Greening is divided into Two Parts: Part One, “Developing Your Green Plan” and Part Two, “Assessing Your Green Options.” There is also a third section chock full of resources, checklists and a handy index, making the book easily searchable. There are also useful items such as website url’s, anecdotal spotlights and quotes, highlighted throughout the book, in support of the exhaustive amount of information given by Kaplan.

Greening Your Small Business discusses how any size business can do their part in reducing waste, reusing supplies, and not only recycling waste, managing it. There is much to the process of greening a business and Kaplan does a serious amount of explaining it in precise and understandable language. She uses examples, gives suggestions and provides plenty of support to not only her suggestions, but to the reader.

In Part One: Developing Your Green Plan, Kaplan outlines what going green means not only to the environment but also to your business’s bottom line. Many corporations have found that going green helps them save money, and these tips can also work for the smallest business—regardless of who, what or where, it is located. Kaplan provides fifty useful tips on how to get started, from the simplest items, such as: reducing waste, conserving water and reusing shipping boxes. To more complex items, like greening your marketing campaigns and business travel and restructuring the way you use energy.

Kaplan gives eight useful tips to going green. She says, “...as you work through them, you’ll discover which green practices make sense for your industry, your business, your market and your management style...They’re just a framework for understanding the process.”

In Chapter 5, Developing Your Plan, Kaplan explains, “By developing a coherent plan, you’ll determine how to take advantage of opportunities to green your business and become more competitive.” She continues by giving companies tips to develop their plan:

*Measuring their use (in your business practices such as office supply spending (by monitoring how they are used, and how you can reduce waste), water and energy, etc. * Setting Priorities by focusing your efforts where you spend the most either in dollars or as a percentage of overall expenses (e.g. health care, business energy). Also take into consideration what practices are essential to your competitive advantage and managing your risk.

* Brainstorm

* Implement

One of the items Kaplan reiterates throughout the book, and focuses on in Chapter 6, is the importance of greening your business’s mission statement and publishing it across the board in all of your communications, on your website, marketing collateral, etc. She emphasizes the importance of making sure those you currently do business with, and potential clients, are able to easily see you are implementing these new, green strategies.

In Part Two: Assessing Your Green Options, Kaplan teaches businesses how to use all the tips in Part One, as well as giving a more detailed play by play of what these green options can do for your bottom line. “ Part Two is meant to be used in conjunction with Part One...[Part Two] presents hundreds of actions you can take—from the simple to the complex,” says Kaplan. She suggests referring back and forth to get the most out of the references and guides.

Part Two delves a bit further into the individual processes a business can take to reduce, reuse and recycle: manage, purchase, expand and explore. Kaplan even explains the different types of recycling signs, programs and even warns to check out e-waste recycling before trusting they are practicing up to EPA standards.

Kaplan discusses the different types and means of energy management, and how to develop a plan that works for you. This includes: defining problems, putting them into perspective and taking action. There are energy conserving tips and practices. An option Kaplan gives throughout the book (one that sometimes makes me wonder if she is a spokesperson for the company) is looking for the ENERGY STAR label or utilizing their website for products and practices.

One thing I found refreshing is the great use of examples on how to make effective and efficient use of technology, such as computers. Too many people leave their computers on all the time so it’s nice to find someone who discusses what a wasteful practice this is and how to make the most of the standby mode.

Greening Your Small Business is also a great tool for businesses that already utilize sustainable practices. I found items that would help expand upon what I already do as well as benefits from being green (some I was unaware of) listed throughout the chapters. It’s apparent Kaplan put a lot of effort into capturing useful and up to date information. Though there is a bit of repetition she does a good job of making her points in a clear and useful way, giving the reader points to ponder and giving a great deal of information for the reader to take away and utilize on their own. All in all, Greening Your Small Business is a great resource for anyone interested in this topic. Buy a copy and keep it on top of your desk or pass it around to others in your company or circle of associates.

Greening Your Small Business can be purchased from Penguin Press, Amazon.com or a number of other online outlets, including e-book sites such as Diesel eBook.

Comments

Greenhance

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Thank you for the terrific review. I hope anyone who is interested in greening a business finds inexpensive, simple strategies to do so. We can much such a huge impact if all just do a little.

Jennifer Kaplan

Sunday 03 January 2010, 16:12

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