E-Business - Going Green
Published 'Start Your Business Magazine' April 2010

Online business was developed over the last few decades to increase profits and efficiency. However with the green issue at the forefront of many organisational initiatives, e-business has become a welcome asset for supporting the environment. While many are concerned about hosting and recycling of computer equipment, online business is a champion for paper and fuel reduction. How can businesses implement e-business efficiently and cost-effectively to support green initiatives?

E-business strategist Deborah Collier of Echo E-Business delivers valuable insights into going green with online business.

E-Business by its very nature reduces an organisation’s carbon footprint. The biggest challenge and concern about digital business however relate to electricity costs for hosting. With recent improvements to solar power technologies, solar powered hosting has become more and more reliable and affordable. There are also a number of information management tactics we can employ to decrease the volume of power required to run our hosting. These include not only IT activities, but more importantly the way each individual in an organisation works with information.

There are a variety of organisations using online business to promote or generate revenue from the green issue. ‘Greentech’ (greentechmedia.com) make money from downloadable research articles and papers, which are sold a premium, as well as online advertising and events. There are also a number of online social networking sites such as Edenbee.com and Greenvoice.com, which allow businesses and individuals to campaign and educate eachother about green issues. One thing is clear, when it comes to any ethical issue such as ‘Green’, social media is a valuable asset in helping us support and collaboratively work together to improve the environment. However, with so much activity and duplicated information being generated from social media discussions and recommendations, the electricity required to run the server disks for social media means that there is a downside.

As a strategist and advisor for online business, I have put together some useful lessons to support your eco-friendly company and e-business initiatives.