A Green BNI?

I recently received an email from a fellow BNI member which got me thinking….’How ‘Green’ or ‘Eco Friendly’ is BNI? First let me share with you the email I received from the ‘King of the World’ as he is known – BNI Member from the Early Bird Chapter in Dubai – Prithviraj:

‘After a health issue I had in Nov 2010, I was told to limit my car driving. Hence I requested some BNI colleagues (for whom my home was on the way - almost!) to kindly pick me up and drop me back. Many did that and I realized that we both got to know each other so much more, professionally & personally - it was better than a sit-down 1 to 1 because we were driving, discussing work, personal issues, and so many business opportunities arose that we both felt great. I think many BNI Members would benefit by doing so consciously since it gives them quality time to spend together and also it saves petrol, saves emissions from 2 cars etc. I would like to thank: Tambi, Aman, Ryan, & Kapil who were very gracious in driving me mad, oops, I mean driving me to BNI !!!’

A great idea I think. Thank you to Prithviraj. So, how else can BNI be regarded is Eco Friendly? Being a word-of-mouth or referral organization, our members do just that….spread the word on behalf of their fellow business. Let’s look at what other ways of advertising there are and their impact on Eco-Friendliness:

• Newspapers – use of paper – BNI can certainly help in curtailing the use of paper. How many trees are we saving?
• Radio/TV advertising – use of electricity or other forms of power – How much power are we saving?
• Bill Boards & Outdoor Media – the lighting I see used to illuminate these especially at night must be using vast amounts of power.
• Exhibitions/Trade Shows – what’s the size of the carbon footprint being created here?

This is just my personal opinion. The first question is: Is BNI Eco-Friendly? And if it is…’What impact does it have?’ If not, what can we do to make it Eco-Friendly like Prithviraj’s suggestion above? What else can you think of?

I can already see some of you shouting – Online Networking!! But we also know the power of Face-to-Face networking in building strong relationships. That surely is the strength of BNI and it’s members success.