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8 Green Marketing Ideas for Your Business

Written by: Eddie Correia

Article Overview: We’re going to look at how small to med-size businesses can make a commitment to environment and create a competitive advantage in their market place.

8 Green Marketing Ideas for Your Business

Everywhere your turn, there’s talk about the environment and how businesses need to be socially responsible to minimize their impact on the environment. Finally, the earth we take so much from is going to be getting some payback.

So, can a business lower its negative impact, grow and think green all at once?green-marketing-chama1.gif

There’s plenty of skepticism, but there’s also proof that ‘Thinking Green’ in business is not only good for the environment, but for business as well. Here are some easy to implement green marketing ideas your business can embrace:

1) Work from home – allow staff to work from home more often. This will help provide added perks and could improve productivity.

2) Teamwork – boost Company moral by setting a company wide goal of everyone working together to lower the businesses carbon footprint.

3) C02 friendly servers – yes, today, you can reverse the impact of your websites by switching to C02 friendly servers. There are two providers that we know of in this field: one can be found here, another here.

4) Sustainable Packaging – replacing your existing packaging with “green” packaging materials such as biodegradable . Or simply get creative by re-using old magazine pages. Yes it’s possible. There’s a shop in Lisbon, Portugal that is doing this - the wrong shop!

5) Transportation – if your business relies on transportation, look at transitioning to environmental friendly vehicles. This bold move will most likely get the attention of your local or national newspapers.

6) Green Seal – assess the ‘Greenness’ of your products and apply for a green seal. In the US and Canada there are several NGO’s supporting green seal projects. We’re excited to share, a similar effort is starting here in Portugal, and Chama is currently working with a partner to launch the initiative in the Algarve.

7) Get Your Brand out there – help your local community and customers reduce dependency on grocery store plastics. Invest in environmental friendly grocery bags with your brand, and give them away to customers for free…it’s free advertising!

8) Give Local Love. Receive Local Love – if you’re in the food business, look at ways to source local products even if they’re at slightly higher cost. In return, promote your goal of supporting local farmers and reducing your carbon footprint. You can start the transition slowly by having select products that feature seasonal and locally sourced produce.

And one key point; we understand being ‘Green’ is chic these days, but we don’t support the ‘green washing’ of a brand, when there’s no real interest in the issue and it only serves the bottom line. If you’re looking at making your business greener, take a holistic approach and get everyone on board first. Without adoption from the inside, you’re actions will not support your commitment and it can ultimately hurt your brand, in the eyes of your most important stakeholders: your employees and customers.

Since we all learn best through example, I highly recommend you take a look at two of my favorite companies leading the green business movement in their respective industries:

Innocent smoothie - little tasty drinks
http://www.innocentdrinks.com

ClifBar - makers of delicious nutrition bar
http://www.clifbar.com

Related Articles
  Beware greenwashing your business
  Going Green = saving money
  Get Naked and Grow Your Green Business Today!
  Green Business Ideas
  Green Biz Idea #32 - Certify Your Business as Green

Article Tags: algarve, bold move, c02, carbon footprint, chama, environmental friendly vehicles, green marketing, grocery bags, grocery store, lisbon portugal, local community, marketing ideas, national newspapers, negative impact, ngo, packaging materials, payback, skepticism, sustainable packaging, transitioning



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