Winning Green Friends And Influencing Others

I have a lot of green friends.  I have a lot of friends who are starting to go green.  I am finding that I am also influencing others with the information that I freely give away.

A while back I told you about my commitment to not use take a way containers from restaurants.  Well, last night I was at a networking mixer and ordered the 2-for-1 wings as I usually do at this event.  I ate my fill and pulled out my container to take the rest home with me.  A little while later, I see a friend pulling out her own re-usable container and filling it with her extra wings.  I couldn't believe it!  I did my little happy dance.

I talked with my friend later in the evening and she said that her family was taking up my challenge to reduce the amount of restaurant waste when they go out to eat.  We talked further and she was telling me about more little things they were doing to reduce their overall environmental impact.  Something she said really made me giggle a little and admittedly made me proud.  She said that when they accomplished some challenge I set or tip I had given, they would say "Christopher would be so proud" or if they had a question about something, "What would Christopher do?"

Is Your Business In the Green part 2

The health and well-being of employees and customers should be a top priority for business owners.  In todays business world, however, this is too often overlooked or ignored altogether.  Why?

Most business owners think this is strictly about providing insurance for all of their employees.  They couldn't be more wrong.  Insurance is like a band-aid on the real issue.  The real issue is providing a work environment that is healthy and safe for their workers and customers.  How many of your employees have Asthma or allergies?  Chances are, the majority of your employees have some form of allergy or Asthma.  How many of those employees call in sick, A LOT?  Now think about your customers.  That number goes up exponentially. If a customer or client enters a space that causes them to not feel well, they will leave it and never return.  In their subconscious mind, they are equating your office or retail space with feeling bad. 

Most of the issues these employees and customers face is caused by a chemical trigger.  That trigger could be the chemicals that were used to clean the floor, the chemicals that are being used to give the restrooms that "fresh" scent or even the chemicals that were used to clean the display area.  Does your office area or display area receive full sun in the morning or afternoon?  Is this time time of day when employees are more likely to go home because they are not feeling well?

Changing your cleaning products from chemical based cleaners to all-natural cleaners is fast, easy and will end up saving your company money.  There are some industrial cleaning supply companies out there who have been touting their "all-natural" cleaners, yet they are guilty of green washing.  If you look at the label on a bottle of cleaner and you cannot pronounce or immediately recognize the ingredients as being plants or fruits, then that product is not natural.  Finding truly all-natural products, in the past, has been the hard part of the process and requires a fair amount of work.  As always, I want to make this entire process easier for you.  The ingredients in our cleaning products are very clearly labeled and contain only ingredients that are plants and fruits.  They have been formulated to provide maximum cleaning power and yet leave no scent behind.

As a business owner you want to keep your best employees and customers coming back, yes?  By making this incredibly small change in the way your facility is managed, you are making a bold statement to your employees and customers that says, "We care about you, your families and the environment".  Wouldn't you like to be quoted in the papers saying that?  Businesses who have made this statement in the past have all been hugely successful.  When you tell people you truly care about them, they will choose you over the other guy.

Contact me today and I will show you how your business can become OnlyGreen Qualified.

Is Your Business In The Green? part 1

I have said before that I do a lot of networking here in the valley.  Every week I meet business owners who may recycle at home, yet they don't in their business.  I find this very strange.  I know that part of the reason is that there is no recycling service as part of their regular waste disposal in most cities here.  I try to impart this little nugget of information to each business owner I meet; greening your business is more than just recycling.  Recycling just happens to be the most popular place to start for most people.

Does your business have a break room or kitchen?  Do you supply the cups, cutlery and plates/bowls?  There are amazing products available to business owners to make a HUGE difference in just this one area.  There are cups, cutlery, plates and bowls made from corn, made from sugarcane and other plants, that are biodegradable/compostable.  There are garbage bags made from corn that break biodegrade so that the contents can properly break down.  Next week, keep an eye on your break room or kitchen and take a mental note of the waste and types of waste produced in five days.  Once you have an idea of the amount, now multiply that by 51.  Now think about this; what if all of that completely biodegraded and didn't exist after a few months.

Building Blocks

Last night at a networking event, someone asked me why I joined OnlyGreen.  A number of people have asked me this question and I wanted to share with you, the reason why.

Like so many people in the last three years, I was called into a meeting last summer and was handed my exit package, offered a handshake and thanked for my dedication to the company.  I was devastated and a little bit relieved.  The relief came from the knowledge that I was not going to endure the stress of live television any longer.  The devastation came from knowing that I now had no income and no way to pay my bills.  Which at the time were pretty high due to being laid off from another job just three years prior.  After retreating to the safety of my home and licking my wounds for a week or two I realized I needed a new plan.  Relying on others for a paycheck obviously was not working.  I had been laid off 3 times in three years.  The economy was ruining my personal financial situation.

I sat down over the course of a week and made a list of my skills and a list of things I am passionate about as well as a list of things I enjoy doing.  I'm a bit of techno-geek so a lot of my skills were computer based.  That list was actually quite easy.  The list of things I am passionate about was a little more difficult to filter down into a list.  Once I started writing things down, a pattern started to emerge.  Making a list of things I enjoy doing was super easy.  Now that I had these three lists and I saw them side by side I instantly saw what I needed.  I needed something that incorporated my passion for the environment, my love of meeting new people, my desire to make a difference in the lives of others, my analytical mind and the security of not relying on others for a paycheck.

I then set about brainstorming how I could acquire all of those things in one job.  Obviously, starting with the financial security issue, I need to be working for myself.  Now the issue was, how do I make that happen and what kind of business to start.  As I finished this brainstorming session with myself, my attention was diverted to a blog reviewing a new company that had just started up and they were looking for independent consultants.  I visited their website and read through all of the information they had available as well as their product line.  Their company vision, mission and business opportunity matched what I was looking for to a T.

Today, the hours I work are set by me and are subject to change as MY needs change, not someone else's.  I have the satisfaction of knowing that the paycheck I earn is not based on someone else's idea of what I am worth.  My paycheck is based on what I KNOW I am worth; which is quite a lot.  :)  In addition to this, I am fortunate enough to have the opportunity to help other people realize their goals and dreams.

This is why I joined OnlyGreen.  Does my story sound familiar?  I am building a strong team of sharp, passionate people who want to make a real difference in their communities.  We make the transition to a greener, healthier lifestyle as seamless and painless as possible.  How do we do this?  Through education and a complete range of all-natural products.  For the month of December, I am making it even easier for people to join my team by reducing the cost of the Starter Kit.  Right now, new team members will receive their Kit for $169.   The actual retail value is over $325.  Have you or someone you know faced hardship in this new economy?  Click this LINK for more information.  Remember, this special price will not be offered again.