One Half (52%) of Small Business Owners are
Going Green

Toronto, ON - One half of Canadian small-business owners (52%) currently have (46%) or are considering (6%) developing a green plan or environmental policies, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of RBC.

Among those who have a green plan or are planning green environmental policies, the most common plans and policies that they have or are likely to include are recycling (82%), reducing use of energy (61%) and supply reduction (50%). Other aspects of the plan include waste management (48%), reducing travel and transportation (37%), pollution prevention (29%), reducing water use or water pollution (26%), environmental standards for goods and services purchased by the company (25%), producing and selling green products or services (22%), changing the type of transportation used (18%), changing production methods (8%), carbon offsets (5%) or some other strategy (11%).

Going green doesn't appear to cost a lot of money. Most (59%) of those who currently have a green plan have spent less than $500 dollars, while 21% have spent between $500 and $100, 14% have spend between $1,000 and $5,000 and 6% have spent over $5,000. Perhaps not surprisingly, the higher the revenue of the business the more they are spending on green initiatives.

The data also reveal that different strategies are being used by small-business owners in different regions of the country:

• Small business owners in Alberta that have a green plan or are considering a plan are more likely than business owners in other regions to include recycling as part of their going green strategy (94%), but less likely to say any plans involve or will involve pollution prevention (15%).
• Small business owners in Atlantic Canada are more likely to incorporate environmental standards for goods and services purchased by the company (38%) and are also more likely to include energy reduction strategies (75%).
• Small business owners in British Columbia rank highly, much like owners in other provinces, in their commitment to recycling (82%) and reducing their energy use (60%).
• Small business owners in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are more likely to include pollution prevention practices (36%) than small business owners in Alberta (15%), but less likely to reduce or plan to reduce travel and transportation (19%) than those in Alberta (43%).
• Ontario's small business owners are more likely to produce and sell, or to plan to produce and sell, green products and services (26%) than those in Alberta (11%).
• Small business owners in Quebec are more likely to reduce or plan to reduce water use or water pollution (36 per cent) than those in Atlantic Canada (16%) and are more likely to reduce or plan to reduce supply consumption than business owners in either Manitoba and Saskatchewan (35%) or Ontario (44%).

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos Reid poll conducted between February 2-8, 2010, on behalf of RBC. For this survey, a sample of 1,049 small-business owners from Ipsos' Canadian online panel was interviewed online. All businesses had fewer than five employees, and annual revenues under $1 million. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/-3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire population of adults in Canada been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Sean Simpson
Senior Research Manager
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
(416) 572-4474
[email protected]

About Ipsos Reid

Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

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