Going Green

In his book, The Toyota Way, author Jeffrey Liker tells the story of a small Japanese auto manufacturer who overcame great obstacles and dramatic setbacks to become the eighth largest company in the world. In 1993 Toyota put together a team of experts to start designing the cars of the future, the cars for the 21st century. From those meetings came, among other ideas, the Prius hybrid. Now rated by the EPA as the most fuel efficient car selling in the United States, it was ridiculed when it went on sale in the US in 2001. Today the Prius is the largest selling hybrid in the world. By anticipating the need and choosing to take a path toward sustainability, this car manufacturer took a huge gamble. Other manufacturers, primarily the American ones, laughed when they saw the Prius until they began to see the headlines that talked about the number of people signing up on waiting lists to buy the car. Those companies have been playing catch up ever since.

I believe that Toyota is a company that may have a corporate culture worth investigating. At a recent conference I attended, a speaker talked about two vital “mantras” that are a part of Toyota’s corporate culture. He believes these same daily “rules” could make a big difference in our individual lives. Those mantras are these:
(1) every day, search out one small way to reduce waste
(2) every day, search out one small way to improve what you do

We could use these same strategies when it comes to making decisions around living more “green” with a goal toward sustainability. Trying to reorder our lives to save our money and our planet can be daunting. If we just took those two steps every day, we could see the same level of success as Toyota. Let’s think of some examples of small steps that could reduce waste and make our homes more green. How about switching to florescent light bulbs, adding more locally grown food to our shopping list, becoming better about recycling everything possible, and buying more items used instead of new? How about putting in soaker hoses instead of wasteful sprinkling and adding weather-stripping which saves enormously on energy costs?

Those are simple steps to take but they can make a big difference. When it comes to making our home green taking small steps is a great way to start. I am often surprised by people who say they want to “go green” and their first impulse is to throw out what they have now and go buy new “green” products. The greenest thing you can do is just use or re-use what you already have! Why add to the waste stream when adding new paint, a good clean up, or finding a different way to use something will save it from the garbage heap?

Today’s green adventure tip: Visit the Second Use store in south Seattle. You will be surprised by what’s available, the great prices, and the fun you’ll have finding things for home improvement projects. Check it out: http://www.seconduse.com/.