Construction Informer

As the drumbeat of “green” continues at a frenetic pace, and businesses all over the globe contemplate ways to make money on green, I thought it might be worthwhile to look at simple ways construction companies can do green things without the appearance that they are just riding the wave to better profits. Simply promoting and using green products is only part of the process.

So, here are ways to be green for real if you are in construction. 

• Find ways to decrease the waste generated at your construction sites;
• Find alternative uses and recycling opportunities for the waste generated at your job sites;
• Adopt processes that reduce your reliance on gasoline and diesel fuel;
• Look for and adopt all the ways you can to eliminate printing things on paper;
• Stop traveling and commuting when web conferencing, conference calls, telecommuting and other forms of remote communication are really all that’s necessary;
• Set up policies, or install electrical and mechanical devices, that prevent energy from being used when it isn’t needed;
• Ask your employees, partners, clients and suppliers how they think you can operate in a more energy efficient fashion, and then take those suggestions to heart.

There is something more though to consider. Words and actions that aren’t heartfelt, (that don’t spring from a place inside you that makes them meaningful), can be seen by others as insincere. It seems it would be far better to say you don’t buy into all the green rhetoric and then just don’t participate, than it is to say you do but then only participate when it is profitable. If you really “feel” green then let it show. If you don’t then why not use other ways to improve your bottom line.

Looking back we can see the dawn of the awakening to green, and at that time it was just about energy. In the aftermath of the very first energy crises in 1973 the U.S., and the world, had its first wake-up call. There was a flurry of activity aimed at fixing the problem and they all focused on government and business efforts. Today, we see those earlier efforts by those entities changed very little the ways people create, acquire and use energy. Some may question when we will finally realize this is about individuals and the choices that individuals make. When individuals in business and government act from a heartfelt place of green then their actions will begin to have the most positive long term effects.

There are about 304 million people in the U.S. today, and a little more than 6.5 billion people in the world. A tree planted for every one of them this year might have an interestingly nice effect for all earthly inhabitants.