This is why, unlike today’s consumers, most companies don’t really have a
great deal of leeway when it comes to going green. Of course, they have a
hand in the extentto which they green themselves, but they must all comply
to a minimum degree with an expanding battery of environmental directives
and standards that are inextricably tied up with — yes, you guessed it — GRC.
This chapter introduces the various issues your company needs to consider
before it takes the leap into the wild green yonder, from the benefits your com-
pany stands to reap from voluntarily going as green as possible to the harm
you risk by insisting that the color you are now — whatever it may be — is
just fine and dandy.
Whether you are committed to the principles of environmental stewardship
or have given little thought to the ways your company’s processes and prod-
ucts affect the world and its people, this chapter is designed to demystify
what it means to go green and show you how to make choices that reduce
your company’s impact on the environment. You also find out that the sooner
you start to build a more nature-friendly company, the happier, healthier, and
safer you, your employees, your customers, your neighbors, and the rest of
the planet will be.
Discovering the Three Ps of Going Green:
People, Processes, and Products
The business world today is one of environmental plans that are as global-
ized as they are country-specific. It is a world of high-profile failures and suc-
cesses that can make or break not simply a corporation’s fiscal year but the
corporation itself. It is a world, as well, of complex legislation ranging from
laws that protect the tufted plover of Lower Tasmania to those that guarantee
the rights of both a company’s employees and the communities that are
affected by the waste products of the company’s production efforts.
It is a world, in short, of environmental governance, risk, and compliance
management: a mix of legislation, common sense, and PR smarts that com-
bine to form a policy expressive of a company’s overall philosophy and
worldview. For a business to maintain a balanced environmental, health, and
safety policy, it must constantly juggle three vital factors: its people,
processes, and products. Managed smartly, however, the rewards of compli-
ance can be as big as they are surprising.
The next few chapters explore in detail each of the three components in your
company’s overall green routine: your people, processes, and products.
Chapter 10 focuses on keeping employees safe; Chapter 11 covers making
sure your processes are green; and Chapter 12 delves into the issue of
making environmentally friendly products.
160 Part III: Going Green
