When I was visiting Alcatraz I saw this sign that stated a great message:

“It takes one, just one
And then one follows the other one
And then another follows another one
Next thing you know you got a billion
People doing some wonderful things
People doing some powerful things
Let’s change and do some powerful things
Unity could be a wonderful thing.”

Doing a little research, I found out that this is a portion of a Black Eyed Peas song – Union.  I thought this was an impressionable quote and wanted to share it with you.  If you don’t already know, I am a sucker for good quotes that make you think or act.  

“It just takes one.”  With this thought in mind, I wanted to do more and think of ways to further make my business a more Green Business.  I started by listing out what I am currently doing:

Office Space:

• Since Forever Young Photography is mostly a mobile photography service shooting on location, I choose to not have a separate retail space. By doing so, I avoid the excess energy use of a separate space and daily commuting to an office. {Let’s also not forget the saved time and sanity for not having to sit in traffic!}
• CFL lighting or better yet natural sunlight from the great windows in my workspace!
• I always recycle Ink Cartridges.
• Using a power strip and turning off electronics when not in use.
• Using natural cleaning products in the space.
• A Whiteboard is your friend:  My whiteboard comes in handy for jotting down all my notes and helps me use less paper.
• Keeping my cool is no problem with the mild weather in San Fran.  My windows provide a great beeze and natural “air conditioning.”  No need to keep my air conditioning unit at 78 degrees – which would be hard since I don’t have one.  ;-)
• Final Photography Contracts are emailed as PDFs.  No more wasted paper.
• Your personal online Gallery takes place of paper proofs.  Again a huge paper saver!  It also makes sharing your photographs with others easy.  No need to drive proofs all around town to show the fam. 
• Reuse any paper that I can, printing double-sided and recycling everything after.
• I reuse and/or recycle all packaging & boxes, bubble-wrap, etc. for shipping out orders.  It is always better to reuse these items if you can instead of just recycling.  
• I look for used furniture pieces when it is time to get more file cabinets or storage.  Craigslist rocks.
• Share the knowledge: any photography magazines that I have finished reading I donate or share with others so they can learn as well.

Equipment:

• Though you already know this, I want to make my list complete and include shooting digitally.  Digital Photography is a huge saver in materials {no film reels, packaging, harsh chemicals for developing or wasteful printing.} 
• Equipment – purchasing high quality equipment so it will last a long time.
• My refurbished Mac laptop was a great investment.  If you are in the market for a laptop, check out the refurbished options.  You would never even know that it was not new.
• I always use rechargeable batteries for my cameras and flash.  

It’s always good to make a list {I am a HUGE list maker}.  From looking at my list I can already see some areas that I can improve.  I am going to list them here to make myself accountable for these new items I want to incorporate into my business practices.  

• I offer a few products that are made out of partially recycled materials, but I want to research and find more to offer my clients.  This might take some time as I want to be 100% sure that any product I offer you is archival & durable.  I’ll have to try any new items out first to make sure they meet my standards.  
• Holiday cards anyone?  I am going to research different cardstock options for you and include some in my offerings that are made out of recycled paper. 
• The next stack of printing paper for office use will be recycled paper.  I also will look into recycled paper envelopes & file folders to get my office up to par.
• I am also going to pay closer attention to the environmental action plans of the suppliers that I use so I can offer you products produced by companies with an environmental conscious.   

Well there you have it.  My first round of goals for “Greening” my business even further.  Have any ideas to add to my list?  If so, I would love to hear them!  Email me your ideas.