5 green businesses and what you can learn from them

5 businesses that prove you don’t have to live in the dark ages to be ‘green’

Has all this talk about climate change and the respective havoc the El Nino and El Nina effects (not Mexican delicacies, it turns outs) are inflicting on the environment got you worried that Armageddon is a-comin-to-get-us if you don’t shun all modern luxuries and go live in a teepee? For green businesses, it isn’t just about turning the your back on the world as you know it and shivering your way through a cold winter with nothing but a (sustainably-farmed) cowhide teepee for shelter.

There are lots of things people can do in their business (and at home, too) that’s good for the environment.

So before you call Bruce Willis, check out how these small green businesses are helping make the world a better place – and in the unlikeliest of ways, too – one green step at a time.

The 5 green businesses

1. Elevation Burger

This US-based burger joint had a dream of being more than just a burger joint – they wanted to be a sustainable burger joint. So they began selling burgers that were free range, antibiotic-free and grass fed, while their restaurants were built using environmentally sustainable and non-hazardous construction and operating practices. Who said a burger had to be bad for you (and the environment)?

Business Going Green

2. BigBelly Solar

Ever noticed the petrol-guzzling, exhaust-blowing garbage trucks that come to collect your carefully separated garbage and wondered how much damage the truck does to the environment in the process? Well, one man found out: garbage trucks consume more than one billion gallons of diesel fuel in the US each year. It was when he decided to do something about it that BigBelly Solar was born – a solar-powered garbage compacting system, which eliminates the waste in waste collection.Screenshot 2015-05-12 11.02.113. EcoPlum

We all like to buy ourselves something a little fancy from time-to-time, but what if that fancy something was also environmentally friendly? Now you can. At EcoPlum, a green shopping site that not only educates consumers on the things they can do to decrease their carbon footprint, but also rewards them for making sustainable choices with its own form of currency called ‘EcoChipz’ which can be redeemed for rewards or used a donation to environmental causes. The products on the site range from jewellery to home furnishings, so now you can say goodbye to buyers remorse.Screenshot 2015-05-12 11.06.26

4. Eight Arms Cellars

Normally, the thought of green wine mightn’t sound too great, but this winemaker will change your opinion on that. Realising that as a renter of the Eight Arms facility, they didn’t have much control over the carbon footprint of their physical enterprise, so they found other ways to run a green business – their bottles, labels and corks are all sourced with environmental responsibility in mind.Screenshot 2015-05-12 11.09.35

5. Lunch Bots

What good’s a healthy meal if the container it goes in is unhealthy? That’s just the thought that crossed the mind of the owner and founder of US-based (come on Straya! What’s going on?) Lunch Bots’ in 2007 when she first came up with the idea of selling stainless steel lunch and snack containers that are entirely plastic free. The company now estimates that Lunch Bots has eliminated the use of more than 25 million plastic sandwich and snack bags to date. That’s a lot of plastic!Screenshot 2015-05-12 11.11.20

So if your business is toying with the idea of going green, you don’t have to make huge changes to make a difference. Start small and include everyone in the company by implementing easily achievable changes – like encouraging everyone to bring their own mug to work and a refillable water bottle. Or use more online tools and storage devices so your office can go paperless.

Okay, you can go call Bruce now.

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