Looking for ways to make your small business more environmentally conscious now? Many L-A businesses are making this a smart move.

While you can feel good about helping the planet, your business also benefits in customer loyalty as buyers recognize and appreciate your efforts. Many marketing-savvy small businesses are projecting a positive image with customers by promoting their environmental efforts.

L-A SCORE mentor and chapter treasurer Peter Sassano said, “Now is a good time to ‘green’ your business. The movement is expanding and there is more business-minded information available on the practical, profit-producing aspects of making a business more environmentally friendly. Access to environmentally preferable products and services is also widening, especially for small business.”

Most of what your business does, from buying office supplies to disposing of old electronic gear, can be accomplished with “green” products and services. For timely information, practical tools and sound advice on making a business more environmentally conscious, the website GreenBiz.com is an excellent resource.

The site offers a full range of hands-on help for small businesses that want to get more green, from how to finance greater manufacturing efficiency to alternative cleaning solvents and processes. The organization’s website is packed with helpful information and is geared toward helping businesses take an environmental stance that also helps their bottom line.

GreenBiz provides descriptions and links to nearly 100 helpful organizations and websites — many of them by state. There are also hundreds of books and reports geared to specific industries. Take time to explore the site for a wealth of news, tools and tips on going green. Be sure to click on “Small Business” in the browse menu for topics of special interest to small business.

Sassano also recommends the Small Business Environmental Home Page at smallbiz-enviroweb.org, which, Sassano said, “helps business owners tap into pollution-prevention assistance programs of all types. It also offers links to state environmental agencies and other small business programs.”

To learn more about issues affecting your small business, contact SCORE, a nonprofit organization of more than 10,500 volunteer business mentors who provide confidential counseling and training workshops. In the Lewiston-Auburn area, call L-A SCORE at 782-3708 for information and an appointment; in Rumford-Mexico call 364-3123; in Oxford Hills call 743-0499. Or contact SCORE at www.SCOREMaine.org.