In 2012 two records were broken within the Green Business Barbados Programme. Since 2010 the GBB programme has approved 14 businesses and is working within the business sector to expand further. Our first achievement occurred in June 2012 by Harris Paints Ltd. which became the first business to achieve tier two (2) of the Footprint Rating System (which means that they have achieved over 45% of the programme standards within their business). Shortly after, The Maas Clinic broke another programme record by becoming the first business to achieve Tier two (2) of the Footprint Rating System in their first year of the programme! Congratulations to these businesses for their excellent achievements hard work and dedication.
Kimberly Douglas, HR Manager and Green Officer for Harris Paints Ltd. receiving their GBB door decal for 2012-13
Harris Paints Ltd. proudly achieved Barbados Coalition of Service Industries’ Green award this year among many others and set the bar high for future achievements in the service industry. Additionally, through the GBB programme this year Harris Paints implemented a rain water harvesting system that is used in their plant for non-potable purposes in replacement of municipal drinking water. Rain water is also being analysed by their chemist in order to determine if it can be used in manufacturing paint in order to curb their usage of drinking water in our water scarce country.
The Maas Clinic conducting composting training with the Solid Waste Project Unit
One of the main goals for The Maas Clinic was to educate their staff on ways to go green at work and at home. This was achieved through a series of training sessions including a composting workshop conducted by the Solid Waste Project Unit. Their other focus was to reduce waste coming out of the office and kitchen through waste reduction measures and a comprehensive composting system. Waste reduction measures in the office included their Going Paperless programme which offers customers the option to only receive soft copy documents and invoices. Additionally, double sided printing has become the rule in the office to further reduce paper use as well as their switch to biodegradable drinking cups for customers in place of plastic cups.
These achievements are testament to the efforts and commitment of local businesses to implementing Green Business practices in their operations and management plans. 2012 GBB also added three new businesses to the list of Green Businesses in Barbados. These businesses include the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited, Royal Bank of Canada Insurance Company and Williams Industries Ltd. these companies are currently enrolled in the programme and are working toward Green Business Approval in 2012.
