We are the Ones We've been Waiting for...

While many despair at the current status of our planet and economy, those of us who truly believe we can make a difference are rolling up our sleeves, diving in, and taking on the tremendous challenge of establishing a triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits.

In terms of people, we're deciding to honor and respect our workforce, and to give as much training, input, and feedback as possible into our employees, teammates, and contractors. By investing in the people, we can all grow, and we can support individuals and families who rely on our people for their safety, security, and stability.

By providing a kind workforce, with clear expectations and measurable ways for a teammate to improve, we build a more equitable and just system where each person who contributes to the company's success is valued and compensated for their efforts.

In terms of planet, we're deciding to make "greener" choices by using recycled materials, reducing our waste, and sourcing materials to be more in alignment with a sustainable future. You'll find recycled paper, compost bins, a bike-to-work program, and carpool/carshare agreements at our workplaces. You'll also see flextime, options to work from home, e-document delivery, and more reliance on Skype, Google Hangouts, and e-mail rather than costly travel options.

When we focus on providing more "green and clean" options, we can both save money and energy costs, and we can inform and educate those around us about the importance of choosing a less resource-intensive solution to any challenge.

In terms of profits, we realize that money is not the only metric for our success. While a high net profits statement is wonderful, we also choose to evaluate ourselves by how well we treat our team members, the state of the environment after our impact, our commitment to social justice, or any other key points on our "social and environmental responsibiity report card." Profits are necessary to sustain our business, but we don't solely use profits to justify long-term decisionmaking or policy changes.

When we offer alternative measure to evaluate our company's standing, we can get a more holistic and comprehensive picture of how our business is part of an interconnected 'web" of our local, state, and global economy.

I encourage you to consider starting or growing your green business this year. There are so many available options to women, and by each of us working -- together -- to improve the status of the planet, I'm confident that a green-focused company, with a deep-rooted reliance on people, planet, and profits, will be the most successful way to make a difference in your personal life as well as for our shared economy.