Thanks to our friends at the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at our office today.  We were recognized by the GreeNWAy Initiative based on an audit conducted by the University of Arkansas’ Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) program.

The criteria analyzed by the SIFE program included energy and water consumption, disposal of waste, purchasing of eco-friendly materials, environmental education and creating opportunities for employees to take part in an environmental action plan.

At MCG we try to practice environmental awareness every day, so we were “green with excitement” to be acknowledged for this honor.

Many companies wonder how to maintain a bottom-line vision of success, while also fulfilling their responsibilities to the environment.  An earlier blog post from Elise touched on a few principles that can help focus your organization’s environmental efforts, and we thought this would be a good time to revisit those ideas.

• Have a clear understanding of impact – Take a 360 degree look at your organization, its products and people to determine how internal processes and end usage of merchandise will affect your environment.

• Be proactive and strategic – Get out in front of change and anticipate future environmental best practices in your field by looking to conservation groups for direction.

• Engage employees – Take an inside-out approach to environmental communications by starting with your own people and then reaching out into the community for fresh content and ideas.

• Build credibility and create support – Develop messaging that states the facts to your consumers while illustrating the benefits of your efforts to the community.

We’d like to hear how you are “greening” your business.  Visit our Facebook page and share your ideas or follow us on Twitter to see more tips to reduce your environmental impact.  After all, it’s the little things that can make a big difference.