A closer look at Clear-Blue-Green

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - "Clear-Blue-Green." You may have heard it, but what does it mean?

We decided to help make sense of it all. First off, "Clear-Blue-Green" is a checklist of sorts for businesses to follow to encourage decisions that are environment and business-positive.

The Clear-Blue-Green list is broken down into seven categories: the more checks, the better.

Tom Andrew is on the Clear-Blue-Green committee. He stopped by our station to show us things we could do to help us help the environment, and also achieve Clear-Blue-Green status.

He said the majority of the certification steps are easy. A couple ways to qualify are turning off the light when you leave a room, turning off the TV when no one is watching it. Conserving work-environment water is pretty simple too.

"It is things like regular maintenance on your faucets,” Andrew said. “It you have got leaking pipes, check them once a while. Set an office policy where you check the faucets to make sure they are not leaking. Maybe replace some of the O-Rings. Things like that, also running toilets. There are really no brain busters. It is easy."

It is the same story for appliances. If you are not using them, unplug them. Andrew said companies lose a lot of money managing their fleets. He said keeping your cars up and running is one way to save the environment, and financial headaches.

"Running smaller cars - like you guys have some smaller cars - helps,” Andrew added. “You need to do preventative maintenance so there are no leaks so you're getting the best mileage you can."

Andrew said Clear-Blue-Green benefits are two-fold. They can help the environment, and also help keep your company in the black.

"It really starts to add to the bottom line,” Andrew said. “Not a huge dollar amount, but it will cover your $25. It is not a huge savings but in the long run if you keep on doing it the ideas do pick up and it will add to your bottom line."

You can find a Clear-Blue-Green certification application on the Greater Lafayette Commerce website .