How Green is Green ?
One way to help develop and promote Green Economy standards and practices is to establish a rating system that showcases and visually communicates verified accomplishment levels of Green Businesses.
Why Ratings? As consumers gain awareness of the short and long term values of supporting Green Businesses, new Green Jobs will be created, strengthening the Green Economy and helping to build local Green Communities. Ratings build consumer confidence, increase market share, and also help prospective employees idenitfy companies and organizations where they want to become a productive team member.
One Island is testing an award system that recognizes accomplishments made by Green Organizations that are the forerunners in developing Green Jobs. Each area of activity in which an organization ‘greens’ itself then earns them a Tree as a symbol of their commendable accomplishments. These activities span a product or services full life cycle (and include associated activities among their suppliers and customers):
Materials
Manufacturing
Packaging
Delivery
Use
Disposal
In future years, this type of rating system will be adopted as an industry standard. In these early days of the Green Economy’s creation, there is already a need to begin defining what a Green Job is and what qualifies a Green Business as being ‘green’.
How GREEN is your company or organization? How Green is your Job or the job you are seeking? Give it a tree for each of the above 6 activities where it practices a significant carbon reducing or environmentally friendly activity internally. And if it provides a product or service that also helps others reduce their carbon footprint and be more environmentally sustainable, add a tree for each activity it does that benefits the wider community. Top rating would be TWELVE TREES.
