There are lots of green businesses out there – cleantech businesses, organic farmers, environmentally conscious designers, and plenty more. But what about businesses with no clear environmental agenda? What’s a software company or a furniture manufacturer that wants to go green supposed to do?
Hire a greener. A business greener, that is.
Erez Steinberg, an Israeli industrial designer who returned to Israel two years ago after spending twenty years in the San Francisco area, does just that. He’s in the business of making businesses green while helping them earn green.
Steinberg’s company in San Francisco – Studio eg – focused on ecologically smart design. He opened the studio in the early nineties with a focus on using wasted materials and coming up with clever and practical design solutions.
These days he runs a “company greening” business in Ein Hod, teaches a course in sustainable ecological design at the Bezalel School in Jerusalem, and lectures about green design (he participated in the Eco-Play Bamboo Conference recently). His business card, which is stamped on the back of a used railway ticket, exemplifies what he’s all about – helping companies find practical solutions for reducing their negative impact on the environment in a way that is creative and, inevitably, helps the company reduce waste (and increase profit).
One company greening project that Steinberg is especially proud of consisted of adding insulation to the roofs of a company’s buildings in order to reduce air conditioning energy usage. Since the area in which these buildings were located was also a route for migratory birds, the change made a positive effect on the birds as well.
His services are hired by mostly mid-sized companies and his bill runs between $10,000 and $100,000 (depending on how green a company wants to be). He’s currently working with the Global Israel Company, which owns several smaller furniture companies, on a greening process.
:: The Marker
See also:: Isaac Berzin, Israel’s “Green Giant” and Google and Ormat: Power Partners in Alternative Energy?
Author: Karen Chernick
Much to the disappointment of her Moroccan grandmother, Karen became a vegetarian at the age of seven because of a heartfelt respect for other forms of life. She also began her journey to understand her surroundings and her impact on the environment. She even starting an elementary school Ecology Club and an environmental newsletter in the 3rd grade. (The proceeds of the newsletter went to non-profit environmental organizations, of course.) She now studies in New York. Karen can be reached at karen (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
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