Does It Have to Cost Green to Be Green?
We wanted to ask about environmental or “green” initiatives in our “Top Shops” Industry Survey, but in discussing the matter among the MMS staff, we realized that it’s hard to pin down what “green” really means.
We wanted to ask about environmental or “green” initiatives in our “Top Shops” Industry Survey, but in discussing the matter among the MMS staff, we realized that it’s hard to pin down what “green” really means. Specifically, if it saves green of another sort, then is it actually green?
At my own home, for example, I participate in curbside recycling. But is this an environmental initiative on my part? Arguably, it’s not. Since my community charges a fee per trash can, I save money by keeping as much trash out of the can as possible. That’s what I’m thinking about. In the same way, a manufacturer might do environmentally positive things, but it might be pursuing savings by reducing disposal or energy costs without having much awareness of the impact on the environment.
In short: Does it have to hurt in order to be truly green? If yes, this seems perverse. If not, many shops are doing green things without knowing or caring. In the end, we scaled down what attention the survey gives to this topic.
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