Green for Less!

What if making things green and sustainable could turn out to cost less? What an innovative concept. My personal experience in the world of manufacturing has led me to the conclusions that being green and being efficient are very similar. Being efficient by meaning saves money.

For thirty years in our shoe factory being efficient meant that labor and material waste were reduced to a minimum. Transportation cost was optimized by considering distribution, freight, packaging and method of shipping. Safety and environmental standards were respected and adhered to, at least when manufacturing in the US. Energy consumption can add up and reducing energy was essential. Recycling meant cost reduction in disposal and raw materials making it easier to compete with imports. Design and methods of manufacturing were structured to be sure that cost were kept to a minimum. Good organization and optimization equaled survival and profitability.

Six years of building homes has shown me that much of the same concepts pertain to home building. A well insulated home does not cost more – it is just designed smarter. Well designed living spaces cost less because they are efficiently planned considering factors such as wasted space, lifestyle, storage, furniture placement, window locations and choice of materials for siding, walls and floors. Smart choices do not need to cost more. They just need to be discerned and be intelligent.

Healthy lifestyle is also more efficient and cost less. Over thirty years of living a green lifestyle has saved me a lot of money. It cost less, waste less and is much more fun to live healthy. Exercising is a very cost effective form of recreation. The endorphins released are not only free but prevent diseases that cost lots of money. Eating organic and eating lots of veggies and fruits is a great way to save on medical cost and food. To make it even better it actually preserves the environment by reducing green house gasses thus reducing cost to our society. People who have a healthy lifestyle stay trimmer and thus are more productive, miss less work and waste less resources. They even fit better in smaller airplane seats.

A society that lives by the code of sustainable practices has significant reductions in cost in many areas. How much does it cost to treat the epidemics of asthma, cancer, heart disease, air pollution, contaminated water, huge landfills, destruction of natural resources and rebuilding things just because they are not built to last? – Billions to trillions of dollars. What does it cost to build power plant to feed our wasteful ways of consuming energy? – More billions to trillions of dollars. The savings to our society are huge if we live green.

Living green and efficiently is wise. It saves money, improves quality and promotes sustainability. It serves others as well as the person being green. It is the responsible thing to do for now and future generations.

So next time anyone implies that green cost more than not green, tell them “nonsense” – GREEN COST LESS!