Brooklyn's Progress
June/July 2007

BY JILL SHEEHY

It used to be that only one kind of green was in – money.

But with heightened awareness about sustainable, ecologically friendly living seeping into all aspects of life, there is no reason the two greens can’t coexist.

Now it is becoming easier for real-world business owners to figure out where they fit into the green scheme. Luckily, in many cases an environmentally efficient business is also a profitable one. You can take pride in knowing you are helping slow the degradation of the environment as well as watching your bottom line.

In a survey conducted in December of 2006, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce found that a whopping 65% of Members would even accept moderate increases to their energy bills in order to conserve in the long haul.

There are myriad ways you can go green in your business, from buying green cleaning products in bulk, installing compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) and even reusing vegetable oil to fuel your transportation fleet, all of which promise to be money-saving options.

To help inspire you, some of Brooklyn’s own are leading the charge for ecologically-friendly business works. From the extreme to the mundane, these business owners know how to make a difference.

Chamber Member David Selig is a co-owner of Rice, a chain of restaurants that turn out inventive, yes, rice-themed dishes, which includes outposts in DUMBO and Fort Greene.

“Many businesses in New York City could convert their trucks/vans to run on vegetable oil,” he suggested. While that may seem like a lot of work, when you take into account the rising price of fuel and the damage done to the environment, there could be serious benefits for any business that has to transport.

“The conversion costs $1,000 to $3,000 but could be done more cheaply by a competent mechanic,” Mr. Selig advised. “The cost is repaid more quickly the more the vehicle is used.”

He also points out that businesses servicing the food industry have access to free fuel in the form of waste vegetable oil, which could be collected and filtered to save fuel costs, greatly reducing pollution at the same time.

Another benefit for the food industry is money saved in disposal. Waste and oil removal can be costly, and there are farms that will gladly take the oil and food off your hands, sometimes even picking it up for free. Organic waste, such as vegetable peels, lemon rinds, damaged lettuce, etc., can be turned into compost, resulting in more food. 

“The reuse of these wastes is immensely productive since the food business reduces their costs and also reduces the farmer's costs of fuel and compost,” according to Mr. Selig. “The compost serves to grow future food.”

Mr. Selig now makes it a point to practice what he preaches.

“At Rice, we deliver our organic waste to the Red Hook Community Farm in our vegetable oil-fueled van,” he said. “Small gestures will have an immediate impact in a congested, dense city filled with restaurants that, in the future, could purchase more of their produce from local farmers rather than purchasing imported produce that has traveled far and at a high fuel cost.”

Clean and Green
Another place businesses can look to go green and save cash is in their cleaning supply closet.

Chamber Member Wayne Miles has been in the cleaning business for 25 years, but it was only in the last seven that he started taking his personal philosophies of holistic living into work with him.

It was a scary moment that led him to explore green cleaning methods. He went to check in on a work site one afternoon and found the office employees choking on fumes from the products. His employees, however, were desensitized from working with the chemicals. It was then that Mr. Miles realized he had to do something different, and he retooled his company as Go Green, which specializes in eco-friendly cleaning equipment and products.

“People equate smells like pine and ammonia with cleanliness,” he said. “The object is to improve indoor air quality.”

Something as simple as a walk-off mat for people to wipe their feet on when they enter an office or store will immediately reduce the amount of dust and grit brought in. He also advocates using micro-fiber cloths to dust down shelves and furniture, as they reduce the need for chemical, petroleum-based cleaners, which he said are toxic.

“People equate smells like pine and bleach with cleanliness,” said Mr. Miles.

He also advised that mopping with a double chamber bucket is the easiest way to make sure your floors actually get clean and not just moving dirt from one place to another.

Mr. MIles also cited HEPA (high efficiency particulate air filter) vacuum as a smart way to keep air clean. Offices and schools especially, according to Mr. Miles, are rife with poor air quality. He cited a statistic that said one year of using green cleaning products would save U.S. businesses $160 billion a year in lost productivity and sick days.

For those who are concerned about price, Mr. Miles points out that many eco-friendly products are concentrated and will last longer than your average bottle of cleanser or detergent, and turn out to be a better value.

“You have to adopt a philosophy,” Mr. Miles explained, “that you can use alternatives. It’s really just a question of making a choice.”