Going Green Is Costly

Reducing your carbon footprint is the current objective of environmental responsibility.   But going green is costly, that is why some small businesses are now asking their customers to pay extra to help them out in this transition.   Many consumers have reduced their primary footprint by making changes in their daily lives, like decreasing electricity use, switching to more energy efficient light bulbs at home, and cutting back or cutting out driving a car.   But some consumers who want to reduce their carbon footprint have to make tougher decisions about products and services because in many cases “Going green cost green.“ (Kauffman 1).   This raises a question about whether consumers should be responsible for paying the price of reducing a business’s carbon footprint.   Where does personal responsibility ends and business responsibility begins when it comes to the cost of helping the environment?
  According to an article in The Wall Street Journal by June Fletcher, a San Francisco engineering firm tacks a modest surcharge on to every bill to help pay for the company’s own renewable energy credits as a way of reducing its carbon footprint. If a business alters its ways to go green, but results in an extra cost, it makes sense that they have to recover that expense to maintain their profit.   I do not think that they should make it optional by asking only green oriented buyers to pay the price.   It would be wise for them to explain the reason for the increase.   Of course it is possible that going green might even lower their   overall costs.
  If a company’s overhead goes up, they are going to find a way to offset the additional cost.   The easiest fix is usually an increase in the price to the consumer.   How many of us would tell our children that if making and selling lemonade cost $0.40 a glass instead of $0.10 a glass because they decided to serve it in bio-degradable containers, they should still sell it for $0.25 and just forget about the extra cost because it... [continues]

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