Authors simply have a comfort zone in which they can write most effectively, as you are no doubt aware. When you think John Grisham, you know you’re getting good Courtroom Drama. Nick Hornby shines in the 25-34 Male Angst Department. Dan Brown = Church Bating. Chris Goodall clearly is vying for the role of Go-To Guy on Being Green.
Recent titles Ten Technologies to Save the Planet and How to Live a Low-carbon Life: The Individual’s Guide to Stopping Climate Change have gained relevant Amazon ranking traction and solid reviews from the likes of New Scientist and environmentalist author Fred Pearce. Goodall’s Green Guide is an up-to-date, recession-conscious follow-up to these volumes, but this time clearly targeted for business executives in both large and small settings.
No stone is left unturned for the responsible eco-businessman to explore: paper ethics, driving practices, office energy use, greening computers and servers, even company travel plans are turned over. But like other works of Goodall, the ideas are not presented to the sceptical without acknowledging the beliefs that source their scepticism.
Goodall is pure journalism in presentation of the issues: objective, objective, objective. One chief criticism he is likely to hear is that in presenting both sides of an issue, he leaves the matter open-ended. Now, for someone looking to make the decision on their own, this is objective and sound. For someone looking for answers (or a quick-fix solution), this is frustrating. It’s a tedious nit to pick, but that’s Nitpicking 101 with the modern self-help audience: if a reader only has so much time to be impressed, then Goodall and other advice givers know they have to deal with the impatient and demanding as well as the deliberate and pontificating.
The most intriguing and objective passage for me comes from Chapter 1, when Goodall admits it is important in preparing for green initiatives to prepare also for a world where the climate does not change:
It is conceivable that temperature rises could reverse and wind and rainfall patterns stabilise. No sensible company of public institution should deny this possibility. Perhaps, as some climate change sceptics say, the earth’s cloud cover will increase as hotter temperatures cause more evaporation; increased cloudiness might halt temperature change. No careful business-person should run a company on the basis that the future is easily predictable. It may be as dangerous to listen to the most frightened of the world’s scientists as it is to ignore them. The right approach is to try to maintain the most flexible organisation – one that can respond quickly to any environmental or policy changes.
This passage pleases the cockles (private laugh) of my journalistic heart: Goodall is simply not greenwashing the matter in fear of retribution from the enviro-Nazis. Rather, he wants to believe things will turn out right and give the other side a fair shake. The key, dear reader, is balance and fairness.
Because of his fairness, the immediacy of his audience is a shame. Ultimately, the final decisions belong in the hands of those in charge of their own company. Ultimately, you’re best off coming to The Green Guide open-minded and ready to explore and determine what you need to do by thinking about it yourself: this is not an easily solved equation with immediacy of the John Nash variety – it implores you to think about things going on in your office.
Sometimes the facts are alarming: For instance, though air conditioning is common primarily in larger offices, it accounts for nearly 15% of the electricity supplied to all UK non-residential buildings. Imagine how much it will account for if British summers actually get hotter?
But it’s in the all important goods transport chapter where solutions truly begin to appeal to the ‘bottom-line’ section of the business executive’s heart. We know that companies are looking at a variety of ways to cut yearly fuel costs: petrol to diesel, smaller vehicles, LPG fuels, hybrids and electricity are all offered as better company options. The most glaring expense transition is the savings of a switch to electric fuel: Goodall writes about the comparison made in-house by Office Depot between electric-fuelled vehicles and diesel fuels. The fuel consumption of a single electric lorry over five years totalled a mere £2,600; for the diesel lorry, it was a comparatively staggering £15,500. Maintenance costs also totalled over £3,100 in savings for electric lorry users over the same amount of time. I can telepathically sense the raising of eyebrows as you read those lines.
For individuals who have already explored travel & fuel savings (inflating tires, maintaining lower speeds), even the obvious is given a platform. But this title refers to itself as a guidebook, and the obvious can’t go unlisted in a guidebook. These transport numbers and other figures will always get the discerning business person’s attention, and Goodall is all too happy to oblige in The Green Guide. With an open mind and a sound ability to rationalise, one can easily build a track record from Goodall’s volume and open the door to a greener future in businesses big and small.
This book review was originally published in the Arras People monthly newsletter, Project Management Tipoffs. The Green Guide for Business: The Ultimate Environment Handbook for Businesses of All Sizes by Chris Goodall, is available through amazon.co.uk.
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