Green and profitable: The Three R's of Green Business

As the economic situation continues to remain grim for businesses across the country and around the world, some companies are abandoning so-called green practices in an effort to save money.

What most of those businesses don;t realize is that truly green practices are are cost effective. A few require a long term perspective, but many offer short term savings as well.

This post is the first in a series of green business tips designed to transform your green business goals into more green in your pocket. Watch for a new idea or perspective on profitable green business every Monday.


The mantras of green is "Reuse, Reduce, Recycle"

It's a familiar phrase. We've all heard it. But are we getting it?

Many individuals and businesses only focus on the last part of that equation. And while recycling is a critical part of the green lifestyle, it's number three on the list

So what about one and two? Guess what? These are GREEN business practices that will save you money from day one!!

Think about it...

REDUCE

Switch from paper based project folders or memos to digital. You save paper, the cost of folders, toner, trash collection costs, and probably boost productivity time if you have documents that previously had to be re-keyed for edits or needed to be filed.

REUSE

Think of second uses for things. Or choose things that can be reused. The backs of used printer paper become notepads. Purchase second hand office furniture -- much of it is like-new. Replace disposable coffee cups with one real mug for everyone. Donate safe, non-toxic scrap materials to a local school's art program -- you may get a tax deduction! Shred incoming boxes to use as packing material for outgoing shipments.

Look around your business. See what can be reduced, without hurting morale or productivity. See what can be reused without affecting quality or safety. Solict input from employees to increase their buy-in and commitment.

Remember, recycling is number three. Save YOUR green first, with Numbers 1 and 2!

New weekly feature - the best of green

Each week, we'll feature the best green news story from the previous week. Join us to stay on top of what hot in the world of "going green" each Friday.

This week's story comes from Canadian journalist and blogger Tyler Hamilton. According to Hamilton,

A British Columbia-based company called Free Energy International has signed a deal with an undisclosed oil and gas exploration and production company in Alberta, in an area known as Swan Hills. Free Energy will build two 1-megawatt geothermal plants that take hot water — a co-product of oil and natural gas during the pumping process — and extract the heat from it to generate electricity. The $7 million project will tap wells that are around 9,000 feet deep, and temperatures of the fluids can easily reach 170 degrees F in high volumes. After the heat is extracted from the water using heat exchangers, it is used to run an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power plant. The water is later pumped back into the ground. Free Energy will build, own and operate this binary cycle plant and the oil company has agreed to buy all the electricity produced for the same rate it was paying to a previous supplier.

Read the rest of the story on his green energy blog, Clean Break.

Sorting out the green paper madness

You've decided to do the right thing and go green with all your paper goods. Forms, applications, even holiday cards. So you start shopping for the greenest choices, but before long, your head is aching and your mind is swimming.

Recycled........

Post Consumer...........

Certified...........

Pre consumer.........

Renewable........

Natural.........

Organic........

Reduced Carbon Footprint....

STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What does it all mean???????

Here are a few websites to help clear up the madness and direct you towards the right materials for all your business paper.

For greeting cards, business holiday cards and such

For computer paper and copy paper and other general office paper

For photographers or anyone who uses photo paper

For businesses that buy paper in large quantities

Looking at the long run...learning about lifecycle costs

Sure, that new server or car or television set has a big seal proclaiming its energy savings. But that's for now. What are the long term energy and waste costs of owning it? And how do those compare with competing solutions that might have bigger seals or lower apparent efficiencies to start?

Years ago...maybe even decades, companies started looking at the lifecycle cost of technology and electronics. But the process fell out of favor.

The costs for running the numbers were too high. And the results were all too often unreliable. But as businesses become more concerned about the long-term costs of technology purchased today, the concept of lifecycle costs is making a comeback.

According to an article by Joel Makower,

In the past few months, LCA [Life Cycle Analysis] has moved to the forefront of corporate environmental efforts, propelled by enabling technology, the prospects of climate change legislation, and the growing demands for radical transparency by consumers, business customers, government regulators, and retailers, notably Walmart. And it's not just about modeling individual products and processes. LCA is moving from the shadows and into the limelight, a strategic tool for environmental leadership companies.

That's good news for cost and environmentally conscious companies...and for the rest of us who stand to benefit from cleaner, more cost-efficient technology. Read the rest of the story at The Renaissance of Lifecycle Thinking | GreenBiz.com



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The Truth About Green Business

The Truth About Green Business | The GreenBiz Bookstore | GreenBiz.com

Too many business owners and managers think they need to make a choice between being green and profitable. The author of this book dispels that falsehood and teaches you how greener business practices actually mean more green in your pocket!

We met an example of this earlier in this blog when we met carpet giant and successful business man Ray Anderson...learn why his story could be yours!

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The high cost of idling....

Soccer Moms and ballet Dads turn off your engines

Author: Lance Shugerman

It’s only a minute or two, right? Just waiting for your child to come out of school or get off the bus. Just a couple of minutes before ballet class or football practice ends.

But have you ever added up all those “few minutes?”

Idling your engine for five minutes a day waiting to pick up your child at school, multiplied by 180 days in the school year equals 15 hours a year.. Would you leave your car idling outside your house for 15 hours?

....Read the rest at ArticlesBase.com - Soccer Moms and ballet Dads turn off your engines

From Articlesbase.com.

Co-op advertising is a green choice

Despite the huge growth in online advertising, paper ads are here to stay. Magazines, direct mail, flyers, newspaper ads and inserts all remain popular choices for getting messages to potential buyers. Even green companies need to advertise.

But as a green business, we face a unique dilemma. How can we reach the print media reader without compromising our green standards?

Think about it: Sending out 100,000 direct mail pieces touting an environmentally-friendly company raises a host of issues, from paper choices to the carbon impact of the delivery vehicles to waste generation. And yet, we cannot afford to miss the chance to reach customers, if we want to remain in business.

While we can make greener choices in the paper and inks we select, the old-fashioned practice of co-op advertising can offer an even greater benefit for the earth, and potentially, for our businesses.

The concept is simple. Two or more companies offering complementary services or products advertise together on one flyer or in one magazine or insert ad.

The immediate benefit is less paper, less ink and less trash generated to have two or more on one page instead of each separately. But there is another plus....

Co-op advertising allows businesses to offer a more complete line of services or products to each customer. For instance, a green lawn care service can co-op with an organic plant nursery, so potential customers can buy the plants they need and find the service to care for their landscaping, all in one ad. A green energy products company could co-op with a contractor who uses environmentally friendly building methods. By meeting both needs, you increase the chance that a customer will act on the ad.

This works for B2B clients, too. In the case of the sponsors of this blog, MyStatePosters, they could do a co-op ad with a green cleaning supply company giving restaurant owners a way to buy green cleaning products and green labor law materials, all from one ad. Both are necessary but not exciting products a restaurant needs -- how convenient to find both in one ad.

Co-op advertising isn't new. I have paper church fans and ad cards from the late 1800's and early 1900's that used the same technique to draw customers into related stores, or even into the same part of town (shop here, eat next door.) Who knew they were so green way back then?

Plantable greeting cards, invitations and announcements?

How many invitations and greeting cards have you received in your life? Hundreds? Thousands? Where are they now?

What if all of those cards and announcements had been made from recycled materials? And 100% recyclable?

How about one step better...what if each and every card were embedded with wildflower seeds? Imagine...a card you do not throw away -- a card you plant!

That's what I found at a site called Forever Fiances. Handmade, beautiful, completely plantable greeting cards, wedding invitations and announcements.

The uses are endless:

For businesses, they would be a wonderful way to coordinate your green practices or products with a truly green thank you or holiday card

For personal use, birthdays, thank you's, and of course, as their name implies, weddings. What a lovely way to honor a special occasion!

Just something I stumbled on and wanted to share!

How Green Is Your Swimming Pool? - Science News | Science

How Green Is Your Swimming Pool? - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com

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According to an article on FoxNews,

Water filters guzzle power, nasty chemicals keep the water sterile, and the water itself is a tremendous waste during dry spells. In fact, this suburban status symbol could be an ecological travesty.

Here in Florida, we love our swimming pools. But does being green mean doing without a backyard pool?

Not necessarily, according to experts. While water use and chemicals pose significant ecological risks, homeowners who love their pools can still reduce costs and environmental impact by replacing inefficient filter systems with newer models, and by running their filters for only part of each day. Those two steps alone made a huge difference!

According to the author,

A study by the Center for Energy Conservation at Florida Atlantic University showed that some pool owners saved a whopping 75 percent of their pool's energy consumption by replacing pumps and reducing the amount of time their filters were run.

Green governement should lead the way

There's a lot of talk about going green, green incentives, green initiatives, etc. But so much of it seems to be lip service. I propose that our government - federal, state and local -- should be leading the way and setting the example of exactly how we can cut the cord of oil dependence.

My manifesto?

1) All government agencies should be paperless. Forms, applications, documents, registrations? All electronic. 100% by year end. No hard copies stored.

2) The switchover to green energy should start immediately in all government buildings. What a great use for stimulus money! Allow companies that sell solar power and wind power equipment to bid on green retrofitting of all government buildings by year's end. No lengthy process. Just choose a company and go.

3) All school lunches should immediately be switched to vegetarian ingredients. Crops use far less resources than animals, and school lunches account for a large and controllable segment of meat purchases and consumption. Healthier for the kids, too, which will reduce medical care needs. Follow this with all vegetarian in government agency and legistlative dining rooms. Oh, and don't forget the White House and all Governors' Mansions.

4) Telecommuting immediately available for all jobs that do not require face-to-face interaction or the use of machinery or equipment not available at home. That would free up a lot of space in government buildings, which could be converted in green research labs, homeless or transitional housing, or sold off to pay down debts and reduce ongoing facility costs.

5) Convert or replace all government vehicles with hybrids, hydrogen cell, solar or other clean (or cleaner) fuel sources. Again, great use for Stimulus $$$. Think of all the jobs created for this switch over! Making cars, building fueling stations, etc.

Five steps. Just five. Oh, but what a revolution those five would be!

Recycling carpet?

One of the people I talked with at MiaGreen was Tony Lundy from Resource 4 Floors, a Fort Lauderdale flooring company committed to sustainability.

First some background on carpet waste:

According to recent statistics, over 4 BILLION pounds of carpet end up in U.S. landfills each year. In Europe, 30 million square metres of carpet tiles are sent to landfills or are incinerated each year.


Companies like Resource 4 Floors are working to reduce those numbers by offering recycling programs for used carpet and carpet squares. And it's working! According to their website, they've successfully kept over 346,755 pounds of carpet out of South Florida landfills.

Until I spoke with Tony, I had no idea carpet was recyclable. Nor did I know that flooring represented such a huge part of the waste stream.

And the problem is actually growing, because companies using carpet squares for ease of installation are just throwing away and replacing soiled squares rather than cleaning them.

According to Tony and other specialists I consulted, the green challenge would be for companies who enjoy the easy installation of carpet squares to:

1)Use quality, earth-friendly cleaning products to clean spills and stains

2)Rotate stained squares into "hidden" areas like under cabinets and desks, and move the fresh square into the more visible site.

3)Replace squares only when needed due to damage

4)If replacement is unavoidable, work with a recycler to properly handle disposal of your carpet and other flooring so it won't end up in the landfill.

Tomorrow, another green tidbit gathered from MiaGreen!

California moves to put textbooks online instead of on paper

In a story published on Slashdot, Hugh Pickens reports that California will be moving to online textbooks for their state's high schools.

The move was reportedly made to help reduce expenses for struggling school budgets. Governor Schwarzenegger called the reliance on heavy printed books "nonsensical," and pointed to the fact that students are already using electronic media such as Twitter and Facebook for communication.

The story has a decidedly green angle as well. Replacing thousands of printed textbooks with easy-to-update electronic versions will reduce paper and ink use, while reducing waste streams from discarded out-of-date or damaged text books. That model could make a huge difference in paper use if the practice spreads through other grade levels and other states.

I love the green aspect of this, and applaud the Governor for initiating such a bold move at a time when school budgets are teetering on the edge.

But there is an element of an SNL skit in here somewhere, too. We see a saddened Captain Jean-Luc Picard in his office, lovingly cradling his calculus textbook -- the last of its kind before the electronic book took over. (Those of you who get the allusion, congrats! You are as geeky as I am!)

Or perhaps we see a teacher Twitter today's history lesson...the fall of Rome in under 140 characters...

While the comic possibilities are endless, I have to go back to the potential this has for a green impact. K-12 schools and colleges buy, use and discard millions of tons of paper each year. While there is something undeniably wonderful about turning the pages of a real book, it would seem that for school text books, the green answer is on the screen.

Eco-Friendly Gadgets for the Office

How green is your office? Do you recycle all of your paper? Do you avoid printing when you can? Well, if you're doing all of that, then you might like these green gadgets for your workplace, so that you can be even more eco-friendly!

Rather than use plastic pens, you could use pencils instead. However, rather than use a conventional pencil, Smencils are made from recycled newspaper, and they come in different flavours too! Some of the scents are pretty tasty, so as tempted as you might be to eat these smencils, I recommend you don't! The scents include Bubble Gum, Orange, Toasted Marshmallow, Chocolate, Strawberry, Pineapple, Raspberry and Apple. The only downside to these pencils is that they come in plastic tubes, which is not so green.

For when you do print out your documents, then the eco-stapler using a special cutting and folding technique to hold up to clip 3 pages together without using a metal staple. Admittedly, 3 pages is not a particularly large number of pages. However, I'm sure it'll just be a matter of time before more sophisticated stapler gadgets can fix together even more pages.

If you use a computer in the office, then you might be interested to know that you can get some really low power PCs now. The Aleutia E2 is a small PC around the size of 3 stacked CD cases, and incredibly it runs on just 8 Watts of power! Considering that modern PCs use around 250 to 400 Watts of power, that's a massive difference. It's not designed for processor-intensive work, but it's definitely suited to word processing, email and web browsing. You can even run it from a solar panel if you wish!

Even if you have an older-style computer, there are lots of things you can do to make it more energy efficient, such as using a low power hard drives. These low power variants can save up to 50% of the energy compared to conventional hard drives. There are other peripherals that are coming on to the market too, including energy saving PSUs (power supply units).

It just goes to show, eco-gadgets aren't all just tote bags and compost bins!

This article is a guest post written by Dan Harrison who writes about all kinds of green gadgets for EnviroGadget.com. You can read about energy saving gadgets, gizmos that save water, basically any kind of device that's good for the planet.

Sustainability makes business sense and carpet maker Ray Anderson proves it!

There has been a belief, no, more than that, a set-in-stone assumption among many business people that a company can either maximize profits OR go green. It was a clear either-or statement. Or so it was thought.

Carpet company owner Ray Anderson has turned that equation on its head. His company's change from one of the worst offenders in environmental pollution and net carbon impact, to one of the stars of the new green business model. The numbers tell his story:

• Net greenhouse gases, down 82%
  
• Water usage, down 70% on average across all product types
  
• Fossil fuel usage, down 60% per unit of product
  
  
• Products now use 25% recycled materials
  
• Production uses 27% renewable energy

And in the midst of all these changes, what has happened to sales and profits?

• Sales have increased by 66%
  
• Profits are up 200%
  
• Avoidable costs saved of $400 million have paid for all the changes in production and materials

Not satisfied with these numbers, nor with the success of the new eco-friendly line, FLOR, Anderson has set a goal of zero carbon footprint for his company by the year 2020.

Sustainability has come of age in the business world!

Billionaire Pickens has a plan to save the earth...and our economy

T. Boone Pickens, the Dallas Billionaire has a plan for ending America's dependence on foreign oil...and in fact. most oil altogether.

And no, it's not a pie-in-the-sky someday-maybe dream. It's a do-able here and now plan. And to prove it, Pickens has already invested over $60 million dollars of his own money in his plan.

The plan involves an immediate and widespread switch to natural gas as our primary fuel source. It starts with a bill -- H.R. 1835 [the "New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act of 2009," introduced by Rep. Dan Boren], which allows fleet owners to get new natural gas powered trucks paid for. AT&T has already agreed to replace 8,000 vehicles to run on natural gas -- that's one fifth of its fleet.

Picken's plan continues with the world's largest wind farm -- his wind farm in Texas. And then involves individual landowners who could generate wind energy on their own property and sell it into the grid.

Fed up with the endless debates and hand-wringing, Pickens is promoting a "Let's just do it" attitude. The alternative, inaction, he claims will destroy us within a decade. Read about his plan in detail at GreenBiz.com and decide for yourself.

Comments anyone?

When it's time for gadgets to go

So how did you do on the electronics recycling test? Hopefully better than my 50%!

Electronic waste is growing at a rate of three times that of regular trash. And much of it is potentially toxic to our ground water and soil.

There are alternatives to tossing electronics, and some people are catching on. According to a post on Earth 911,

The U.S. EPA recently announced a 30 percent increase in electronics recycling through its Plug-In to eCycling program, with more than 66.5 million pounds of used electronics recycled in 2008.

That's great news for the earth, but we can do even better. Here are some electronics-specific ideas for recycling or reusing instead of trashing...

Televisions - TV's are one of the biggest items we throw away, and with the switch to digital TV, more and more of them are ending up curbside and in landfills. Is there a better option? Yes!

Most Office Depots will accept old televisions for recycling. Also, check with your local waste authority, as many cities and counties now offer large electronics recycling programs; a few even reward recyclers with coupons towards new TVs.

Cell phones - The average cell phone users buys a new phone every 14 months. That's a lot of phones going into the trash, many with toxic batteries still attached. But there is a better choice!

Women's shelters and senior centers in many cities will accept donations of used phones and program them to dial 911. These emergency phones have been credited with saving the lives of elderly people living alone, and women and children living in risky situations. Check with a local shelter, or contact Donate My Phone for a local drop off location.

Computers and computer monitors - Staples office supply stores offer two programs to help you recycle your computers and peripherals. If your items are newer and can still be useful, they will offer you a coupon for credit towards a new item in their store. Older computers. monitors and the like will be accepted for recycling.

Advanced Technology Recycling offers computer and other technology users an opportunity to sell and buy computers and other used electronics online, which means less ends up in the trash.

What's your electronics recycling I.Q.

You think you know all about recycling. You've mastered separating the plastic bottles according to those triangles and numbers, you haven't thrown away a metal can or glass bottle since Bush senior was in office. You are a recycling Maven, right? Okay -- what do you do with an old T.V.? How about a car stereo? Dead iPod? What do you do with the things that have no bin? And how much of that stuff are we, as Americans, tossing away each year?

Green Plant just published an eye-opening quiz about recycling electronics. I took it...and was shocked when I only got 50% right!

Take the test and see how you do. Let me know your score. And tomorrow I'll post some information about dealing with old electronics.

10 quick ways to be green at home or in the car

I know, I know, I promised this post a few days ago...but then there was the breaking story about Ford converting their SUV plant into a green car plant, and then I had a cool guest blogger show up and...

But here it is! Finally! 10 quick (15 minutes or under!) and cheap ways to go green at home or in your car. Ready? Set....


1) Get a clothes line and hang up the big stuff. No, you do not need to hang every sock or your undies on the line for all the neighbors to see. And no one wants crispy towels! But hanging out those big or hard to dry things like sheets, blankets, hoodies and jeans will make a big difference in your energy use, especially if you use an electric dryer. Time to hang one load a day; 10 minutes

2) Plan your day's drive. Buy or print a map of your city and laminate it. Buy a dry erase marker. Before you head out to do your weekend or daily errands, mark your destinations on the map and connect the dots to find the route with the least overlap and waste. Do your errands in that order. If you have an appointment as one of your stops, mark that first and then plan the rest of the stops around that. Grocery shopping in hot weather? Take a cooler and ice packs to keep perishable cool or plan that for your last stop. Time to plan the day's drive: 5 minutes

3) Skip the drive-through and take a drink. If you typically stop at a fast food window for a beverage, take a cold drink with you instead. You will save the gas you'd spend sitting in line, as well as reduce the waste from paper or plastic disposable cups, straws and wrappers. Time to put a drink in a reusable bottle: 5 minutes

4) Clean up the green way. Instead of using paper towels to wipe up spills or dust the furniture, cut up worn out towels or cotton clothing to make rags. By the time it gets too worn out or stained to use, one small rag can save you from buying more than 7 rolls of paper towels! Just toss them in with a same-color wash load, and you won't be using more energy to clean them either! Time to cut up old stuff into rags: 5 minutes

5) Try water. When it comes to cleaning stoves, sinks and counter tops, skip the expensive and toxic cleaners and try water! Manufacturers have convinced us that clean only comes in a spray bottle, but the fact is some water and a non-abrasive cleaning pad will usually do the trick. It just might take a minute or two more. If you need a little more omph, sprinkle some baking powder on the surface. Scrub and wipe dry with a rag (see number 4, above.) You'll save money, reduce chemicals in the environment and have less plastic bottles to throw away. Time to scrub a bit: 1-2 minutes per surface

6) Start slow, stop slow. There's a concept called hypermiling that can increase your gas mileage no matter where you drive. Some people have taken the idea to extremes and advocate dangerous driving habits to save gas. But just two simple changes -- starting out slowly from the traffic light, and slowing down as you approach a red light (or an old green -- one that is about to change) by taking your foot off the gas, can increase your gas mileage by 1-2%. Maybe more, depending on where you drive and your old driving habits. You won't sit at stop lights as long, so the time will balance out. Time to drive and save: 0 minutes.

7) Get a bathroom timer. Everyone knows what a kitchen timer is, but a bathroom timer? If showers run long in your house, get a cheap wind up style timer and set it for 10 minutes. Make it a house rule that showers (from the time the water is turned on to the time it is turned off) cannot exceed the buzzer time. You'll save water, energy for water heaters and reduce waste water, too. Time to set a timer: 1 minute

8) Cut back on newspapers. If you receive a daily paper, switch to a weekend only paper delivery schedule and get your news online the rest of the week. You'll save paper, reduce landfill and cut costs all at once. Time to change your newspaper subscription: 5 minutes

9) Use the leftover containers for leftovers and other fun things. If you get food to go or take home leftovers from your favorite restaurant, reuse those containers at least once after the food is gone. Plastic or foam boxes work well as paint trays for kids or when you're doing touch-ups, as a lightweight portable doggie water dish on an outing, or as a place to put the screws and other small bits when you're putting together or taking apart furniture, electronics or car parts. Time to rinse and put containers away for later: 2 minutes

10) Go solar outside. Instead of powering exterior lights along your driveway or path, let the sun do it for you. Solar landscaping lights are very reasonably priced, and only require that you stick them into the ground wherever you want light. What could be easier? Time to install 10 solar lights: 10 minutes

Green Revolution or Ecological Evolution

Today we have our first guest blogger, Lance Shugerman.

Some say we are experiencing a Green Revolution. Is it, or is it a part of an Ecological Evolution which has been going on for over a century?

It could be argued that it started with Teddy Roosevelt and the creation of the National Park system. The evolutionary leap during the 60’s crowned by the creation of Earth Day in 1970.

Then there was clean air and water acts of the Nixon administration, (although of course he did use Agent Orange.)

Don’t forget the removal of lead from gasoline in the late 70’s and the roll out of local recycling programs over the years. The movement continued over the years through many pendulum swings are possible (the most drastic being the last eight years.)

Even during these dark times people like Al Gore his inconvenient truth advanced the evolutionary process.

So I think the “Green Revolution” is nothing more than a bright chapter in the Ecological Evolution which will continue and hopefully make the world a more sustainable and livable home for all living creature, air, land and water.

Lance Shugerman first became aware of the environmental movement while at the University of Florida in the early 80’s. He has been member of the Sierra Club for decades and is an active member of Mosaic Outdoor Club (as is this blog's owner!) where he regurgitates knowledge to its members. An avid fan of scientific/ ecological learning especially when spoon fed by the Discovery Channel, Lance is the owner of Green Energy Prod where he helps home owners and businesses save money on energy and help the planet.

Visit Lance's website or blog for more information about green energy generation for homes and businesses.

If you are interested in submitting a guest blog and bio of your green life, drop me a line at Green Business FLA

Ford transforms SUV plant into green electric car plant

In a move that may signal the beginning of a new era in domestic auto production, Ford Motor Company has announced that they are transforming an SUV plant into a green production facility for building electric cars.

According to a post in Greenopolis,

The Ford Motor Company is investing $550 million to transform its Michigan Assembly Plant into a lean, green and flexible manufacturing complex that will build Ford’s next-generation Focus global small car along with a new battery-electric version of the Focus for the North American market.

The plant, formerly the production site for Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigators SUVs, is one of three North American light truck plants Ford is retooling to build fuel-efficient global small cars in the coming years. The new Focus will begin rolling off the line next year and the battery-electric version of the Focus – Ford’s first all-electric passenger car – debuts in 2011.

As part of the retooling, Ford will consolidate its operations from Wayne Assembly Plant. When production launches in 2010, approximately 3,200 employees will be building the new Focus at Michigan Assembly Plant. At the plant, Ford and United Auto Workers are developing modern new operating practices to ensure high quality and even greater efficiency.

Read the rest of the story at LiteGreen's Greenopolis blog.