recycling bins for glass and paper.
• Serve seasonal foods and offer organic and locally grown food.
• Is BBQ on the menu? Check out Green BBQ tips for BBQ.
• Offer Organic Beer.

 
Why it's good for the environment:
Serving organic food and spirits support sustainable farming practices.  The benefits of serving what you need, reduces waste. The importance of using reusable serving wear can't be underestimated.   Waste is not just created when consumers throw items away. Waste  is generated throughout the life cycle of a product, from extraction of raw materials, to transportation to processing and manufacturing facilities, to manufacture and use. Reusing items or making them with less material decrease waste dramatically. Ultimately, less material will need to be recycled or sent to landfills or waste-combustion facilities.
 
If you want to take your Super Bowl eco actions a step further, you can offset your Super Bowl Sunday and help the environment, by purchasing a “Super Bowl Party Offset” from EarthEra. For $10, they say they will offset 1200 pounds of carbon dioxide. And 100% of their revenues from EarthEra product purchases apparently go to build more solar and wind energy project in the U.S. 
 
Incorporating sustainable choices into your Super Bowl party not only reduces environmental impacts but also demonstrates the ease of living green.

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.  While it's always fun to purchase new clothes, it's best to use what you've got and sprinkle in new eco fashion items as you need them. 
 
Guidelines to get you started:

• First, use what is in your closet!  If you don't wear it, donate it or recycle it in some way.
• When shopping, remember to keep sustainability concepts in mind.   Local shops are a great place to start.
• Some prefer natural fibers or organic clothing.
• Plan your purchases.  Is it possible to buy the desired item from fashion designer embracing business sustainability?   For instance, a line per se may be an eco friendly design. 
• Another option is to purchase an item that can be purchased from multiple stores, select to purchase it from a business that embeds sustainability programs in its core business:  Wal-Mart or JC Penny, for instance.
• Evaluate products on the full lifecycle.   That is, your own personal lifecycle.  Is this a trendy item or one that goes with only one outfit?  Opt for multi outfit items that will last through a couple of seasons.   How it will be discarded later?  Patagonia offers a take back program.
• Consider the care of the garment.  If it can be washed in cold water and hung dry, it's a winner.  Dry cleaning required?  Not such a great option.
• When applicable, buy Fair Trade.
• Buy products from sustainable sources like bamboo.

 
Not sure where to find fashionable eco clothing?  Following are some resources suggested in our eco friendly training to get you on your way:
 

• Modern Hippy Mag
• Focus Organic
• The green girls

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 fashion world, there are more and more options available to look and feel great while wearing fashionable eco wear. 

The rejuvenating business environment is beginning to motivate companies to answer the business sustainability call to action and revisit some of their basic survival tactics of the past few years. We find organizations are redefining themselves to respond to the positive changes occurring in business.  For many, now is the perfect time to revisit that stagnate business model and make changes for a new business environment.

A sustainable business plan is one way for small and growing businesses to drive efficiencies into existing business process and to create access to new opportunities.  A comprehensive business sustainability program is a communication tool to your key business stakeholders that your company is responsive to change. 

As a sustainability consultant to small and growing businesses, we provide information and resources to organizations and individuals seeking to develop a new business model with sustainability concepts in mind.  To get started, revisit the building blocks of your current model:

•    Business Purpose: Do you have a defined direction to capitalize on growing eco awareness, shifting consumer/customer preferences, and the potential legislative requirements specific to your industry?

•    Process Methodology: Are your internal resources and core business processes enabling you to meet requirements and capitalize on the business sustainability opportunities of the future?

•    Leveraged Expertise: Could you further differentiate your product and service offerings through industry leading and sustainability best practices?

•    Effective Communication: Do you have an effective means to communicate with employees, customer, suppliers, and inventors to align your business sustainability plan with stakeholder concerns?

Integrating sustainability concepts into core business functions can make a company more nimble in this fast-changing world.  It makes brands more attractive to consumers and retailers, and its management more respected by employees and the financial markets. In short, the drivers for improved business sustainability equate to improved performance. 

Create something new by transforming your eco awareness into business action.  Get started today.

Research shows that innovation will be essential for small businesses over the next decade as businesses recover from recent economic hurdles.  Attempting to seize new opportunities and improve competitive positions, business leaders are looking for innovative solutions.  
 
Where does innovation come from?  One approach is to look to the leading edge to see what others are doing.  A second approach is to capture ideas as they spring up as seeds of innovation from within the organization.  But there has to be a catalyst, a framework, a discussion or something to generate those ideas.  What is that? 
 
As a professional consultant in the role of building business sustainability, the answer is stakeholder engagement. 
 
Innovative ideas do not have to come from any one source.  They can generate from within the company at the ground level, from the customers you service, or your suppliers.  Often employees have the information and ideas to make a significant but are limited by the structures of the organization.  One key to success is to create a corporate culture that encourages and rewards innovation at all levels internal to the organization as well as external to the company.
 
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development poses 4 questions in the innovation process to ensure success:
 
•    How can we ensure sustainability is part of the creative process?
•    How can we ensure that sustainability considerations are part of the management of a development process?
•    When and how can external viewpoints enrich the creative and development process?
•    What processes are going to leverage the value of our intellectual capital?
 
An open innovation approach to business sustainability offers stakeholders the opportunity to become engaged in the future of a business.  Recognizing that key stakeholders have a vested interest the success of the company, creates openness to new ideas that promote business success and innovative ideas. 
 
As communicated within our business sustainability programs, enabled by the right structure, stakeholder generated innovation can be the company’s greatest asset for change. 
 
•    Top level support for an open innovation culture.
•    A consistent management approach that promotes stakeholder engagement.
•    Open and consistent communication of business sustainability goals.
•    Cohesive policies and procedures that clearly define incentives.
 
 
Within our sustainability consulting with clients, it is clear to us,  that innovation will be essential for small businesses to thrive and survive over the next decade.  Companies becoming more environmentally, socially and economically responsible are driving innovations in sourcing, products, and services.  Commitment to sustainability uncovers opportunities to explore, develop, collaborate, and innovate within your organization and your industry.

When you toss a pebble into a pond, a series of concentric ripples propagate out extend far beyond the point of entry.  With a number of business sustainability pebbles being tossed into the pond today, one can’t help but wonder what effects the resulting ripples might have on the supply chain.

With legislative pressures and shifting consumer expectations positioned to effect business consumption, are the supply chains ready to respond?  Will your business ride the high or low of the ‘green’ bullwhip?

Within our professional consulting practice, we find a trademark of sustainable organizations to be the ability to effectively manage the flow of information among key business relationships.  The true differentiators are those who understand their supplier and customer relationships and have a fully aligned direction.  If you are not sure if your business is prepared for dramatic change, try asking your supply chain a few questions:

•    What unforeseen changes resulting from the market changes could result in major disruptions in the supply chain?
•    Are the business value drivers of my key suppliers and customers aligned with the direction of the company?
•    What are the business risks and pressure points that could affect the sustainability of supply?
•    Are business risks accentuated or mitigated by the current supply chain relationship?

Companies, small business owners, and entrepreneurs stand at the crossroads as we approach a point of rebound from these uncertain economic times.  While some organizations are taking a reactive approach, waiting to see how the market responds  before taking action, leading organizations are taking the opportunity to rework traditional business practices and models to place themselves in a more favorable position for the future.

Taiga Company works with businesses seeking to ride the ‘high-side’ of the wave of change.  Rather than scrambling to respond to propagating ripples of change in the supply chain, our sustainability consulting resources are focused on the opportunities of proactive business sustainability action.

Do you think sustainability is a passing trend?  That it doesn't apply to your business?  After all, small businesses are too small to be contributing to the problems of climate change, much less reaping the benefits of business sustainability, right?
 
Think again.
 
As a small business owner, are you looking to cut operating cost?  Increase customer retention?  How about improve your business reputation or capture new market segments?  It might be nice if there's an interest in protecting environmental resources, but business sustainability is not only about the environment.  It's about profitable businesses including the social and environmental impacts of their decisions in a way that strengthens the organization, the community, and the environment.  Did you catch that part? Profitable business. 
 
With so many small businesses still recovering from recent economic hurdles, one might wonder why sustainability is a fit for small business?  Because, small businesses are often, by design, perfectly suited for sustainability implementation.  They are more agile and able to quickly respond to changing market conditions, have lower risk than larger organizations, and reduced decision chain - all enabling them to integrate sustainability concepts into their businesses quickly and effectively.
 
Curious to know how sustainable business strategies can help your business to improve sales? Grow your business?  Differentiate your business from the competition? 
 
Reduce business cost:
Sustainable business strategies of waste reduction, energy efficiency, and other operational efficiency measures reduce costs and enable competitiveness.   By adding general eco awareness or simply incorporating a few sustainability concepts into and existing supply chain as best practices, companies can proactively address supply stability and quality issues from a different perspective.
 
Improve Sales:
Business reputation matters. Developing and delivering commercially successful products and services that build customer loyalty are essential in today’s markets. 
•    Integrate sustainability concepts into product and service development
•    Shift sustainability from a cost add-on to a value driver
•    Change perceptions to build stronger brands
The result: increase sales, new revenue streams, and improved brand loyalty.
 
Stay ahead of the curve:
The Environmental Protection Agency recently determined that greenhouse gases pose a danger to human health and the environment, paving the way for regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, power plants, factories refineries and other major sources.   As a result, it has become critical for many companies to have comprehensive business sustainability strategies to address emissions.
 
 
While some argue that sustainability is a passing trend, profitable businesses are not.  Sustainable business strategies are designed to bring eco awareness and sustainability concepts to employees, customers, and suppliers which brings value to the organization and also broaden and expand sustainability concepts into the communities and lives of the individuals.  

Is your business watching the market to determine which factors might ultimately determine ‘green’ consumer choices?  Are these choices for alternative products factoring into your business strategies and planning?  Is the consumer voice even making its way into the boardroom?

As we approach the end of a challenging time for many organizations, several business sustainability questions still remain unanswered as companies plan for 2010 and beyond.  An uncertainty lingering on the minds of executives in the retail and wholesale space is whether green consumer shopping habits have changed during these tough economic times. 

With preferences for sustainable products still on the rise and overall consumer behavior stabilizing, recent information about consumers indicates that there may be a significant market shift visible across certain demographics.  Specifically, trends among younger consumers indicates they are expecting more from their ‘green’ purchases.

The reality is that market shifts and company sales numbers indicate consumers are becoming a key reference point for a company’s ability to capitalize on eco awareness, product stewardship, reputation, and overall business sustainability.  Top organizations looking to make significant change are engaging consumers as key business stakeholders and aligning feedback with strategic business sustainability planning and development. 
 
Businesses are taking note of specific consumer interests.  In a report, The Corporate Reality of Consumer Perceptions, GreenBiz examines the consumer point of view (POV):

•    Sustainability: Do you think sustainability is an important part of how they do business?

•    Product Impact: What direct impact do you think the main products they make and distribute have on the environment?

•    Investment Attractiveness: If it was possible and you had the funds, how likely would you be to invest in this company?

•    Advocacy: How likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague?
 
Based on the report findings, specific corporate actions and customer engagement on specific sustainability concepts may be a driving factor in future company success.  Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) metrics could become the new performance measure that helps monitor and reinforce progress.
 
At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting stresses the importance of customer stakeholder engagement.  We provide information and resources to help business go beyond consumer preference to actively engage consumers in sustainability concepts that directly impact business direction, planning, and product development.

The economic challenges of the past few years brought a significant refinement and refocus to business.  Many organizations found themselves taking uncommon and sometimes drastic measures to simply stay in business.  Despite the talk of stabilization and the hopes of many companies out there, it is not back to ‘business as usual’. 

Our professional consulting experience leads us to believe that the business world has changed significantly over the last few years.  The economic crisis simply enhanced an already growing spotlight on business and global expectations for ‘sustainable’ corporate action.  

Many of the leading organizations we work with in our sustainability consulting are now embracing business sustainability as a common platform to build more than just a ‘green’ business reputation.   Business profitability, a traditional driving factor in business, is now becoming integrated with more and more business sustainability concepts. 

For many, business sustainability is driven by a desire to understand the financial, social, and environmental effects the business’s policies and actions have on the long-term corporate success.   When faced with the realities of increased cost or lost revenue, sustainability becomes a business necessity.

In fact, companies not commonly associated with sustainability concepts have found bottom-line value by taking a hard look at their business.

•    Beating customers to the discussion of sustainable materials.
•    Stabilizing supply chain cost through business relationships and process efficiencies.
•    Proactively mitigating risk through carbon accounting principles.

Our professional consultants interact with business leaders, both large and small, seeking to make a step change in their traditional business practices by rethinking ‘business as usual’.  These business sustainability pioneers are adopting a more comprehensive definition of sustainability that runs consistently through core business processes and align  the interests of their key business stakeholders.

There's math, new math, and now eco math.  What is eco math?  Super easy! 
 
Eco math = the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
 
Each day we are presented with opportunities to expand eco awareness and make informed choices.    By making changes that are inspiring and manageable relative our current lives, the process of incorporating sustainability becomes much easier. 
 
The question is, how good are you at eco math?  It's all about taking as many eco actions you can in a day, every day, of every week, of every month multiplied by the number of people you inspire with eco awareness.   Cumulatively, all the actions add up and contribute positively to addressing the complex issues our world faces today. 
 
Not sure what an eco action is? Start by familiarizing yourself with the different areas of life that you can embrace sustainability concepts.  Next, take action on the ideas that are most appealing to you.  Keep at it; take on more as you learn.  Inspire others. 
 
Resources to get you started: 

• Green Your Routine: 7 Different Days of Green
• Living Green in 2010: How to Get Started
• Orientation to Sustainable Living

 
Eco math is just a fun way of looking at the different ways we as individuals can address the environmental concerns of carbon, water, and energy on a smaller scale: our lives.  To be good at eco math, remember, every eco action adds up.  Your eco actions matter.  Together, we can all make positive change.   

Are you ready for the Super Bowl?   When it comes to planning all those Super Bowl munchies,   it's easy to think of organic foods, but what about beverages?  As a sustainability consultant, I encourage clients to consistently evaluate eco friendly alternatives in all areas of their life.  So, for those celebrating and also incorporating eco awareness into their Super Bowl, why not give organic beer a try? Here are 5 good reasons:
   
• It's good for the environment.
• It represents the latest wave of craft brewery movement.
• If you are a beer drinker, then drinking organic beer is aligned with a sustainable lifestyle. • Your purchase of organic beer supports the growth of sustainable business.
• It tastes great.

Organic brewers, wineries and distilleries set themselves apart by using only non-synthetic substances in production, and working from crops raised without pesticides or petroleum-based fertilizers.  Not sure which organic beers to try?  An excellent post, Bottoms up… Organic beer, Wine, Brandy and Vodka offers some organic beer to sample:

     • North Coast, a Fort Bragg, California beer sensation that produces a diverse line of impeccable beer, including two superb organics. Cru D’or is a Belgian style dubbel with nicely developed malt flavors and a clean finish. The organic stout, Old Plowshare, is light bodied with hints of chocolate and smoke.

    • Foret Organic Saison — a Belgian delight from Brasserie DuPont, the makers of Saison Dupont. Foret is an earthy brew full of peppery banana and biscuits, finishing with the dry spiciness of the illustrious Dupont yeast strain.

    • Samuel Smith’s Organic Lager is magnificent; light bodied and smooth, it is definitely one of the most drinkable all-malt lagers available in the local market. Samuel Smith Old Brewery also crafts an Organic Ale that drinks something like their Pure Brewed Lager Beer and an Organic Cider fermented with a wine yeast strain; it’s low carb, gluten free and high in antioxidants.

    • From England, there’s Scarecrow, an organic English Pale Ale from Wychwood Brewing, St Peter’s Organic English Ale, and Caledonian Golden Promise, all of which are available at Whole Foods Market.

    • German organic offerings include the delectable wheat brew, Edel Weiss, from Schneider Brewery and a slew of Pinkus Mueller varieties - the old Dusseldorf style Munster Alt, a crisp and bready Ur Pils, and a light bodied Hefe-Weizen with delicate wheat and tropical bubblegum righteousness.

    • Produced by Portland, Maine’s Shipyard Brewing Company, the Peak Organic line includes a Pale Ale, IPA, Nut Brown Ale, Pomegranate Wheat with Acai, and Espresso Amber Ale — an interesting, lighter bodied take on the coffee beer.

    • Other organics from American microbreweries include Eel River Organic Amber, IPA, and Porter, Goose Island Organic Pale Ale, and Fish Tales Ales Organic Amber, Wild Salmon Pale Ale, and Fish Tale IPA.

Before you run to the beer distributor, don't forget to check first with your local brewery.  Those sustainability concepts of organic and local come into play here.  Reducing beer miles is part of reducing food miles.  The very best option is local and organic beer.  
Now, which team are you cheering for?!

In response to the challenges of the past two years, the business world is becoming increasingly focused on risk, particularly mitigating catastrophic risk in a new business landscape.  As we move forward, the business sustainability challenges of the past are unlikely to be the surprise detailers of the future.  Thus, business needs an expanded view of risk.

Business risk and mitigation seems to be everywhere these days.  Our professional consulting has observed financial reference points dominating the business sustainably risk conversation.  While financial risk is certainly a very legitimate concern, lessons learned over the past few years lead us to believe that traditional financial risk will not be what keeps us up at night.

In a recent article, How to assess and Mitigate Risk, the author discusses some myths about future risk, from a financial perspective.

•    The biggest risk my company faces is financial risk

•    My company is safe because we review risks and prioritize mitigation efforts annually

•    We are good at risk-sensing because we have invested in enterprise risk management (ERM) systems

•    Our risk assessment is comprehensive because we account for likelihood and impact

•    We are well protected because we have a strong quantitative model to measure risk

•    We can sense and protect business better because we manage risks at the business unit (BU) level

Interacting on a daily basis with companies in the midst of recovery, our sustainability consulting has observed first-hand how business sustainability risk can affect a company and its stakeholders.  While many traditional risks appear obvious looking back, some hidden and intangible threats may still be in hiding and prove to have future impacts. 

Sustainability’s hidden threats to traditional business models may soon present themselves.  At Taiga Company, our professional consulting resources work directly with organizations seeking to address business sustainability risk and remain on the opportunistic end of sustainability.

Imagine someone doing something nice for you right now.  A sincere compliment or holding the elevator for you.  It's a good feeling, isn't it?  Kindness has the ability to change us, and our emotions, immediately. 
 
The pursuit of a sustainable lifestyle goes beyond just ‘greening’ your life.  Personal sustainability is a mindset change that shifts the personal value drivers in daily activities.  As a professional and sustainability consultant, I see how kindness, generosity and willingness are intrinsically linked to a sustainable lifestyle or green living.  While we are here on this planet, at this precise time in history, many of us want to make a difference in the way we treat our environment.  Many of us want to make a significant contribution to the role business takes in shaping our economy, society, and environment.
 

• 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. 

 
Throughout our lifetime, there comes a time when we as individuals sit down and lay out a path for personal development.  We day dream about all the things that we want in our life and the things we want to achieve.  Living values of kindness, generosity, and willingness paves the way for a brighter future for us all. 

In 2008 and 2009, many companies took drastic measures to address the financial pressures their organizations were facing in the uncertain economic times.  Specific to the supply chain, our professional consulting observed many companies taking actions that were not necessarily aligned with long-term business sustainability.  For many, the sound of echoes may be all they now hear in supplier warehouses when seeking help in a rebounding economy.
 
Within our sustainability consulting, it is not uncommon to interface with business leaders who are unaware of the potential cost and business risk they may be incurring though short-term or misaligned supply chain activity.   While many organizations targeted the immediate value of inventory reduction, some of the more well known leading organizations acknowledge the risk of a strained supply chain in an eventual recovered market.

Economically driven business actions over the past two years may have permanently affected the direction of many supply chains.  However, our professional consulting views the financial recovery as a new platform for more sustainable supply chain management. 


•    Strategies designed and incorporate changes that will reduce process and transaction inefficiencies.

•    Integrated management system to enable sustainability as a key component of supply chain management.

•    Continuous improvement culture with sustainability engrained throughout a single supply chain performance scorecard.

•    Active stakeholders engagement program to determine the interests of key supply relationships.

At Taiga Company, our professional consulting encourages clients to recognize that the pursuit of business sustainability is a continuous long-term commitment.  Determining the criteria that will move your organization along the business sustainability scale has become the focus of our sustainability consulting and many leading supply chain actions in the business world.

With analyst forecasting a positive year for business in 2010, many of our clients and peers are looking to redefine themselves to respond to the expected upward swing in the market.  The general expectation is the future of business is going to look quite different from the past, and our professional consulting, like most other business advisors, is stressing that businesses need to wake up to the call.  Now is the perfect time to revisit that dusty old business plan to make changes for a new business environment.

A sustainable business plan is a roadmap  for small and growing businesses to capture new opportunities.  It is also a communication tool to consumer and the general business world that your company is responsive and ready to change. 

Traditional business models have focused primarily on financial measures as a means to maintaining profitability.  However, businesses are now including environmental and social impacts and risks in the profitability equation.  

As a sustainability consultant to small and growing businesses, we advise our clients to develop new business plans with sustainability concepts in mind.  Sustainability truly is becoming both a top and bottom line focus, and companies are taking action.

•    Make refined changes to current direction to capitalize on growing eco awareness and emerging “green” consumer preferences.

•    Build business sustainability into core processes to increase efficiencies and reduce potential risks.

•    Differentiate product and service offerings through sustainable materials and industry leading sustainability practices.

•    Take the opportunity to meet with employees, customer, suppliers, and inventors to align your business sustainability plan with stakeholder concerns.

At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting is providing resources to organizations seeking to implement business changing sustainable development programs.  These organizations are focusing on more than traditional financial measures.  Many business leaders recognize that their response to market pressures for sustainable business practices will ultimately affects company profitability.

Take the current business environment and forecast growth in 2010 as a call to action for business sustainability and a motivating factor to revisit your current plan.

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 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.  
 
Increased eco awareness has generated a wealth of information literally available at our fingertips: the internet.  Next time you are ready to buy, educate yourself with eco awareness.

How can I buy energy-efficient products?
Energy Star

How do I find the most fuel-efficient vehicle?
EPA’s Green Vehicle Guide
Greenercars

How do I find products and services that save water?
Find a Watersense product

How do I learn more about living green? 
TaigaCompany
Greenchoices
SustainLane
VividLife.me

How do I compare products based on environmental attributes?
EPEAT 

How do I find environmental information on food, cosmetics, and household items?
Environmental Working Group
Organic Consumers Association
Skin deep
GoodGuide

How do I compare or engage with companies on their commitment to combating climate change?
Climate Counts
SocialYell
Just Means
 
With a little education and pre-planning, it's easy to maintain eco awareness in your shopping- even during the most inconvenient times.  Sustainable purchasing  is important because it can help you make better choices.  Those choices expand eco awareness within your network of friends and family, positively impact your local economy, reduce your footprint on the environment, and may actually help you save money in the process.
 

Cool technology is one of the innovative solutions driven by sustainable business searching for solutions to climate change.  While not directly related to sustainable business strategies, a new, cool technological tool for going paperless is now available.  Are you familiar with Evernote?  As a green living consultant, I find it to be an environmentally friendly tool to use to minimize paper use.  Paperless is a sustainability concept that not only helps the environment, but decreases clutter, eliminates storage space and increases personal organization and productivity. 
 
If you are like many clients in our eco friendly consulting, you may find yourself jotting down websites, Facebook pages or blogs to visit later from your computer.  Additionally, lots of people move among multiple computers and devices as part of their daily routine. Evernote, a free web based service, helps to reduce paper reminders and assist with synchronization of information.
 
Evernote has the ability to collect, in one well-organized, searchable, private digital repository, all the notes you create, clips from Web pages and emails you want to recall, dictated audio memos, photos, key documents, and more.  It's also a repository that is constantly synchronized, and is accessible through a Web browser and through apps on your various computers and smart phones. 

If you are looking for ways to live a sustainable lifestyle, this is one step that can help you do just that. Incorporating sustainability concepts of reducing paper contributes to living a sustainable lifestyle that not only helps you become better organized and more productive, but also helps reduce the largest portion of our waste stream. 

As we move into 2010, analysts forecast a top-line recovery across most industries.  With potentially sunnier days on the horizon after a very difficult time, businesses have to ask themselves: Are we prepared for growth? 

Many businesses we speak with in our professional consulting are inspired by the positive economic forecast for the coming year, and in some cases, they are even intrigued by the recent growth in consumer and business eco awareness.  However when we mention the term sustainability, particularly in business sustainability, many would-be clients simply glaze-over with a lack of understanding or disinterest  in the concept.  Many fail to see the connection between sustainability concepts and business growth.

For those who do make the connection, the conversation usually migrates to one of several examples of environmental or social responsible behaviors.  While part of the conversation, the larger discussion of business sustainability is how to maintain economic stability “through” these sustainable actions. 

Focusing specifically on the top-line potential of the forecasted recovery, there are alignment questions that need to be addressed.  Our sustainability consultants often ask business leaders:

•    What are the current and future dynamics of the market?

•    How might consumers respond to sustainable offerings in the shifting economic environment?

•    Is your company aligned with the areas of forecasted growth?

•    What new market sectors might affect consumer behaviors for sustainable brands?

•    What differentiates you from the competition to capitalize on forecasted growth?

•    How are you communicating your sustainable offerings to the market?

Business sustainability is often a pursuit to understand  the financial, social, and environmental effects a company’s actions have on its economic future.  When market conditions and consumer behavior change, the business that succeeds is often the one that can quickly meet the challenge.

By anticipating and taking proactive steps to address change in the business world, your organization can not only capture immediate value but define itself as a business sustainability leader in its industry.