I think this is where proper planning comes into place.what has helped is to identify the key areas you want to green…and focus(procurement, IT etc) on one area at a time.

If you pride yourself on your excellent customer service, it might make your stomach turn to risk making changes. It’s important to remember that customer service does not have to suffer as part of a greening initiative. Still want to have water available at a conference or meeting, but wary of all the talk about having a huge “water footprint?” Instead of handing out plastic water bottles, put out glasses and pitchers with ice water. At Brighter Planet, we got rid of the water cooler that was plugged in 24/7 and put a filtered pitcher in the fridge to save significant amounts of energy.

In general, the best “achievable and cost effective actions” are efficiency measures. You could also commit to buying only recycled paper and bathroom products, or replacing company cleaning products with natural, biodegradable alternatives. Once your greening initiatives are under way, the next step for a company to consider is buying carbon offsets to counteract the CO2 emissions impact of travel and energy use that can’t be reduced.