What Is A Green Company?

In this time of rapidly increasing change to a greener economy and workplace, the definition and interpretations we’ve read leads us to suggest this remains quite broad. However, to give some guidelines to this term we suggest the following. A Green Company is one that is environmentally responsible with their impact on the environment (locally and globally) and its protection and preservation. It can be part of a green industry or through best “eco-friendly” practices. “Environmentally responsible” are the keywords here.

What is a Green Industry?

Green industries can be categorised as follows:

* Organic foods and consumer products
* Residential energy efficiency or solar power
* Renewable energy
* Green building
* Recycling
* Environmental cleanup
* Socially responsible investment
* Sustainable tourism
* Non-profit environmental institutes

We’d love to hear from green companies in New Zealand. If you have something to say - please add your comments at the end of this post.

If you have a job vacancy that falls into this category - feel free to post it on the “Green Company” job listing page on http://www.greenjobsnewzealand.com.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out our FREE green job board - go to www.greenjobsnewzealand.com. This service has been created to help environmentally responsible New Zealand companies and job seekers who aspire to work in a greener workplace.

What Is A Green Collar Job?

A green collar job is typically classified as a job with a company providing environmentally responsible products and services. Alternatively, a focus on preventing pollution, reducing natural resource usage or promoting appreciation, protection and preservation of the environment.

In this time of transition to a greener economy and workplace, it can be a job with a green company or a department of a company e.g., a division set up to concentrate on the Companys’ green business strategies and planning.

Green Collar Job Examples:

* Windpower Engineer
* Greener Workplace Consultant
* Account Representatve for a Natural Products Company

We’d love to hear about evolving green collar jobs in New Zealand. If you have something to say - please add your comments at the end of this post.

If you have a job vacancy that falls into this category - feel free to post it on the “Green Collar” job listing page on http://www.greenjobsnewzealand.com.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out our green job board - go to www.greenjobsnewzealand.com. Our FREE job board is specifically for environmentally responsible New Zealand companies and candidates who want to work in a greener workplace.

Free Green Job Board

Easy Green Living is proud to announce our Green Job Board is now live - www.greenjobsnewzealand.com.

This is a FREE job board created specifically for environmentally responsible New Zealand companies and candidates who care about working in a greener workplace. The goal is to help like-minded companies and job seekers to connect.

Companies who list job opportunities here, are simply required to offer an explanation on how they are actively supporting a sustainable workplace OR steps they are taking towards this goal. The purpose of this is two-fold. 1. To showcase to prospective candidates your greener jobs and workplace and 2. To inspire and help other companies to do the same.

Background

Easy Green Living, www.easygreenliving.co.nz - online magazine and community, was created to help the community make the transition to a greener lifestyle. A key area of focus for Easy Green Living is to provide practical information and resources on greener workplaces to help make the transition easier. The creation of www.greenjobsnewzealand.com is part of this strategy.

Continuous development is being completed on this green job board, however, www.greenjobsnewzealand.com has gone live so companies can start to take advantage of this Free service now.

Have a Green Day
The Easy Green Living team

Green Your Workplace

Being an eco-conscious individual shouldn’t stop when you leave your home. There are basic principles you can take with you and apply to areas like your workplace. Think of it as leading by example, I can guarantee others will follow in your footsteps.

Here are some simple tips to get you started.

Use paper wisely. Only print when necessary and print on both sides to prevent wastage. If you make a mistake on the printer use that paper for taking notes and jotting down phone messages. If you don’t have a paper and cardboard recycling station set up that’s easy for everyone to access, be the one to make that happen. A good tip is to put a box beside your desk for flat paper that needs to be recycled and empty when it’s full.

Make a packed lunch. This may sound like hard work, but it has many rewards. Buying lunch everyday usually results in a pile of wasted packaging and a lighter wallet. Save money and waste by bringing lunch from home in reusable containers. If you’ve got a park nearby eat your lunch there with friends and enjoy the fresh air. If (like us at EGL) you like to treat yourself once in a while, bring a packed lunch from Monday to Thursday and make Friday the one day where you all enjoy a brought lunch.

Turn lights off that don’t need to be on. If your office has large windows utilise natural light as much as possible. The bathroom is another place where there lights don’t need to be on 24/7. Set an example and turn them off when you leave, hopefully others will follow suit. Turn off appliances at the wall when not in use and if you work in a small office, replace bulbs with energy efficient ones as they blow.

Don’t rely on air conditioning to keep you snug or cool. Try wrapping up on cooler days and opening some windows when it’s warm to keep you cool. This not only saves energy but also gives your skin a break from air conditioning which can dry your skin out terribly!

Carpool with staff members or take a bus or train. A huge amount of people drive to and from work with just themselves in the car. With petrol prices skyrocketing there has never been a better time to jump on the car-pool wagon. Not only will this save everyone involved money, there’ll be less cars on the road giving the environment more of a chance to breathe, and you’ll be able to take advantage of the many transit lanes now showing up in major cities worldwide. You may even be able to catch an extra couple of minutes of sleep in the morning as you’ll be zooming down the transit lanes past all those pesky peak-hour queues.