Posts Tagged ‘Economic Sense’

I keep commenting about this from an environmental perspective. Making environmentally friendly choices can also make economic sense – they don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

Sure, at times an environmental change will have additional costs, but that’s not always going to be the case. There are so many ways that we can help the environment and reduce costs. One such way is by simply conserving energy.

The Dairy Business Association has come to this realization. They have created what they call Environmental Management Systems (EMS).

Here’s a quote that describes EMS

You can read more about the initiative at http://www.wdexpo.org/2009/04/20/wis-announces-accomplishments-of-green-tier/.

The city counsel of Toronto wants to make it the greenest city in North America. That goal may sound good for politicians and elections but what does it really do for the environment?

First of all there is the problem of measurement. After all, how do you determine exactly how green a city is. What factors do you measure and what weight do you apply to each of these factors. Obviously calling a city “the greenest” is a very subjective matter.

Running a city is like everything else - there is a balance. If you put too much emphasis on something, you end up causing other attributes to suffer. Forcing a city to become green immediately will end up hurting the city. As can be seen in this article there is already bureaucratic push back - however I suspect that the push back has as much to do with things getting out of balance as anything else.

Sure we can push for green and we can push hard - but if the project fails, are we really any better off? Where can we start making small changes in the way things. Changes that well help the environment and make economic sense. As we implement more and more our savings will increase. We can then apply those savings to the bigger projects. In the end we won’t destroy the economy and our community will get behind us.

But that’s just my way of approaching the problem. Here’s what’s happening in Toronto…

Of course the Toronto Environmental Alliance might not like my suggestions either.

You can read the rest of the article about them and the Toronto City Council at The Toronto Star.

I keep saying if we make small changes our environment can experience a big difference. I also keep talking about how going green makes economic sense. It’s more about changing the way we do things than spending more money. Choosing to spend some money up front for proper insulation will end the long run save us heating costs.

Here’s an article about a college that “get’s it”. I especially like the comment at the end by the benefactor who points out that this should in fact make tuition and fees go down, not up.