Go Green! The Green Business Program in Monterey Bay Area, California

Monterey Bay Area offers a Green Business Program which is a multimedia (soil, air and water) pollution prevention effort that makes a positive relationship between the public, business community and government. It is an incentive based program designed to encourage businesses to match or exceed environmental standards.The Green Business Program takes pride in recognizing the businesses that lead the way in the environmental field within the Monterey Bay Area. By recognizing their good work in the area it allows for other businesses to follow their example. The Green Business Program wants to show businesses that they can accomplish both being green and profitable-and good members of our communities.To be a certified "green," participating businesses need be in accordance with regulatory agencies and meet program criteria for conserving resources, preventing pollution and minimizing waste. Their program is designed to assist, recognize and promote businesses that decide to operate their businesses in a more environmentally responsible way. The Monterey Bay Area Business Program wants to encourage and pave a path for more companies to go green.The Program was first started in 2003. It currently provides aide and certification for vehicle service facilities and restaurants. In the near future, the program will set its sets on assisting and certifying printers, hotels, landscapers, dry cleaners, and wineries in the Santa Cruz area.In 2004 on Earth Day the Program Partners awarded the first Certified Green Business Awards to seven local auto shops at the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors program kick-off ceremony.Some of the local agencies that are a part of the Green Business Program Partners include the Sanitation District, Public Works Department Recycling and Solid Waste, Environmental Health Services, City of Santa Cruz, City of Scotts Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant, City of Watsonville, Soquel Creek Water District and the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency.If your business or one that you know wants to be a part of this program, you can contact the Green Business Program of Santa Cruz, Monterey or San Benito County and they will gladly assist you in answering all of your questions and help you get started making your company a Green Business.

Why Your Green Business Program Needs an Environmental Officer

If your business is looking to establish a green business program then you will benefit from appointing an environmental officer to manage the process. Having one person dedicated to oversee the environmental program allows the company to appoint a person with the required skills and means the employee can make environmental issues their priority rather than having to fit it around an existing workload. A dedicated environmental officer also shows the company is committed to the process of going green. In reading this article you will see the key benefits a company gains by appointing one person to oversee the green business program.The first benefit of having a dedicated environmental officer is the company can ensure the person appointed to the role has the skill set needed to implement green business practices. An employee committed to environmental issues based outside the normal operational departments will likely see areas for improvement that are not obvious to those working in each individual department. Although you cannot have a green business program without the input of staff doing the work, an environmental officer can provide an overview of the issues while incorporating the views of others in the company. Appointing an environmental officer leads to greater capacity to get things done including more in-depth strategic planning.As well as providing the overview for the green business program, the environmental officer will be responsible for maintaining records, training staff and assisting with the communications related to environmental issues. Depending on the size of the business and the staff available, it can be difficult to ensure 1. that all staff receive the required training, 2. that the training occurs on a regular basis and 3. registers are kept to show what training has occurred. Providing regular feedback to staff on the environmental program and ensuring there are open lines of communication also take time to maintain.Further having a staff member dedicated to environmental issues guarantees they have time available to investigate all the environmental impacts of the business as well as keeping an eye on new developments within the industry that will improve environmental performance. Often the requirement for a green business program is added to the role of an existing employee whether or not they have the skills or capacity to do the job. A dedicated person (who does not have to be full time) has the advantage of the environmental issues being their primary focus so their "real" job does not get in the way. This also shows staff, customers and shareholders that the company is taking its environmental commitment seriously.A lot of companies start implementing green practices without a strategic vision of where they want to go. An environmental officer can save time by ensuring there is a step by step strategic plan which is communicated throughout the company on a regular basis. Having one person accountable for creating and maintaining environmental records and ensuring staff receive training on a regular basis provides certainty that these tasks will be done.As you can see having a dedicated environmental officer provides many benefits to the company which are unlikely to be gained if the establishment of a green business program is an addition to an existing workload.