2. Consider the following statement: "It is unrealistic to expect small business owners to spend much time thinking about or implementing green practices.

The failure rate of small businesses is high, so small business owners have to focus all their energies on trying to ensure the survival of their businesses. They simply don't have the time (or money) to 'go green. on Do you agree or disagree with the statement? Explain your reasoning Small business owners have plenty of operational problems that demand their attention, so they often don't spend enough tlme thinkJng about how their company could become more eco-friendly. Even if they did find the time, they might think that they couldn't afford to go green. But there are a lot of inexpensive ways that small business owners can shCM' concern for the environment.

Simple things like changing to energy-efficient lighting and turning off photocopiers and computers overnight is a good start. The energy departments of most provinces have websites that provide information on how companies can save money l:fy using water and energy more efficiently. For more aggressive or longerterm projects, small business CM'ners can access the federal government's ecoACTION program website, which contains information about programs that help organizations reduce energy costs. The ecoENERGY retrofit program, for example, provides financial incentives of up to 25 percent of project costs to help small and mediumsized companies implement energy-saving projects.