I wanted to include a list of other things you could do to make an impact on the environment in your place of business.
-Purchase carbon offsets – they calculate the environmental impact of your event or place of business and you can contribute an equivalent amount of money to green causes http://www.carbonfund.org/ or Terrapass. I also recommend the event/conference carbon calculator http://www.terrapass.com/event-carbon-calculator/
-Purchase green lighting and other green products – If you’re looking for lighting, I highly recommend my friends at Cree – they do great work http://www.cree.com/
-Encourage public transportation or mass transportation – offering incentives for employees who commute by methods other than individual cars and providing forums (social network created on Ning would be a great place to start) for employees or students to connect with others commuting. Providing places at your facility for employees or students to learn about public transportation and the benefits. Also, “take the bus to work/school” day or week is a great way to encourage employees or students to at least TRY public transportation. Discouraging bringing cars in any way possible will make a big difference in the environmental impact of your event or organization.
-Purchase locally made or grown products – Try looking at sites like http://www.locallectual.com/ or http://earth911.com/blog/2009/08/03/8-ways-to-go-local/. If you work in education, try having a locally grown and produced day to teach students about the locally made products. This is particularly challenging in our internet culture but there can be benefits to purchasing things over the internet because they often don’t have a local retail store.
