What does green mean to you? Setting clear goals before incorporating green principles

Despite the ongoing financial crisis, "green" remains a buzzword of the moment. Publications are devoting pages to green lifestyles, corporations are creating positions to oversee sustainability, and governments continue to entertain legislation centered on creating green jobs and a green infrastructure. With all of this attention, there has been little focus on actually defining green and individuals and companies may find themselves without a clear understanding of the best way to incorporate green practices into their day-to-day activities. Green means many things to many people and the first necessary step to altering your behavior is to establish what goal you hope to accomplish by going green. Being green can serve to increase energy efficiency, decrease waste generation, attain certifications, assist in marketing, or, perhaps, address a legal requirement. Without setting forth clear, quantifiable goals before incorporating green principles into your life or business, you will be unable to determine the effectiveness a green initiative and any gains will likely be temporary. Choosing a Path Once you have identified the end you seek to attain by going green, the next step is to take stock of your current practices. Only by thoroughly understanding how your activities are wasteful and ineffective can you make the small changes necessary to reap significant gains. Within the context of energy efficiency, this practice of auditing has led to the creation of a new area of environmental consulting, but you can undertake your own analysis by carefully reviewing your utility bills and determining what activities require the greatest energy usage. Similarly, if you are focusing your green initiative on resource efficiency, you can examine the amount of paper and office supplies by reviewing invoices and determine if all supply use is necessary and whether you can recycle the materials that you are using. If you are seeking to attain a green certification, your process of taking stock will be substantially more detailed and will require an in depth knowledge of the program that you are trying to qualify for. In these instances, it will be best to work with someone who has expertise in the area and, if you are at a loss about where to start, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (nyserda.org) is an excellent resource for those looking to make a large-scale green investment. Taking Action After clearly identifying your goal and studying your own practices, you are now ready to go green. The first changes that you should make are those easy modifications to your current practices that will yield a large reward. Many big steps can be implemented without substantial expenditure of time or resources, for example, making sure that computers, lights, and appliances are turned off when not in use, replacing drafty windows, and adding more effective insulation. Once you make changes, it is equally important to evaluate the effectiveness of those changes. Because you have chosen a goal that is quantifiable and you have already taken inventory of your practices prior to implementing your green initiative, you have a ready-made measure by which to judge your progress. Additionally, the ongoing analysis of your advancement towards your chosen goal will allow you to fine tune specific aspects of the initiative in order to suit the particular needs of your household or organization. Finally, it is important to communicate with all those who are taking part in the initiative with you. Whether it is family members or coworkers, providing updates on progress will keep everyone motivated and maintain consciousness that is essential to further progress in the future. By breaking down the process of going green into small, objective components, you can take advantage of efficiency and marketing gains and make real progress towards your particular shade of green. Kevin Walsh is an associate in the environmental practice group at Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman, LLP, Hauppauge, N.Y.