Breaking old habits was easy enough, except for one of us, but the real difficulties came when trying to accurately measure carbon footprint impact and true energy savings from things such as telecommuting and buying local. First we went after the low hanging fruit, tackling the day to day operations starting with supplies.

We’ve eliminated paper use wherever possible through the use of electronic forms, electronic invoices billing and my favorite–eliminating unnecessary paperwork. The paper we are using is made from 100% recycled materials including:

» Printer paper

» Sticky notes

» Stationery

» Binders

» Presentation folders

For our ink jet printers we’re testing out refillable cartridges and printing double-sided whenever possible. Internal power consumption strategy has been fairly simple—if we’ not using it-we turn it off.

Comparing power consumption to pre-conservation times was eye-opening. We’ve enjoyed a fairly substantial reduction in energy used with relatively little inconvenience. Next we moved on to logistics.

Eliminating unnecessary road trips seemed a good place to start. Much of this came down to better planning. We’ve also increased telecommuting options, keeping face to face meetings to a minimum. I have mixed feelings about reducing face to face interaction–it’s hard to play practical jokes on people who aren’t around so you can enjoy the fruits of your efforts. Phone pranks are kids stuff-we gave those up in our mid-thirties. But the total miles and time saved have given a boost to productivity in certain areas and we’re committed to the cause.

We haven’t cut back yet too much on client meetings but this area of our business was always fairly efficient. Because we work with clients nationally we’ve become quite adept at web conferencing and other virtual communication. The biggest challenge for many of us has been driving more slowly. This is proving to be a tough a bit to break. It’s a combination of time management, allowing a little extra travel time, and concentration. While finding slower drivers with whom we can pace ourselves is becoming easier, we’re still a small minority of drivers.

Changing product output was a bit more challenging. Some clients love the idea of using Forestry Stewardship Council papers for direct mail and print work. Internally we do what we can. But different papers inks and delivery methods all have an effect on margins, either through cost of goods, labor and service times. We’re examining P&L activity regularly to make sure our bottom line sustains our business philosophy.

Buying local has always been on of our core beliefs. But drilling down into the actual carbon footprint data is not only difficult but error prone. The results of these calculations are only as good as the assumptions built into them. The good feeling of supporting fellow local businesspeople can blind one from some unpleasant realities. Looking through the narrow lens of reducing environmental impact requires some dispassionate thought. Supply chains are complex and some real in-depth calculations have shown some disappointing results. Sometimes the local purchase comes with a jumbo carbon footprint compared to alternatives. For now we’re trying to really understand the complexities of these measurements willing to fall short in on our green initiatives if they come at the expense greatly reduced local business support.

We’re also looking at other potential energy consumption trade-offs resulting from telecommuting. When we all come to work we heat one office while lowering thermostats and turning off electronics in six different homes while we’re all at work. When we’re all working from home does the energy consumption from the additional heating and energy hungry devices we all need wreak more havoc than the gas we’d use coming into the office?

We’ll keep you updated on our findings as we dig into the data a bit more deeply. So we’re looking for any experience or input to help us make the Green Internet Group greener. We’d love to hear from you.