To Consulting Firm, Green Must Include Community
Philanthropic consultancy LBG Associates has completed The Green Effect: How Community Involvement Is Embracing Environmentalism, a new research study, reveals not only the top environmental trends and practices among 51 of today's leading corporations but also includes a self-diagnostic tool that helps determine if a company is a Peridot (becoming green); a Jade (green in many business and community involvement practices); or an Emerald (extremely green).
The report is available for purchase at the company's Web site.
"We believe a company can be truly green only if its environmental practices extend to community outreach," says Linda Gornitsky, Ph.D., president and founder of the firm. "Our new performance index encompasses both environmental business practices and green community involvement factors." The report uncovers today's major green business trends, showing, for example, that 84 percent of the respondents believe being green is part of their corporate culture; 86 percent measure/reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and 74 percent have environmental requirements for suppliers.
The report includes more than 25 examples of how research participants are "walking the talk" and executing their environmental commitment—in both operations and in community involvement activities:
• Con Edison's "green" roof
• Applied Materials' sustainability card game
• PG&E's "Solar Schools" initiative
• AT&T's" Cell Phones for Soldiers" program
• TD Bank's Friends of the Environment Foundation.