With the recent environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, once again we are reminded how delicate and precious our environment is to our long term survival as humans and our planet. How can we reduce our carbon footprint? As entrepreneurs and business owners we can start making the changes that we want to see happen in the world. Changes like – Only print when absolutely necessary. Do we really need to print that 30 page document when we could read it digitally on our computer? Using video conferencing for the next meeting instead of traveling to a meeting location. This saves time, money, and resources when we’re not traveling all over the place to do a “face-to-face” meeting. These are just a few examples of small changes we can make. To find out more ways to green our businesses, I sat out to interview some entrepreneurs that are making small changes that are having a big impact on their business.

Jonathan Nowling, Owner of Rock Hill Lavender, seller of handmade Lavender products www.rockhilllavender.com said, “To go green for our business, we have reduced the amount of time our lights are on, try to purchase from green companies, and try to keep our packaging material down to the minimal.”

Laura Vatalaro, Owner of LV Graphics Studio, a creative design solution for print & web www.lvgraphicsstudio.com said, “I take steps everyday to ensure that my business is a green business. I have a page on my website that gives detailed information about the steps I have taken as a business owner to “green” my business including: Offsetting energy usage by utilizing 100% wind powered electricity to power the studio. Electronic invoicing and bookkeeping to reduce paper waste. Encouraging payment by PayPal to reduce paper waste and offset the energy needed for mail transit. Utilizing local printers whenever possible to offset the energy needed for shipping. In-house printing is done on FSC certified post-consumable papers when printing is necessary. All lighting in the studio is either natural or from Energy Star rated compact fluorescent light bulbs to reduce energy usage. All computers in the studio met Energy Star requirements, are equipped with low energy LED screens and are made of recycled materials. Design work from the studio is delivered to clients electronically and revisions are done via email or over the phone whenever possible to reduce paper waste.”

Priscilla Walker, President and CEO of Your Dependable VA, a virtual assistance company www.yourdependableva.com said, “I have been doing this for years and have been quite successful. We do the following things: Have a no-print policy for emails and/or print on both sides of the paper. Increased our thermostat one degree higher in the summer and decrease it one degree lower in the winter. Work from home to reduce the company’s overhead costs. With a standard office, there are several expensive costs such as facility, landscaping, and lease management. Not to mention the property taxes and other operational expenses. Use web conferencing to save time, costs (travel, phone) and valuable energy. Use a laptop as oppose to a desktop. Laptops tend to use up to 70% less energy than desktops. And when we’re not using that laptop, put it in sleep mode. Dump the Styrofoam cups and use our own coffee mug.”

How can you make a difference?

Here are some great resources I found:

Greenscoll www.greenscroll.org According to their website, Greenscoll is a non-profit organization created to fight climate change in the real world, on the battlefield of the virtual one. Recognizing the growing environmental footprint of the Internet and the infrastructure involved in running it, Greenscroll’s mission is to power the Internet by green renewable energy and help save the Earth. Greenscoll helps you make your website environmentally friendly. On your behalf, Greenscroll pumps green energy into the grid to power your website and hence the Internet.

Tree Neutral www.treeneutral.com According to their website, Tree Neutral has a commitment to the future of our forests. Tree Neutral works with individuals and companies that want to offset the number of trees they consume by taking proactive steps such as planting trees in direct proportion to the number of trees they use, recycling, converting to electronic records and other methods of tree consumption reduction. Did you know that a 500 sheet ream of paper uses 6% of a tree?

Julie Barnes is the author is this post. Julie is excited to be living in Generation E – the age of the Entrepreneur. As a writer, she enjoys writing about all aspects of the entrepreneur journey. She enjoys interviewing entrepreneurs whose experience and wisdom can inspire others to follow their entrepreneurial dreams. Julie lives and works in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, KS with her husband Ron and lovable dog Hank. You can visit her site at www.julieabarnes.com. Follow Julie on Twitter at @JulieBarnesKS. Become a Facebook friend at Julie Barnes.