Many small businesses know their utility costs affect their bottom line, but they don’t have the resources to do something about it -- or they think because they’re leasing their space, they simply can’t change anything.

We caught up with Gwen Corrie, a second-year Green MBA student at Dominican University of California who’s been using our Green Energy Survey toolkit to help businesses understand their options. She shared her experience assessing local business’ energy usage, and her ideas for how you can make your community a greener place, too!

What got you interested in completing the green energy surveys?
A key environmental problem in the U.S. is greenhouse gases coming from existing buildings, and there’s a big opportunity to improve their environmental impact. With the toolkit, I’m able to bring awareness to small business owners who lease or own their own spaces on how to slash their energy use and save money. This campaign is a good way to get them involved.

You have a goal of completing 10 green energy surveys. Why did you choose this goal?
Ten businesses surveyed seemed like a reasonable goal to complete by mid-June. I'm happy to say I'm going to meet my goal ahead of time as I've scheduled my tenth survey for this week! My hope is to not only continually engage with local business owners, but also that the business owners themselves may share the information with other business owners, sparking word-of-mouth influence.

How did you seek out the organizations you’ve already surveyed?
It’s helpful to pick businesses you’re familiar with or frequent often. For example, if you go to the same coffee shop every morning, you can ask the people who work there to introduce you to the business owner.

Do you have any tips for others who want to complete a green energy survey?
If you go in person, try to show up when you know it will be a “slow customer time” and when the owner will likely be there. Always come equipped with flyers. Business owners are usually busy and want something visual to look at later. If the owner is not there, make sure to get his or her business card from an employee so you can follow up directly. When speaking with the owner, I make it a point to reiterate that the survey costs nothing but can help them save money. People want to save energy, but the influencer is money.

What’s the survey process like?
To start, I make appointments to conduct the surveys to be respectful of the business owner’s schedule. It’s a high-level audit, but it does bring great awareness and tips for the business owner. Since the survey touches on the fundamentals anyone should be aware of when wanting to be more environmentally sustainable, like lighting, water, and recycling, it goes pretty quickly. The more surveys you do, the faster and more comfortable you get.

Of the businesses I surveyed, the common denominator throughout was how much a change in lighting alone could help save energy. Lighting is one of the few things small business owners can change, whether or not they own or lease – they all buy their own light bulbs!

Any other tips for people who want to try the toolkit?
If raising awareness to anyone about how to save money and promote environmental sustainability is your passion, then don’t be afraid to get involved! This is a great exercise in expanding your sustainability, engagement, and business skills, not to mention it provides a positive environmental impact!

Ready to do your part to create a greener, more profitable community? Download the Green Energy Survey today.

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