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• Sustainable Business Leader Program Kick-Off (City of Boston video library, 12-minutes)

• Mayor Menino Launches Sustainable Business Leader Program (Press Release)

• Innovative Sustainable Business Leader Program assists small and mid-sized businesses in Boston -- Applications now being accepted (Press Release)

Boston Business Journal Article

July 24, 2008

http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/07/28/story10.html?b=1217217600%5e1674362&surround=etf

Bright autumn leaves are falling, and cooler weather is around the corner!

This is a good time for you to get an energy audit so your business can enjoy Energy $avings during winter months.  Try using a programmable thermostat to help you manage the indoor temperature, and install energy efficient lighting before the days get longer.  You can save a bundle on energy and help the environment!

To schedule a free energy audit, call Todd Cowger of Rise Engineering, 401-784-3700 x122.  Call today!

For more information, see the Energy Audit Information and Checklist attached. 

The SBLP Sustainable Food Supply Chain event was on October 2 at Boston City Hall .  Notes and resources are attached if you missed it.

Speaking of doing something about the food supply chain… a local paper printed this article last Friday: “Restaurant owners unite to cut food, supply costs.” It describes how more than 200 Boston-area restaurateurs have created ‘Dining Alliance ’ to bargain for lower food prices.  The full article is at http://news.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1124405 

SBLP quarterly reports are due this month.  Please update your Action Plan and email it to your SBLP coordinator soon.  Thank you!

Thanks for reading our newsletter to stay up to date.  Feel free to contribute.  The SBLP newsletter is published on the 15^th of each month. Submissions are very welcome and accepted before the 10^th of each month and are subject to editing.    

Questions?  Comments?  Contact Jen Boudrie, SBLP Director, 508-481-0569, 617-271-1954, www.SustainableBusinessLeader.org

Summer’s gone! It’s time to find a local harvest fair and look for a fresh apple!   

We are looking forward to seeing the fruits of your labors, too! We expect Action Plan drafts to be forwarded by the end of September.  Your SBLP coordinator will contact you soon to request your Action Plan and discuss any interests you have. If you have not drafted your Action Plan yet please do and send it by email to your coordinator.  Attached is a worksheet for your convenience!  – Jen Boudrie  

You can find resources at your fingertips by going to http://www.sustainablebusinessleader.org/Resources.htm.  We’ve spent a lot of time researching this information and decided to post it online, so you have free and easy access anytime you want.  Always feel free to contact your SBLP coordinator for help, too. 

What is an energy audit?  What’s my contact info?  Attached is the Energy Audit Information and Checklist to guide you through the energy audit.  We have tried to make it clear so you can use this on your own; however, your coordinator can go through this information with you or you may ask for assistance, too. 

For a mere $25 you can get a KillAWatt.  It measures the electricity your appliances use.  Just plug it in and find out! http://www.energyfederation.org/consumer/default.php/cPath/388  

If you live in Boston, you’ve got a Household Hazardous Waste drop-off day coming up!  It’s 9am-2pm, Saturday, October 4, 2008 at UMass.Harbor Campus, Dorcester, MA.  For more information go to http://www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/recycling/hazardouswaste.asp . For commercial hazardous waste contact http://www.mass.gov/dep/toxics/  and www.CleanHarbors.org .

1) GreenBiz has a good article about how companies can grow their sustainability departments.  If you have a moment take a look!

www.greenbiz.com/column/2008/08/18/helping-companies-grow-sustainability-department

2) "The city's largest property owner - spurred by high energy prices and rising demand from tenants - is seeking "green" certification for all of its office buildings, marking a major milestone in Mayor Thomas M. Menino's push to make Boston the nation's most environmentally friendly city." http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2008/08/28/bostons_biggest_property_owner_going_all_green?s_campaign=8315

Thanks for reading our newsletter to stay up to date.  Feel free to contribute.   The SBLP newsletter is published on the 15^th of each month. Submissions are very welcome and accepted before the 10^th of each month and are subject to editing.    Thanks to the August newsletter contributors: Jen Boudrie, Alex Chamberlain  

Questions?  Comments?  Contact Jen Boudrie, SBLP Director, 508-481-0569, 617-271-1954, www.SustainableBusinessLeader.org

We want to put a little sizzle in your summer and share some SBLP news!

The amount of enthusiasm we see at companies is amazing! We hear discussions about turning veggie oil in the kitchen into fuel for the company fleet on the street … changing to Green Seal chemicals ….. composting food waste and helping community gardens… and writing a “green office guide” to help employees go green nationwide!  SBLP was mentioned at a press conference with the mayor, featured in a company’s brochure, another company’s newsletter, and public outreach. 

Thanks to all the green teams for your amazing ideas and proactive efforts to “go green and be seen!”  Your leadership is appreciated!   - Jen Boudrie

The SBLP program is in full swing!

Many of you have completed your assessments. Some of you have started your Action Plans! Here are SBLP’s current stats….

“Working with American DG Energy the Longfellow Sports Club, in Natick , installed a Co-Generation unit that has generated a more efficient form of electricity for our club.  As a byproduct of the creation of this electricity it has provided all the heat for our swimming pool as well as heating for some of the hot water for showers.  This unit has reduced our carbon emissions by 306 tons in one year which is equivalent to planting 83 acres of trees or taking 52 cars off the road for a year!” – Laury Hammel

Good ideas are popping up at SBLP companies and we are creating workshops/roundtables so you can share them.  We’ll be asking everyone to speak, host, or participate in them.  We’ll ask experts to come to talk, give you time to network, and tell the media about our work, too.

Thanks for reading our newsletter to stay up to date.  Feel free to contribute.   The SBLP newsletter is published on the 15^th of each month. Submissions are very welcome and accepted before the 10^th of each month and are subject to editing.    Thanks to the August newsletter contributors: Jen Boudrie, Laury Hammel, Alex Chamberlain.  Questions?  Comments?  Contact Jen Boudrie, SBLP Director, 508-481-0569, 617-271-1954, www.SustainableBusinessLeader.org

“GREEN BEANS:  Boston is planting seeds to boost sustainability programs for small businesses.”  Three SBLP companies were interviewed by the Boston Business Journal in a fabulous article. The full article appears at:

http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2008/07/28/story10.html?b=1217217600%5e1674362&surround=etf  

Does your business recycle everything it can?  Learn what the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection expects businesses to do.  Reducing waste is good for your business and good for the planet.  You can make the waste ban part of your sustainability action plan! 

Retail Lighting Workshop (see WorkshopFlyer attachment)

This is the first in a series of Green Tech Workshops.  This free workshop offers energy-efficient and money-saving lighting strategies for retail and restaurant sectors.  Two experts will present on how you can make adjustments in your lighting at 9-11am, Tuesday, July 29 at NEXUS Green Building Resource Center , 7^th Floor, Chauncy Street in Boston .  The public is invited.

Business Owners and Building Property Managers (See SBLP Building Roundtable NOTES attachment)

We had a terrific first SBLP Roundtable on July 25^th.  Twenty people put their heads together for sustainability. Thanks to all who participated.  We want everyone to benefit from this and have attached notes from the meeting.  Here are two photos, too.

The SBLP newsletter is published on the 15^th of each month (or more). Submissions are welcome. 

Thanks to contributors for this issue:  Jen Boudrie, Alex Chamberlain, and Galen Nelson.

Questions?  Comments?  Contact Jen Boudrie, SBLP Director, 508-481-0569, 617-271-1954, www.SustainableBusinessLeader.org

Welcome to your first newsletter for the Sustainable Business Leader Program!  We want to keep you up-to-date and hope you read the important information below.

Every company that joined SBLP is an official `Participant' in the Sustainable Business Leader Program.  We’ll email you a sign to print and post in a public place to let the world know your company is a `Participant' in SBLP and you’re making major efforts to decrease your carbon footprint and do business in a more environmentally responsible manner. 

We’ll continue sending out press releases talking about the SBLP and the work of our participants in this exciting program.  We welcome any opportunity for good publicity, because we're making every effort to raise the sustainable bar of expectations for doing business in Boston . 

When you have successfully implemented your Action Plan you will be officially designated a Sustainable Business Leader and you will receive a decal which you can proudly display in one of your windows.  We expect it to take six to twelve months for a company to achieve this designation, depending on the Action Plan that is developed and completed. 

Our goal was to find a variety of businesses in a variety of Boston neighborhoods and we succeeded!  We have 27 businesses from 9 Boston neighborhoods.  We are working with a media resource to announce the list soon. 

Our first SBLP event will be a roundtable for SBLP participants and will include key speakers.  We’ll identify challenges and solutions so business and property owners can work together on sustainability.  The Roundtable will be 8-10am, Tuesday, July 22.  Many thanks to Trillium for hosting the roundtable in their conference room at 711 Atlantic Avenue near South Station.  If you did not receive the emailed invitation contact Jen or Alex.  Please RSVP as space is limited.

Thank you for joining the Orientation and making it a stimulating and motivating meeting.  We were delighted that representatives from 24 companies attended.  We have photos at www.SustainableBusinessLeader.org.

If you missed the orientation or want to refresh your memory about the program…please read below.  This overview was provided at the orientation!

The Sustainable Business Leader program (SBLP) provides busy owners of small and mid-sized business with technical assistance.   It can help you …. improve your environmental sustainability…lower your carbon footprint…find economical solutions… and become a sustainable business leader in your community !

Most owners of small and mid-sized businesses want to make their business environmentally sustainable. They know that there’s a lot to do, but don’t know where to turn or find the resources to start from scratch.
- SBLP responds by providing technical assistance to figure out what measures are right for each business and to guide their implementation.
- SBLP assigns each business a "coordinator" who takes the business owner and the "green team” through a six-step process:

1. Sustainability Assessment Form to guide the process of examining six areas of sustainability in the business and alternative actions that may be appropriate

2. Tour the business to spot check items on the Assessment Form and go over the form with you

3. Action Plan:  select the changes that will be made and articulate it on paper to guide implementation
4. Implementation:  make the changes selected

5. On going assistance and monitoring

6. Evaluation:  determine how well the changes have worked

There are six categories of sustainability actions we help you cover

1. Energy Conservation:  for instance, replace all incandescent lights with energy-saving fluorescents; install programmable thermostats and set them to save energy.
2. Water Conservation:  for instance, install water saving toilets and urinals, and install low-flow faucet aerators.
3. Pollution Prevention:  for instance, establish a hazardous waste collection and disposal procedure; use low-toxic cleaners.
4.Transportation:  for instance, increase the share of hybrid and bio-diesel vehicles in the company fleet; provide incentives for employees to use public transportation.
5.  Waste Reduction:  for instance, print all documents two-sided;  recycle all paper, glass, and plastics; purchase supplies made from recycled materials
6.  Sustainability Management:  for instance, write sustainability tasks into job descriptions and employee job performance reviews; establish maintenance procedures and schedules that preserve sustainability improvements.

When the implementation of the Action Plan is completed, the business will be designated a "Sustainable Business Leader".  At the end of the program, a new carbon footprint will be calculated for each business and the improvement celebrated. - You are the twenty five businesses in the city of Boston that have been selected for participation.  At the end of this program, SBN will write a summary report evaluating lessons from the businesses' experience and recommending ways to reach and help more businesses. 

SBN is just starting this Boston SBL Program for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, funded by the Massachusetts DEP.  In the future SBN and DEP hope to offer similar programs to other cities and towns.  SBN also offers the SBL program to individual businesses who pay a fee to cover SBN's expenses.

The SBLP newsletter is published on the 15^th of each month. Submissions are very welcome and accepted before the 10^th of each month and are subject to editing. 

Thanks to all the July newsletter contributors:  Laury Hammel, Peter Metz, Alex Chamberlain, and Jen Boudrie.

Questions?  Comments?  Contact Jen Boudrie, SBLP Director, 508-481-0569, 617-271-1954, www.SustainableBusinessLeader.org

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© 2008 Sustainable Business Leader Program