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Visit the City of San Leandro website at www.sanleandro.org business. Disposing of this material often incurs a cost. For example, Estes typically generates hundreds of pounds of scrap cardboard and metal at each job site. Before starting its green initiative, the company would pay for a Dumpster to hold the waste. This was an expense, and the material generally ended up in a landfill. Now Estes works with a recycling contractor that hauls the material away without charge — saving the company about $1,000 a month, according to Mr. Bramblett’s estimates. At the end of this planning process, establish a baseline of your energy use and costs, said Tom Bowman, president of Bowman Design Group, a design firm based in Signal Hill, Calif. Most utility companies will come to your property to perform an energy audit, or you can use the information from your utility bills. TRACK AND REPORT As with any business initiative, review your results periodically, said Sarah Kate Fishback, who is director of operations at the Institute for Sustainable Development. She suggested “measuring the things you can measure — energy, waste, water use — and then try to quantify the business impact of taking action on these fronts.” Showing positive financial gains, she said, will keep the process on track. Sharing the results with the staff also keeps everyone motivated, said Mr. Deal. He maintains a simple spreadsheet to track the company’s progress toward its goals. But just as important, he shares the results with his staff “to show them we are committed and this is not a passing fancy.” LOOK FOR REBATES Once the easy stuff is done, the next step is investing in energy- efficient equipment: heating systems, air- conditioners and other office gear. But before starting down this road, check out the incentive programs and rebates available through the utility and local city government, as well as state and federal agencies. Mi Rancho recently replaced more than 200 overhead lights with energy-efficient fixtures in its warehouse and production facility, a project that Mr. Santana described as a “no-brainer” based on the quick payback. With rebates from the local utility and city of San Leandro, the retrofit cost Mi Rancho $14,000 but will yield a yearly energy savings of about $32,000, according to Mr. Santana’s estimates. WATCH WHAT YOU SAY After adopting a sustainability policy, many businesses are eager to start waving the green flag as part of their marketing messages. But be wary of overstating or misrepresenting your accomplishments and earning the dreaded “greenwashing” label. “Be honest and clear about the steps you’ve taken to improve performance, and acknowledge it’s part of an ongoing process,” Mr. Bowman said. “The goal is to show that the company takes the challenge seriously and is working the problem.” Ms. Fishback encourages clients to avoid using green to describe what they do: “Instead, sharing specific actions taken — on your Web site, at your place of business, in marketing materials — is the best practice. Put your green practices in plain language for all to read. It’s not greenwashing if it’s true and verifiable.” Mr. Santana agreed: “I don’t want to say, ‘We are a green company.’ I think we have taken steps in that direction but we are not there yet.” But he has discovered, “when you start looking at your operations through the sustainability lens, you are able to see opportunities to reduce costs that you may have missed before. And isn’t continuous improvement the most important part of any business?”