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Could Your Green Certification be Worth-Less?
Green Business Share in Green Public Deception
It is undoubtedly time for a serious discussion about the value of those Green certifications popping up nearly every week. Some certifications are actually free, some are cheap, and some are expensive. The big question is why are free certification free and cheap certifications cheap? Are there nice people out their working for nothing but a good felling in their environmentally-green heart? How can companies pay for all the stuff we see on their website? And how do they keep their doors open? Well, all of these free and really cheap programs are "funded" by some organization or grant program. This means that when the grant money dries up, so does your Green certification. Of course, they can't imagine that every happening, but funded programs has the life expectancy of a clothing trend.
We cannot ignore those kinda-cheap website Green certifications? They look like the real things, right? Looks can be deceiving, and in this case the deception is purposeful. To start with, a business owner has to figure which ones are real and which one are really good at making visitors think that they are real. The design of a website really has almost nothing to do with the quality of the service since someone can be running everything from their mother's basement but brag that they are the "world's leader in Green certification." Are can make a toxic dump sound like a great place to vacation.
Consider the basic facts. The truth is that a downloadable Green logo worth about $5 ... maybe! Yet the promoters will charge your company $50-$500 to get the logo including their online (very valuable) forms and support. It is all made to sound real and environmental. The website might even post up a mock counter of all the trees they are saving. Many ingenius websites have posted up fake directories to trick their visitors into thinking that they are really doing well. They are still just doing what comes natural to any scammer using Internet make a buck.
Fortunately, there are the serious Green business certifications that require real audits with real people doing real work! Credentials from programs like the Green Business League, LEED, ISO, and Energy Star work hard at their integrity. These programs didn't set out just to simply make money, but to make a difference. Their certification logos are respected and will not someday embarrass participants. But, the truth is that they always cost more than the cheap ones. There are reason that honest programs cost more.
Honest certification programs do not hide behind a website. There are professional people who are working every day to make a difference. They are not a few web designers trying to cut in line with serious companies. Like the Green Business League, there is a team of well-trained professionals who serve their community year after year.
Paying $50 or $500 for a downloadable logo and completely online self-assessment forms nt is like buying a gold ring that turns your finger green a few weeks later. After it is too late, business people realize that they paid too much for a cheap replica. Nonetheless, that skilled website program convinced you that this was the "Real Deal" and you paid $500 for a $5 logo. But, the deception doesn't end their. You are now brought into a larger scheme of public deception.
Your took your $5 ... sorry $500 logo and stuck ion your door and on your website to convince the world that your business was Green and some valid authority CERTIFIED that you were a Green business. So, what are you going to say when your customer asks, "How did you get your Green certification?" Will you tell the truth, and say "I bought it for $500 off the Internet, and no one really ever checked me out." Or, will you lie and say that you got it by an audit that was really only a self-assessment form that allows other to lie because it is never validated?
Green certifications bought over the Internet are a sophisticated way to lie to the public, and greenwashing your company in yet a new program of cheating the system. And, what does that say about your company and the integrity of your business practices? There is a reason why many of these cheap Green certifications are so cheap ... it is because they are "Worth-Less!''
The Green Business League has taken a bold and open stand against greenwashing in all of its forms. It proudly declares to all who seek GBL Green certification, that their Green business certification is "Earned, not Bought." No business can get the GBL Green business certification without going through a live audit with a Certified Green Consultant. However, no GBL certification will ever be embarrassed to display this certification logo to a trusting public. While other certifications are worth-less, the Green Business League certification is worth the investment.
Read abouthow Joe's Toxic Dump Service got a Green Certification....
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