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If You Are a Business "Going Green"
National Information
- Protect the Environment: At Work
- Protect the Environment: On the Road
- Protect the Environment: Learn about Your Right to Know
- Design for the Env't Labels
- Environmental Management System Training
- EPA for Businesses and Non-Profits
- FedCenter.gov - Environmental Management Systems
- Go Green! Monthly Newsletter
- Green Building
- Green Business Guide - Small Business Administration
- Green Jobs - Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Green Power Partnership
- Greener Products
- Industrial Materials Recycling
- Newsroom
- Partnership Programs
- Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse
- Retail Industry Portal
- Sustainable Manufacturing Initiative - Dept. of Commerce
Want to Speak With Someone?
Links to Other Organizations 
Mid-Atlantic Information
- Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership
- District of Columbia Business Resource Center
- Maryland Center for Environmental Training
- Maryland Greening Your Facility
- Maryland Green Registry
- Pennsylvania Governor's Green Government Council video - Why? (15:34 mins)
- Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers
- Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program
- Virginia Environmental Excellence Program
- Virginia - Manufacturing Technology Center
- Virginia's Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership
There are many direct benefits for businesses that embrace social and environmental responsibility. There are tangibles and financials that come from efficiency and cost savings:
- Reduced manufacturing expenses
- Increased revenues and market share
- Reduced risk, easier financing
- Reduced expenses of commercial sites
In addition, today much of the value of a company lies below the waterline in intangibles, nonfinancials and brand reputation. Mainstream investors are demanding thoughtful corporate social responsibility structures. Leading research in the field of "Extra-Financial" valuation shows that environmental, social and governance issues are material to long term results -- so must be factored into investment decisions. A sustainability focus for a business can add extra-financial value through:
- Meeting the growing demand of green consumers for organic food; environmentally conscious purchasing
- Reputation
- Revenue risk if energy, water and material supplies are disrupted
- Easier hiring and retention of top talent
- Increased employee productivity
- Successfully marketing of products in a global regulatory or reporting structure
Where is your business on the sustainability journey? Just as with any change process, people are along a continuum from early adopters to skeptics. The stages of the sustainability journey defined by the Canadian Business Council for Sustainability are pretty good:
- Pre-Compliance
- Compliance (regulatory enforcement)
- Beyond Compliance (eco-efficiencies/public relations crisis/regulatory threat)
- Integrated Strategy (enhanced business value)
- Purpose/Passion (values-driven founder or CEO)
EPA has many tools to help. Plus, we have award programs. And, we can put you in touch with others who might be able to help you.
The links below include both mid-Atlantic and Agency-wide resources.
- Air Conditioning - help protect the stratospheric ozone layer
- Brownfields and Land Revitalization - convert contaminated land to productive economic and green space use
- Business Assistance Center - get help complying with EPA regulations, discover pollution prevention opportunities, look at developing innovative environmental technologies; free to small and medium-sized businesses
- Clean Diesel Program - cleaner diesel engines
- Compliance Assistance - links to help in complying with EPA regulations
- Design for the Environment Partnership Projects - focuses on industries that combine the potential for chemical risk reduction and improvements in energy efficiency
- eCycling - donate or recycle used electronics
- Energy Star - energy efficiency offers significant cost savings
- Environmental Audits- go through a checklist to evaluate your compliance with environmental requirements
- Environmental Management System (EMS) - a set of management processes and practices that enable an organization to analyze, control and reduce its environmental impacts
- Environmentally Preferable Purchasing - buy "green" - helpful to green vendors, businesses large and small and consumers
- Green Chemistry - reduce or eliminate the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and use of a chemical product
- Green Conventions / Green Meetings - reduce the environmental impact of your meeting or event
- Green Engineering - the design, commercialization and use of processes and products that are feasible and economical while reducing the generation of pollution and minimizing health and environmental risks
- Greener Products - find greener products for businesses
- Green Suppliers Network - learn lean and green manufacturing techniques
- Green Vehicle Guide - find the cleanest and most fuel-efficient vehicle that meets your needs
- Resource Conservation | Venue Information - opportunities for recycling in public places or at a special event
- Integrated Pest Management / Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program - think like a bug -- manage pest problems with the least possible hazard to people, property and the environment
- Low Impact Development - reduce stormwater running off your land and causing flooding; mid-Atlantic universities working on low impact development
- Pollution Prevention - reduce the amount and/or toxicity of the waste (air emissions, liquid discharges, or solid or hazardous waste) you produce
- Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange / Environmental Sustainability Resource Center - get technical help in finding pollution prevention opportunities
- Radon Testing / Map of Radon Zones - radon, an odorless and colorless radioactive gas found in soil and water, can leak into buildings and cause lung cancer; are you at risk?
- Recycling - separate, collect, process, market, and ultimately use materials that would have been thrown away
- SmartWay Transport Partnership - environmentally cleaner, more fuel efficient transportation
- WaterSense - water-saving products
- MORE PROGRAMS - links to all of EPA's Partnership Programs