Green workplaces grow in Clark County
Thursday event will celebrate local businesses that strive to embrace environment
Columbia Credit Union's Michelle Thor sets up the company's information booth. It is one of several businesses that will showcase its green practices at Thursday's Green Business Showcase at the Hilton Vancouver Washington.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Going green
What: Clark County Green Business Program, a free business assistance and recognition program provided by Clark County’s Department of Environmental Services.
Why: The program provides a framework for business leaders to evaluate their company’s environmental performance and assess and identify resource conservation and money-saving opportunities through workshops and networking events with other green businesses.
Sign-up information: Clark County Green Business Program.
A handful of Clark County businesses will celebrate corporate efforts to think green Thursday, a date more commonly associated with pink and red hearts.
However, corporations that love the environment are adored and applauded any time of the year, said Bob Patterson, a sustainability specialist with Clark County's Environmental Services Department, which will host the county's first-ever Clark County Green Business Showcase. "It (practicing sustainable business) used to be a good idea," he said. "Now, it's more of a requirement."
About 200 people are expected at the 7:30 a.m. event at the Hilton Vancouver Washington. Most are employed by the 17 local companies that have earned recognition as a Clark County Green Business for completing a program launched in 2011.
The program started with 12 local businesses and grew to include 29 companies in 2012. And the county has already added a dozen more businesses this year that will find ways to reduce company waste and environmental impacts. The process — from the initial search for areas that need improvement, to working out a strategy and implementing a plan — is different for every company that signs up for the free program, Patterson said. "They identify that for themselves," he said. "It's an opportunity for them to take a look at the things they can do that they haven't done before."
Program guidelines help businesses recognize their ongoing efforts and improve in six key areas: reducing and mitigating stormwater runoff; reducing waste and increasing recycling; decreasing water consumption and the creation of wastewater; reducing and better handling toxic materials; reducing energy waste; and lending support to the community.
Patterson said the benefits can range from a significant cost savings in areas such as energy reduction to improving their companies. He also is seeing new trends in business-to-business relationships in which national companies are increasingly likely to engage with proven green businesses.
"For example, Procter & Gamble is asking for partners that support the practice," he said.
