Green Beginnings Plant the green business seed early on and get it growing from the start.
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Green is on everyone's brain these days, so why not build environmental policies into your company during the startup phase? "[The environment] is top of mind with customers," says Patrick Nye of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation, a nonprofit organization that sells carbon offsets. "A lot of folks who didn't know much about us a few years ago are becoming pretty [knowledgeable]. And they're making decisions about the companies they support based in part on how green that company is."
Going green was Daniel Feuer's intention from the start when he launched UJeans, a made-to-measure jean manufacturer in Ontario, Canada. Founding the company in 2005, he looked at every element of his manufacturing and distribution to find ways to go green. He sought out natural washes and dyes instead of chemicals, as well as sustainably grown cotton. He even makes sure his outsourced service providers are green-minded and socially responsible (for example, they pay a living wage). On the shippining and packaging end, Feuer created a mailing envelope out of excess denim scraps, and for in-store sales, he designed a recyclable tin embossed with the UJeans logo that can be reused as a CD or makeup case. His company's environmental backbone has helped push 2007 sales to $500,000. Says Feuer, 38, "It's something every company should be looking at. [You] can be green, socially conscious and profitable from the get-go."
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