Three Green Learnings from Stonyfield Farm CE-Yo

Last night I met Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm. He gave a lecture at the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum in Chicago. His lecture was meant to inspire more greener business practices, and he used anecdotes from his book "Stirring It Up: How To Make Money And Save The World". When I read the book last year, I found the title a bit arrogant (as well as the tone of the book). However, after hearing him last night, I'm drinking his Kool-Aid (or, in this case, his Super Smoothie). He has a truly inspiring story. I listened intently to identify things small businesses, like Tula Foods, can learn. Here is what I took away...

First...influence your suppliers to practice green. Your supply chain likely accounts for the greatest portion of your carbon footprint (this is much easier if you are a larger, influential company, but it is never too early to start trying).

Second...involve your employees. Stonyfield employees were the ones that created green teams and identified over $5.3 Million in annual green savings across multiple areas.

Third...ask why not? It was this question that caused Stonyfield to create a waste treatment facility that actually burns clean energy to fuel his plant instead of dumping the waste.

Finally...don't think you are too small to have an impact. He quoted a colleague..."Anyone who thinks they are too small to make a difference has never been in bed with a mosquito".

I loved that quote. Are YOU a mosquito? Inspire us with your story! How have YOU made a green difference??? Our green report card is due out this summer!