by B.J. Tolentino

Created on: April 06, 2010   Last Updated: April 18, 2010

Eco-friendly practices should form part of every business organization. Consumer awareness on anything green; from products, services, packaging to green business practices  is pushing businesses to go green,. However, they should not only be treated as a green marketing slogan or practice only up to "packaging" of products and services. They must be deeply ingrained in business culture to be sustainable. Here are 10 of the most fundamentally sound green business practices.

1.) Reduce, recycle and reuse

Recycling and reuse of office and industrial waste materials is one of the most popular ways to lower business expenditures while keeping in line with being environment friendly. A sound recycling program can easily be integrated in all aspects of business processes. It is usually the starting point in any holistic green business program.

Recycling programs start with education to create green awareness in the workplace. Green education is a continually evolving process as new trends and technologies come into light. Sustainable recycling and reuse programs are those which can easily be retrofitted and adapted.

Recycling programs also include waste audit to monitor and determine waste inventory. A "green management team" is necessary to oversee the whole processes. In the end, recycling and reuse directly reduce material acquisition cost; improving profitability.

2.) Water conservation

Water conservation forms part of overall recycling and reuse programs. Utilizing waste water from office and industrial processes is common among many workplaces. It often involves additional capital expenditure but they prove to be cost-effective in the medium and long term. Fresh water is a finite resource and the supply is quickly dwindling. Every little effort to conserve and recycle water is not only vital in business processes but for whole planet.

3.) Environment friendly waste management

According to the EPA, Zero-waste management involves "source reductions to product re-design, to reuse and eliminating incentives for raw material extraction and landfilling. The path to zero waste requires moving beyond recycling to a more integrated and holistic resource management system".

The zero waste philosophy is taking the fight to mitigate climate change to a whole new level. It is a holistic approach which does not only address reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is a very promising step towards efficient recycling, reuse and transformation of waste into usable

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