New website helps small business to go green

Developed by the Government Office for the South West (GOSW), and Groundwork Environmental Business Services (ebs), a national organisation providing practical support and training to companies on environmental business issues, Green Compass is currently only available to businesses in the South West of England, but is intended to become a nation-wide service.

Covering topics such as environmental legislation, health and safety, energy efficiency, transport, and waste, the Green Compass is an interactive questionnaire, by which businesses can identify and request the worksheets and help-sheets that they need. Called 10-Minute Guides, the help-sheets are then emailed to the companies.

“It’s very difficult to get to businesses unless they are already interested in the environment,” Klaudia van Gool, who runs the Green Compass project told edie this week. “The worksheets and help-sheets help companies to write their environmental policies,” a process which can otherwise take up a considerable amount of time, which small businesses often cannot spare, van Gool explained.

“It is very important that micro companies are able to access this type of important information quickly and cheaply,” said Jon Andrewes, Groundwork ebs Chief Executive. “The Green Compass and 10-Minute Guides are a Groundwork product that will enable them to do this.”