The Toxic Monster on Main Street: Dry Cleaning
For many consumers and small business owners, green is an aspiration – a way of life. We rarely find ourselves swimming in the scientific details. So today, here’s a close look at dry cleaning, the toxic “Monster on Main Street” that feeds on the uninformed consumer and business owner alike!
According to the U.S. EPA, almost 40 percent of dry cleaners don’t have the resources needed to comply with regulations. With some green upgrades carrying heavy price tags for small businesses, many small dry cleaners choose to forego going green altogether or opt for “natural” options that are not so “green” in reality.
The result has been a number of storefronts making the “green” dry cleaning claim without the security you would like. Consumer uncertainty, fear and product confusion keep small businesses providing the high-toxic options.
The Federal government has caught onto the issue, and by 2020 all “co-inhabiting” dry cleaners (those located in apartment buildings, schools, etc) will need to transition from using perchloroethylene (perc for short). http://www.epa.gov/region2/capp/dryclean.htm Some states (i.e. CA, NJ & MA) are already providing incentives for dry cleaners to go “green”. What’s so bad about perc? The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found that clothes dry cleaned with perc can elevate levels of the toxin throughout a home and especially in the room where the garments are stored. Nursing mothers exposed to perc may excrete it in their milk, placing their infants at risk.
If governments, both local and national, are legislating around and promoting greener professional cleaning and if consumers are demanding real green options – why are 85% of dry cleaners still using perc? http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/ppc/index.htm Could it be that many of the dry cleaners are mom and pop companies just trying to weather the recession?
ACCION USA, through it’s Green Loan Program www.accionusa.org/green has started speaking with industry leaders such as Peter Sinsheimer, director of the Pollution Prevention Center at Occidental College and Joy Onasch at the Toxic Use Reduction Institute at the University of Massachusetts to see how microlending can play a role – financing the gap between government incentives and a business owner’s pocket.
Is your dry cleaner really green? Do you have dry cleaners claiming to be “green” on your block? Do your part – get informed and fight the toxic monster on main street one piece of clothing at a time.
ACCION USA Green Business Client Featured in “Entrepreneurship Interviews”
By Cailey Ryckman
Entrepreneurship Interviews, a popular blog that features interviews with real life entrepreneurs and their businesses, recently highlighted one of ACCION USA’s green loan recipients, Cheney Brand. Cheney owns the solar energy design and installment company SunBug Solar. Read more about Cheney and how he put his ACCION USA loan towards green business success.
Green Business Advice: Catching up with ‘g’ Green Design Center
By Cailey Ryckman
We recently caught up with Nicole Goldman, Founder and President of ‘g’ Green Design Center, to talk about her unique green business!
What does your company offer? Is a green business sustainable? Is there a demand for your products?
‘g’ Green Design Center is a green-building design center and retail showroom providing a full range of materials from flooring to renewable energy to build or remodel residences and small commercial facilities.
Yes, a green business is sustainable – at least we believe so and are proving this through our success at our flagship showroom on Cape Cod, and with the expansion of our business to new franchise locations–presently one in Norwell, MA, and one opening in Toronto Canada this fall.
We have seen the demand for our products grow tremendously since we opened three years ago. What was once the hope and dream for a homeowner seeking green building materials, has flourished to become a resource that homeowners and businesses can rely on for well-researched, quality, reliable green products.
Who are your clients? How has your client demographic changed in recent years?
Our clients are homeowners who are building new or remodeling, builders, architects, contractors and small businesses.
I think the client demographic has broadened to include certainly builders who were previously skeptical of changes in building techniques, homeowners who were under the impression that green materials would be more expensive or out of their price range which they are not, and the general public who has embraced their part in considering the materials they use, reuse, ingest, throw away or recycle.
What do you think the current perception of “green” is? Is it just a fad or is it here to stay?
“Green” has really come into its own. Everyone wants to understand the concepts better and to participate to some degree. The underlying truth is that “green” is not a fad and not something that we need to learn to understand. “Green” is really just smart. It’s about being smart about your choices, about using only what you need, being careful about how you use materials, and dispose of things. All of the recent issues with climate change, oil spills, food contamination, etc. reminds us that we have to be responsible for how we use the environment around us, or we will not have it available for us to enjoy. We have to change our interaction with environment – the macro view and the micro view (in our own homes). People are coming to understand their part.
What advice would you give to other green businesses?
Work within a proven business mode— absolutely. Do not give it all away because we are guilty for how much damage has already been done, or to gain initial acceptance. A business has to make money to survive. If you are providing a necessary service or product with a focus on assisting your customers, and in the green economy thereby helping to contribute to some of the answers, then you should be proud of your work. Believe in yourself and never give up.
It’s Not Easy Being Green…or Is It?
We hear it time and again; going green makes business sense. Signs everywhere point toward more environmentally-conscious consumers, employees and investors, coupled with basic cost-savings opportunities and amazing incentives for investments in energy and water efficiency measures.
It’s no wonder then, that at ACCION USA we found ourselves listening intently when focus group participants communicated a sense of confusion on the definition of a green business, and a belief that going green meant spending a lot of money. We felt the need to lead the way for our clients by bringing in experts as part of a Green Speaker Series that began shortly after the launch of our green loan program, and would serve to demystify some of the terms and myths around green business.
We’re at the half-way point in our green business speaker series. Participants have hailed from all over the United States but have also signed in from the UK, Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Vietnam and New Zealand! Here’s where our series has led us and our 72 small business owner participants:
- Green; it’s not the word. It’s the Why. Guest presenter Deborah Guyer Greene, co-founder of epOxyGreen Eco Design Center in Venice, CA and green consultant laid the framework for branding your business as green in the marketplace. Participants understood that green ‘is not a Band Aid and the market will notice if you are using green that way’. Sincerity is key!
- Saving Energy and Water Can mean Tangible Cost Savings. Chris Moyer of the National Restaurant Association’s Conserve program provided 10 ways to increase a small business’ profit by decreasing energy and water usage.
- The Time is Now. Leading Energy Auditor Rise Engineering walked participants through the energy assessment process and highlighted how much small businesses can save by taking steps to becoming energy efficient today.
- Be personal and transparent in your green marketing. Kiwano Marketing highlighted 8 Green Marketing Tips and 4 Green Marketing Mistakes during a lively exchange of ideas on social media marketing and crafting a green message. Check out Kiwano’s blog post for additional take-aways.
Have you taken a moment to see what’s up next in our green business speaker series? Check out www.accionusa.org/workshops to see descriptions of our webinar on June 8th, All About Green Business Certifications and ‘Sustainability and Leadership’ on June 22nd.
Green Marketing Tips For Small Businesses
There’s never been a better time to go green: It’s an easy way for businesses looking to grow during the recession to save money and increase profits. Going green can help your small business in a big way by tapping into eco-conscious consumers while operating on the cutting edge of innovative small business practices. Knowing how to market a business as eco-friendly is a must nowadays, and that’s why ACCION USA and Kiwano Marketing partnered to provide a free, online workshop to help small business owners learn how to incorporate sustainability into their marketing programs.
But this is not all. We know that it takes green ($) to go green. As a leader in microfinance, ACCION USA recently launched a green microloan program for small businesses across the U.S. interested in investing in eco-friendly products and services and energy-efficiency measures. ACCION USA is bringing to the table Kiwano Marketing as a lead thinker in the realm of green marketing for small business owners. A regular in industry publications such as The Green Economy Post, Business Management Daily, Globe-NET, Charity Village, The Matter Network, and The Green Pages (among others), Kiwano uses a holistic approach to green marketing that emphasizes tracking and metrics, culminating in actionable, hands-on marketing programs that fit any budget and have little impact on the environment.
On May 25th, Kiwano founder Sofia Ribeiro will lead participants through a class on Green Marketing Tips, highlighting various ways that small businesses can create effective, inexpensive campaigns that improve brand awareness – and increase sales revenues. On this webinar, you will learn:
- What truly makes a green brand
- How to craft a personable green message
- How to prevent being accused of greenwashing
- The best ways to generate business from green consumers and businesses
- What green marketing strategies work for small businesses on a tight budget
Details:
Turning Green into Gold: Green Marketing Tips For Sustainable Businesses
When: May 25, at 1:00pm PST / 4:00pm EST
Where: Online
Cost: Free
Register now.
Perhaps you’re well on your way to incorporating eco-friendly products or services into your business. Now sign up to take the steps to creating a more profitable business through the best green marketing techniques!
Hope is the Color Green: ACCION USA’s All New Green Loan Program
The birth of the modern environmental movement is celebrated each year on April 22nd. Today is the movement’s 40th anniversary and the day ACCION USA, a pioneer in U.S. microfinance, chose to launch its Small Business Green Loan Program.
Thanks to ACCION USA's Green Loan Program, entrepreneurs will have the green loans they need to build a strong business AND a healthy planet.
Among other things, ACCION USA’s Green Loan Program seeks to help entrepreneurs to leverage their profits to improve the larger community. After a year of dialogue with small businesses, we learned that their largest challenge to going green was lack of access to the support to take the leap. However, with the right financing and training, small businesses have the opportunity of the decade. Amid economic turmoil and hurting profits, “greening” has the potential to slash costs through energy efficiency and attract new environmentally conscious consumers – all the while making the earth a better place to inhabit.
On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Today, in 2010, we’re struggling with similar issues that we did 40 years prior – we are a country at war, struggling with an economic downturn, looking for hope. In many ways, the Obama Administration has turned hope the color green. In no other time in history have small businesses had so many incentives to go green. And even with all those incentives, they are asking for a hand up to make the first step. Microlenders like ACCION USA are uniquely positioned to bridge that gap for weatherization contractors, restaurants, transportation, corner stores, retail and offices alike.
Learn more about ACCION USA’s Small Business Green Loan Program at www.accionusa.org/green and spread the word. Happy 40th Anniversary of Earth Day!
Tags: earth day, green, small business
Sneak Peek: Small Business Green Loan Program
With the Green Loan Program launching on April 22nd (just 16 days away!) we thought we would let the cat out of the bag a little early. But only for our most ardent online supporters, of course! Join us on April 13th for a lunch time webinar that will tell you all you need to know about ACCION USA’s Green Loan Program pilot in Massachusetts and New York. It’s an interactive experience that will allow you to provide feedback and ask questions. Feel free to spread the word to anyone you think would be interested in helping small businesses go green!
Date: Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EDT
Registration
This webinar is designed for bankers, small business consultants, and anyone else that works with small businesses. It will show you how to help small business get the money they need to go green with an ACCION USA Green Loan for Small Businesses.
Green loan products include:
- Energy Efficiency Loans: Saving energy = saving money and increasing profits
- Grow Your Green Business: Loans for small businesses that provide green products or services
If you know a small business that is struggling to find ways to cut costs and access new, green-conscious consumers, sign up for this “partners only” webinar today. Space is limited!
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar. “See” you on the 13th!
Tags: green small business, greenm small business loans, partners, training, weatherization, webinars
Green Education Critical to Green Action
Excitement was brewing at ACCION USA when clients participated in focus groups to test components of our new Green Loan Program. Participants felt that ACCION USA’s Green Loan Program is “going to become so important” to business owners as they innovate in the face of a struggling economy. While participants entered the focus group skeptical about their ability to green their businesses – stating that “going green is too costly,” attitudes shifted after learning about the benefits, proving the necessity for education.
The focus groups taught us a lot about our clients’ motivations and challenges. At the end of the night, it was clear that our work was cut out for us. The participants raised the following questions:
- How should ACCION USA educate clients on the benefits of greening their businesses and being more energy efficient (i.e., tax credits, energy savings, new client base)?
- How should ACCION USA market the green loan to the average small business owner concerned with the bottom line?
- How can ACCION USA reach clients who run less traditional businesses that don’t have a storefront or an office?
- How can ACCION USA implement and teach clients about the benefits of an energy audit, an important aspect of the green loan program?
- What measures can ACCION USA take to offer clients networking opportunities to share best practices and learn from other green borrowers?
Answers to these questions and more will be presented on Earth Day, when we’ll unveil all the details of ACCION USA’s Green Loan Program!
by Emily Cunningham
Micro-boosting Weatherization Programs
We are the weatherization nation – and so much the better for it. Last year, the Obama Administration injected $8 billion of stimulus funding into the weatherization industry, with a lofty tripartite objective: create green un-exportable jobs, save energy consumers cash, and make the environment happy.
But what happens when government money is injected into a system that doesn’t exist? Community, government, and for-profit groups scramble to create the infrastructure. After much “building”, what has been made clear is that “there are currently not enough skilled workers and green entrepreneurs to expand weatherization and efficiency retrofit programs on a national scale,” as Vice President Biden concluded in a recent task force report on the subject.
- Contractors need loans for items like blower doors, which are used to check a building’s insulation.
ACCION USA is currently talking with groups in Massachusetts and New York about leveraging microlending to help contractors jump into weatherization and/or aid those already in the game to expand to meet growing the demand. While many states have used government funding to provide incentives for weatherization, many of these incentives are rebates. And without the money to front the cost, many contractors are opting out.
By incorporating a microlending component into weatherization programs, contractors will be able to move quickly – reacting to the market. Once they’ve taken hold of the weatherization opportunity, these businesses will continue to flourish, in large part due to the education and credit training received with their microloans. So even after the nation has been duly weatherized, contractors will continue to employ and grow.
Do you think microlending has a part to play in weatherization?
ACCION USA Takes the Energy Star Challenge
ACCION USA kicked the year off right by pledging to reduce our carbon footprint in 2010! We created an internal committee of passionate staffers and signed onto the Energy Star Challenge to hold our feet to the fire. We figured that greening our own operations would be an important step in promoting green business practices to microentrepreneurs.
To start, ACCION USA staffers in each office volunteered to be a green champion— each responsible for surveying our current green (or not-so-green) status. The survey considers the following:
- Facilities and Energy Use: Utilities, Lighting, Electronics, and HVAC
- Water Conservation
- Waste: Reduction, Recycling, and Printing
- Green Product Purchasing
- Transportation
The survey will help the green committee determine ACCION USA’s baseline. Once the baseline is established, we’ll be able to create a plan and track our progress (which, of course, we’ll report back to all of you!).
To rally our entire organization around the green theme, the committee will be throwing a St. Paddy’s Day pot luck and, you guessed it, staff will be asked to bring their favorite green (or green-colored) food. And, of course, we’ll post pictures.
Read more about the Energy Star Challenge and sign up to take it yourself!