Packaging EPR Laws Are Now Enforcing in 7 States: Are You a "Producer" Without Knowing It?
Oregon and Colorado already bill packaging EPR fees, with California starting in 2027. Check whether you're a producer, claim exemptions, and join a PRO.
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Sustainability
Sustainable business practices and financial responsibility strategies
Wetland Mitigation Banking, Explained: How Restored Acres Become Sellable Credits
Section 404 wetland credits run $30,000–$360,000 per impact acre in Florida; buying bank credits transfers your mitigation liability to the sponsor.
Zero-Waste Refill Shop Bookkeeping: Weighing Inventory, Tare Procedures, Deposit Liabilities, and Real Margins
Refill shops lose 3–8% of revenue to shrink. Weigh vessels weekly, ring deposits as liabilities, and track margins by category to keep every ounce.
Form 7218 and the Section 45Z Clean Fuel Credit: What Producers Must Track
Section 45Z pays $0.20–$1.00 per gallon (pre-inflation) on fuel produced after 2025, but only if your Form 637 registration predates production, the feedstock is North American, and you use that year's emissions table.
Calling Your Product Green? What the FTC Requires You to Prove First
The FTC's Green Guides require competent and reliable scientific evidence before an environmental claim runs — an unqualified "recyclable" needs facilities available to at least 60% of consumers, "biodegradable" needs complete breakdown within one year of customary disposal, and California's AB 1305 adds a public disclosure page for carbon-neutral claims at up to $2,500 per day per violation.
Should Your Small Business Become a Certified B Corp in 2026? The New Standards, Real Costs, and What It Takes to Pass
Since March 11, 2026, B Corp certification no longer works on a single 80-point score — applicants must clear foundation requirements plus independently verified thresholds in all seven impact topics, with no offsetting between them. Covers what changed, the tiered fees ($1,000 to $25,000+ annually, roughly $2,000–$2,100 for a $1M–$5M company), the 40–80 hours of evidence-gathering a small business should budget, and how to structure your chart of accounts so verification is an afternoon rather than a forensic project.
Missed the July 4 Clean Energy Tax Credit Deadline? What Small Businesses Can Still Do After the Section 48E Window Closed
Wind and solar had to begin construction by July 4, 2026 — but a facility placed in service by December 31, 2027 still qualifies for 45Y/48E, a vacated IRS notice restored the 5% safe harbor, and storage, geothermal, and fuel cells remain eligible through 2033.
EU CBAM 2026: The Carbon Border Tax Guide for Small Steel, Aluminum, and Fertilizer Exporters
The EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism entered its definitive phase on January 1, 2026, requiring EU importers of steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizer, hydrogen, and electricity to buy CBAM certificates priced to the roughly €60-€95 per tonne EU ETS carbon rate, with costs and paperwork increasingly passed back to small US exporters who can't supply verified emissions data.
EUDR for Small U.S. Exporters: What the EU Deforestation Regulation Means for Coffee, Cocoa, Wood, and Rubber Shipments
The EU Deforestation Regulation now takes effect December 30, 2026 for large operators and June 30, 2027 for micro and small businesses — covering coffee, cocoa, rubber, wood, cattle, soy, and palm oil exports to the EU. Small U.S. exporters must file due diligence statements with plot-level GPS data via TRACES NT or face fines of at least 4% of EU turnover; Commission simplifications cut compliance costs an estimated 75%.
California's SB 343 'Truth in Recycling' Law Is Blocked — What the Injunction Means for Your Recyclable Labels
A federal judge blocked California's SB 343 "Truth in Recycling" law on July 14, 2026, pausing its October 4 recyclable-labeling deadline. Here's what the preliminary injunction does and doesn't change — the FTC Green Guides, SB 54, and UCL false-advertising risk still apply — and how small brands should handle compliance spending now.
New Jersey Legalizes Human Composting: Bookkeeping for a Natural Organic Reduction Facility
New Jersey's natural organic reduction law takes effect July 1, 2026, making it the 14th state to legalize human composting. The 45-day reduction cycle forces deferred-revenue treatment under ASC 606, unclaimed soil becomes a tracked inventory line, and NOR vessels need their own depreciation class — here's how funeral homes should set up the books.
Bookkeeping for Commercial Composting and Food-Waste Haulers: Tipping Fees, Volume Contracts, and Diversion Savings
With landfill tipping fees averaging $35–125 per ton and rising 3–7% annually, food-waste haulers and composting operators need books that separate revenue by contract type, track tipping fees by disposal site, and isolate contamination costs — here is a chart-of-accounts structure that makes landfill-diversion savings pitches defensible.