Posts Tagged ‘Green Policies’

The softening Evil Giant?

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

I was once a Wal-Mart basher. Under the original CEO and Founder Sam Wall, all sorts of injustices were propagated ranging from outright racism, discrimination, unfair treatment of employees, and of course bullying. Simply by locating a Wal-Mart in a neighborhood supposedly destroys countless mom & pop stores by providing extremely low price wares. Wal-Mart’s buying power, due to it’s immense size, is equally immense. There’s just no way a mom & pop store can compete with such power.

Lately though, now that the employee & discrimination lawsuits have been settled, and the ultra-religious-yet-inexplicaby-tyrannical-Sam Wall has passed, the lumbering giant has begun to soften and become a bit more responsible to the world it resides in.

First, there’s the energy saving. Wal-Marts across the world are being celebrated because they have become very green when it comes to cutting down on their energy use. Detractors point to the huge dollar savings this behemoth gains when it lowers its energy cost, but I’ll give Wal-Mart the benefit of the doubt here. Sure they are saving money, huge, huge amounts of money, but the new regime is doing other things that aren’t such money-saving-ideas. And, we must remember, Sam Wall never implemented any of these energy saving concepts.

You may have seen in the local news that Wal-Mart has now decided, all of its private label eggs will from now on be cage-free. Why is this a big deal? Wal-Mart sells 30% of all the retail food in the United States. Let that number sink in.  One third of all the food sold in the U.S. at retail is from a Wal-Mart.  The farms who supply the private label eggs have to completely revamp their systems or risk losing the business.  If the farms also supply eggs to other stores, then suddenly we’re going to be seeing more and more cage-free eggs on other store shelves.   Last November the Humane Society of the United States filed a shareholder resolution to Wal-Mart, demanding to know what steps the retailer was taking to move toward cage-free eggs.  The HSUS has now removed that resolution in light of the news.

The March issue of The Atlantic claims that a comparison of the basic offerings at Whole Foods Markets are virtually the same as Wal-Mart’s produce department.  Wal-Mart has also implemented a chain-wide mandate called “heritage agriculture” to buy more and more produce from local sources as part of its overall plan for sustainability and social consciousness.

Now consider this phenomenon: according to Bob Vosburgh of Supermarket News, a recent study by two independent professors found that:

“the arrival of a Wal-Mart Supercenter into a low-income area has a beneficial impact on eating habits, because fresh produce becomes less expensive. The authors cite data from studies showing that, even after accounting for discount cards and sales, Wal-Mart maintains a price advantage of 8%-27% on various food items. [They] estimate that competing supermarkets reduce their prices by 1% – 1.2% after the entry of a Wal-Mart Supercenter into the area.”

Now surely these lower prices may have a negative impact on the margins of a mom & pop store, but in food deserts where low-income families have been forced to get their daily groceries from outrageously high priced (and low health) convenience stores, this should be good news.

So maybe, just maybe, with the dictator gone, this evil giant is softening and becoming a kinder, gentler giant.

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Posted in Green, Grocery Stores | 3 Comments »

Where to spend your money…

Thursday, February 18th, 2010

I sometimes miss the great competition that is the grocery industry of the west coast.  Among other things, innovation and customer service are pushed to the limits when there are more people vying for your basic dollar.  In Cleveland, we have seen very little of this.  With the closing of Tops, and other smaller chains, there is little incentive for companies to give back or to be invested in their communities.  Last year, Giant Eagle built a nice big store on 117th, but I believe they went just over the line into Lakewood, leaving two empty stores in the wake of this move.  No commitment to the community.  What will fill these big empty storefronts remains to be seen.  Perhaps we could beg a company like Safeway to show Cleveland how it is done.  Check out their Corporate Social Responsibility video below.  In all fairness and full disclosure, I want to say that we have done some work for Safeway.  That being said, it has little to do with the great things that they are doing.

Part of the problem with the world is that we put too much emphasis on profits and not people. Safeway is one of the largest retailers in the world. They are an example of how you can both make money and do good things.

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Is “Green” your mantra, mindset, or buzzword?

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

I know I am the oddball in the room.  That is fine.  I accept it.  I am that weird guy who has his own name tag, tries to bring his own cup, and often will not take your business card, because I don’t want more paper.   That’s fine.  I don’t mind being different from everyone else, and I don’t mind being the weird one in a group.  I also don’t expect others to be like me.  That being said, I have been to 2 separate sustainability events that were hosted by the local chapter of the USGBC, and it amazes me that people do not even think about their trash or their transportation.  I am that crazy person that drinks draft beer if a location doesn’t recycle, or who takes his juice bottle home.  But when I go to an industry event promoting sustainability, I at least expect people to recycle.

When I last went to Greenbuild, the entire event recycled.  They even had most of the garbage stations manned on the first day to instruct people that their coffee cups are compostable and go in one can, their water bottle is recyclable and that very little actually goes into the garbage.  Care was taken to provide cups made from sugar cane and water was available by the glass, not by the bottle.  At local events, though there is often not even a recycling bin.  We went to an event where a new park was being dedicated.  A building was being taken down and a new green space was going to be created along the towpath.  They provided refreshments, but there was no place to recycle the pop cans or water bottles that we being given out.  Funny, when the whole point was to support new green space and land re use.  So they were a little short sighted.  At least this was not a sustainability event.

So, two events hosted by the NE Ohio chapter of the USGBC.  Both attended by building industry professionals.  Both had recycling bins stationed near the garbage.  Both were well attended.  Both had piles of recyclables in the trash.  I get it when the food is served with plastic forks and you don’t know if they are recyclable or not, or if the plates can be recycled because there are food remnants attached.  But for pete’s sake, if you are going to a “green” event why would you not take the care to toss you glass bottle into the bin on the right that is inches away?

Sustainability and green are not new concepts.  In fact, most of the basic ideas that we are promoting these days were big in the 1970s.  Remember driving less, cause you could only get gas on certain days of the week?  Remember the push for the bottle deposit?  Carter put solar panels on the White House.  Even the “Give a hoot, don’t pollute” campaign is decades old.  But much of the progress that we made in the 60s & 70s was replaced by consumption and consumerism of the end of the 20th century.  Now everyone seems to be on board again.  While the USGBC has been around for nearly a decade, and the building concepts that were behind its formation even older, it has only been the last couple of years that we are seeing the idea of building more sustainable becoming mainstream.  As was said in a presentation today, if  Wal-Mart is doing it, then everybody better be doing it.  But in a room full of building professionals who aspire to do better, why is there obvious recyclables in the trash?  It makes me wonder if this is more about business as usual.

Since buildings account for nearly half of all CO2 emissions,  any reason to build greener is a good reason.  That being said, when we are most concerned about just ourselves, the results are often fleeting.  Are we doing the right thing, because it is important, or because we are trying to find a “leg up” in a tough economic time?  Are we creating real lasting change, or like the fuel efficient cars of the past, are we just waiting for our chance to start buying Hummers again?  As a business, as a  household, as an individual are you using ‘green” as your buzzword, or is it a way of life?  These are the things I wander when I see the parking lot of a green event filled with SUVs and the trash full of aluminum cans.

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How green is green enough?

Friday, January 8th, 2010

Green is the new black.  Everyone wants to be on the sustainability train.  By making green claims, they are hoping to jump ahead of their competitors, or at least catch up to them.  It is happening in every segment of the marketplace:  retailers, wholesalers, product developers, business to business companies, energy suppliers and even information and technology companies.  While consumers are raising their awareness to issues about the products that they use, all sorts of companies are making claims about what they sell.  Buy how green are these companies and their products?

NY Times posted a scathing article this week about clothing stores in NYC that are destroying clothing and throwing it out, rather than something more environmentally friendly.  Ironic that this happened rather shortly after the company’s press release about their new spring line that features a wide range of eco friendly fabrics.  While perusing the H & M website, I found a lot of Corporate Sustainability Data.  They love to talk big about their use of sustainable materials, CO2 emission reductions, and factory worker treatment.  They were even given an award by PETA.  So, it makes me wonder what is up.  The company website says that they donate clothing to charity, with a caveat for damaged or unsafe goods.  Interesting that all the goods being thrown out at the H&M store in NYC were slashed and damaged, apparently in house.  I have asked H & M to comment, but have yet to receive a reply.  I am left wondering if this was an isolated store practice, or a company wide issue.  Given the state of affairs in greenwashing, this leaves a bad taste for H&M in my mouth.  Had they not been outed by the NY Times, would we see bags of clothes made from environmentally friendly fabrics ripped to shreds and bagged up for transportation to landfill?

But H&M is not alone in its use of green claims.  Samsung loves to wax poetic about its newest “green” phone.  The Reclaim phone from Samsung features a casing made from 40% bioplastics that is 100% biodegradable and an Energy Star charger.  A scan of the blogosphere lists other features like 80% recycled materials, recycled materials in the packaging, and less toxic chemicals in the production.  Samsung, however says nothing about these features on their website.  Much like the Earth Phone that was hyped in February with a built in solar panel and plastics made from bottles, I wonder just how green are their products.  While a phone that uses biodegradable materials is great, it really is a waste.  First off, bio plastics cannot be recycled with other materials, so they need to be separated from the other components in the phone and composted-because even organic materials will not decompose quickly in landfill.  Would you take the time to tear apart your phone to separate out the 40% that can be composted?  Besides, bioplastics made from corn are not the environmentally friendly material that we like to think they are.  Then, what about the rest of it?  Even if it were made of 100% recycled materials, what is the point if there is no program in place that can recycle the phone by taking it all apart.  An Energy Star rated charger is great, but only if the consumer is educated to unplug it when not in use and if the phone itself uses less energy in between charging.  Overall, more hype than substance.  Check out the Greenpeace press release from the Consumer Electronics show, as it seems they agree.  They unveiled their latest edition of their Guide to Greener Electronics and Samsung fell on the list due to their lack of follow through.

Now take a look at Nestle.  In an effort to greenwash the company’s overall poor performance in the area of sustainability, it has announced that it will make it’s Kit-Kat bars from Fair Trade chocolate.  Sounds good, until you realize that this announcement hold no weight when it is only for Kit Kat bars in the UK.  They have plans to extend that promise to Canada and Australia, but no word yet about the US.  While I understand that mega corporations have a commitment to their shareholders, this move does little for me but alert me to the fact that Nestle is trying to jump on the green bandwagon to diminish its loss to brands with more of a commitment to the environment and to people.  A giant corporation has the ability to make a huge impact on the global cocoa market and farm production around the world, but a move like this is only to a token gesture.  To read more about some of Nestle’s claims, check out Green LA Girl’s post on this topic.

In an effort to green their image, look for claims from a myriad of other corporations.  Do your research and don’t be fooled.  I am waiting for claims of renewable power generation coming from Ohio utility companies.  While it is great that many are finding alternative sources for their energy production, state law has a mandate in place for a percentage of all electricity to come from renewable sources.  While the claims that they are likely to make may be true, it holds no weight when it is merely compliance with state laws.   Much like the hyped claims of several paper products being heralded as “biodegradable” these claims hold little or no value when you look below the surface.  Enter the FTC who cited Kmart, Tender Corp., and Dyna-E International with making false and unsubstantiated claims.  Luckily, the internet allows us to look closely at track records of companies and their claims.  We can delve a little deeper, and in order to be really good consumers, we have to look beyond the hype and into the reality of claims made by corporations.

Check out the Greenwashing Index to find out more about this topic, and watch this video to see some of the ways that greenwashing is taking place.

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You can’t save the planet with a brick in your toilet…

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

I have to thank my friend Rachel Downey at Studio Graphique for inspiring this post, for good or bad….Thanks, Rachel (or sorry for the rant…)

Thomas Friedman.  he wrote a book called “Hot, Flat, and Crowded.”  In full disclosure, I have not yet read this book, but several of my friends have and have recommended it highly.  One thing that he discusses is the top ten listing of easy things you can do to save the planet.  I agree and disagree…

First off, let’s face it.  The world is in need of a real green revolution.  If everyone on the planet puts a brick in their toilet tank (that is, everyone who has a toilet) we would save billions of gallons of water every year.  Great, nice first step, but all the while major manufacturers that make the products that you are buying are wasting billions more, we are only making small strides in the right direction.  I love my CFL bulbs, and think that everyone in the world should replace their incandescent bulbs with some form of energy saving option.  But if every household in America changed over, that is still only a dent in our huge energy consumption.  Especially as so many of us have big flat screen televisions, video games, and computers sucking the energy every day.  Even our phones which used to use so little power are all hands free, or cellular, and thus gulping down the power all the time.  Switching to a Prius is great, but until gas mileage reaches the critical point-say 300+, and everyone is on board, we are not having a big impact in our emissions.  Until we stop consuming so much and wasting so much, and can convince emerging economies that the American way of life is not what they should be copying, we are barely even slowing down on our destruction of the planet.  No one is gonna save the world just by putting a brick in their toilet.

On the other hand, small steps are better than no steps at all.  When we start recycling at home, we start to think about packaging.  It makes us aware of what we are consuming when we have to separate all our trash.  When we replace all our bulbs, it reminds us to think about our consumption, and hopefully it will lead to turning off the lights more, or putting that computer on stand by.  If we want to make a big impact we have to start with small things, and many folks here in the good old USA have not even started.  So top 10 lists are valid and have a place.  There real job is not to preach to the choir about how important recycling is to the world.  Their real job is to bring in those who are doing nothing and convince them that they too can make an impact by changing out some light bulbs and separating their trash.  Make them feel good about their efforts and get them thinking about what they can do next.  For the rest of us, who are already eating more organics, recycling all we can, and watching our energy consumption, we have to move to the next step.

So, I am proposing a new top ten list:

TEN DIFFICULT THINGS THAT YOU NEED TO DO TO HELP SAVE THE PLANET

  1. Stop buying cheap crap. We need to stop thinking of ourselves as consumers.  We need to think about EVERY purchase that we make.  Stop buying those cheap $3 t-shirts from Wal-Mart.  While  Wal Mart may be making great strides to green their supply chain and their stores, the truth is China has a lot to do to fix their products.  Read this post from Green LA Girl about cheap t-shirts and their environmental impact.  Besides the fact that cheap products are hard on the environment when manufactured, they tend to fall apart faster.  This means that their life cycle is shorter and they tend to end up in the landfill faster.  If you are going to make a real impact, you need to buy less stuff.  When you make  a purchase, ask yourself:  How long will it last?  How much packaging does it have?  Is it recyclable when i am done with it?  Is there a program in place to recycle it?  Where did the materials come from?  How green are the materials in it?  Do I really need this?
  2. Eat less meat. Meat is murder.  I am not talking about the ethical implications of eating animals, I am talking about how meat filled diets are killing the environment.  To illustrate the point, look at this great interactive post, “from pasture to plate.”  Growing cattle for beef production is horrible for th environment.  First off, to keep things cheap, we feed most cattle a diet rich in corn.  So first, we are growing corn (often Monsanto branded GM corn) with all the water and energy that that takes.  Then we truck that around the country (or ship around the world) where it is consumed-not by us, buy by cows that we are raising.  So the feed already has a hefty planetary impact.  Now consider the cow.  Cows naturally eat grass.  When we feed them grains that are hard for them to digest, they get gas.  Gas means methane emissions that contribute to the overall green house gases.  But wait, there is more.  Most beef is commercially raised, meaning mechanized farms.  These huge farms keep cattle close and spread disease.  Enter antibiotics that enter the food chain and the environment.  To keep cattle cheap, we need to force them to bulk up-so we add hormones and steroids to get them fat.  Then we take them to mechanized slaughter houses, automated butchers, and truck the meat all over.  Finally, we chop it up and put the final product in Styrofoam trays and cover it with shrink wrap.  Top that off with global rainforests being slashed and burned to create grazing land for cheap beef and you can see the overall impact.
  3. Drive less and use less gasoline. If you have an SUV, quite frankly, shame on you.  No matter what you tell yourself, any gas guzzling car has no real justification in the world today.  Even companies whose business it is to ship products are greening their fleet.  there are solar panels on refrigerator trucks, trucks that run on cooking oil, hybrids, and more.  So there is no reason for you to be driving that 15 mpg (or less) Mercedes SUV.  Sure, you might have dogs that you need to take to the park, but with a few washable blankets on the back seat, you can still take them along.  Already driving a hybrid or even an all electric car?  Good for you, but how much are you driving it?  It still takes fossil fuels in most parts of the country to create electricity, and gas still is the main propellant for a hybrid.  We need to learn how to get the things we need in our own neighborhood.  Imagine if you didn’t have a car at all, how important would dense urban neighborhoods become to you.  How many food deserts would be eliminated if those of us who can drive, suddenly could not?  The corner grocer starts to make more sense.  And how much healthier would be as Americans if we got off our butts and walked a little?
  4. Buy local food. Buying local is hard.  It means making the extra effort to go to farmers markets, joining a CSA or other group and sticking to it.  Most local grocers, even those produce stands at the West Side Market, are getting their produce from around the globe.  Only 1% of food grown in Ohio is actually consumed in Ohio.  That means that the food we consume has a huge carbon footprint just in travel.  It also means that large mechanized farms are fueling the produce industry.  If we really want change that means we have to change our diets, too.  Let’s face it, there is little in the way produce in Ohio in February.  we need to eat more seasonally and locally and that means a lot more work than going to Giant Eagle.  I watched a movie, Deep Agriculture, and my favorite line in the whole film was: “We ship tons of butter cookies to Denmark every year, and Denmark exports tons to the US.  Couldn’t we just exchange recipes?”
  5. Get involved. We are all busy, wrapped up in our own little lives.  While we say family is first, or I have to work to support my kids, what good is it if we leave the lasting legacy of global worming and a polluted environment for them to grow up in?  Making change happen requires more work from each of us.  It can be simple: vote, sign a petition for renewable energy, call or write your congressman.  Or if you have the drive or the time, it can be more meaningful.  Get a job with an environmental group.  Start a neighborhood petition to ask your city to start recycling.  Attend the local government open meetings and express your commitment to environmental causes.  Start a grassroots campaign to improve public transportation.  Whatever you do, do something and stick to it.  Americans like to sit back and do nothing and then complain about the situation they are in.  Do something about it instead.  Until we start moving toward a greener centered economy, we can never expect to battle global warming, food safety, health problems or recession.
  6. Reuse materials. When I was a kid, we used to patch our clothes.  We wore things until we outgrew them or they fell apart completely.  If we outgrew them, the next kid in line inherited them.  When they fell apart, the fabric became stuffing in some project or squares for a quilt.  Jars became drinking glasses or were reused for homemade jam.  Everything got a second life.  Look in any old man’s workshop and you will find things like jar lids nailed to the ceiling where food jars were used to store nuts and bolts.  Somewhere along the way in the last 30 years, we have convinced ourselves that new is always better.  Use something and throw it out.  Never fix anything.  If it stops working, toss it on the tree lawn and go get a new one.  Notorious for this is the electronics area.  It is actually cheaper to buy a new television than to have the old one fixed.  And technology is a killer.  Things don’t move as fast as they used to in the consumer electronics market as they used to, but it still moves pretty fast.  It used to be that when you bought a new computer, it was obsolete when it hit the shelves.  At least now it will work fine for a year or so.  Instead of tossing things out, we should take a minute and figure out if we (or someone we know, or a charity) can use it for something else.
  7. Recycle and buy recycled. Whenever you make a purchase, consider the materials in the product as well as the packaging.  I always buy TP that is made from recycled paper.  Sometimes it is more expensive, sometimes not.  But if everyone bought only TP that had recycled content, then only recycled product would be available.  You need to make your stand and do it-all the time.  If you scan the shelves and read the labels, you will see that there are alternatives for nearly every product.  I bought garbage bags with recycled content and 100% post consumer recycled packaging.  Did you know that Wal Mart’s pizza boxes are made from 100 recycled cardboard that they recycled themselves.  That is the type of closed loop thinking that we need to employ.
  8. Compost. This can be a small or a huge undertaking.  At the very least, it is not easy to trudge out in the snow and dump your organic waste into a separate bin in the middle of winter.  It is easy to think, it will break down in the landfill.  Trouble is, landfills are a closed environment.  Want to know why things last forever in a landfill?  We cover and cap them.  That means that even the food scraps that would break down in the garden do not get oxygen and will last for years or even decades in a public landfill.  Starting a compost pile will make your garden love you and save on the use of fertilizers. Don’t have a garden, ask around your city for a place to drop off your scraps.  Or even better….
  9. Start your own garden. One of the big problems with modern society is that those of us in developed areas know little or nothing about where our food comes from.  Raise a couple of chickens and you will see how much work it entails.  Learning to respect the food chain is one of the biggest obstacles to change in our currently system.  A study shows that Americans throw out 40% of the food we buy.  I don’t know if that is true, but consider that if it is even half that, how many hungry in our own cities could be fed if we stopped it.  Growing your own food will not only give you healthier and more flavorful meals, but learning what it takes to grow a successful garden will have a huge impact on the food choices that you make.  And what can be a better learning opportunity for those with kids, than to teach them how to grow some of their own food?  That is an education that you can’t get in the local school district.
  10. Choose renewable options for your utilities. Most utilities offer some sort of green credit.  I buy our natural gas from a company that offsets the gas with renewable energy.  Many electrical suppliers are offering green credits for the electricity you use.  Choose them, even if it does cost a little more;  by making the right choices, we will make the market more competitive.  Even better, install a renewable energy system on your property-set up a solar panel or mini wind turbine or some other device that will start to make electricity to offset you usage.

So go out and get started.  Later, I will give you the next installment in this series.  Something like 10 impossible things to do if we want change, because let’s face it even this is only a start.

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Pay to throw away?

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

File-VuilnisI wish I had been more diligent in following the agenda for city council meetings. If I had, then I would have known about the meetings in which Cleveland City Council discussed the trash collection fee. It has passed. Starting in 2010, city residents are going to start paying $8 a month to have their garbage picked up. The council did this with much reluctance, but found that the gaps in the 2010 budget needed to be filled, and were it not for this fee, we might lose a firehouse, a few police officers or something else. Since I am never short of opinions, here are my thoughts on this issue:

It is about time. In Portland, where we last lived, we paid over $35 a month per can to have garbage picked up. I was astounded when we moved here that nearly anything unwanted could simply be piled onto the tree lawn. Cleveland should have implemented this fee a long time ago. Paying makes citizens invested in their services, so by making them completely free, they are abused and over used.

Speed up the rollout of the curbside recycling program. This fee should not be thought of as a budget stop gap measure. If Cleveland really wants to make this a Green City on a Blue Lake, it needs to start taking garbage and garbage service seriously as an issue. This money raised needs to be earmarked to cut the costs associated with this department, and the start is by increasing recycling. Charging for garbage collection is great first step, but we also need to decrease the sheer volume of trash in this town. We need to limit what that monthly fee will pick up, and offer limitless recycling. Moving products from the waste stream into the recycling stream can decrease costs. Furthermore, recyclables are a commodity that can add to our city coffers, not draw from them. As long as we look at our waste stream in the same way, we are only putting a bandage on a flat tire.

How much will dumping cost? Unfortunately, Cleveland residents are selfish and poor. We already see people dumping their trash in alleys, empty lots, wherever. This has been going on while garbage service is free. So what is going to happen now that we have to pay for this service. Will the extra money cover the costs of cleaning up the city dump sites that appear? I hope that I am wrong in this area. My hope is that everyone will start taking responsibility for their waste and take it more seriously, but I am leery.

How will this law affect our already cash strapped citizens? It is a small fee. For most of us, $8 a month is small price to pay. That being said, many Cleveland residents can barely pay for food. There is an exception for elderly and disabled, but what about those who are already using food stamps and section 8 housing to stay alive. I worry that unscrupulous landlords are going to raise the rents of those most in trouble right now, in order to pay for the garbage service. Were we living in a city that had a good cross section of incomes, this would be less of an issue. However, it that were the case, we would not be having this budgetary crisis to begin with.

No matter what I have to say, Cleveland is still operating in the black, without raising taxes or firing police officers. Let’s hope that this trend continues, and Mayor Jackson and the City Council deserve Kudos for that! Read the council’s release.

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As the leaves get more yellow, Cleveland gets more green!

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

This is turning into a busy season for the sustainability movement in Cleveland.
Last week I was invited to join a green business round-table at CSU. The place was packed. It could have been because of the free pizza, but I think it had more to do with students being interested in turning their education in science and engineering into a green career. I was very enthusiastic to see so many fresh faces and young minds who thought they could make a living while helping to save the planet. Organized by Philomena M. Johnson, the Careers Coordinator at CSU. It is great to see so much interest by students and staff at Cleveland State, but even more impressive was the response from the speakers. The panel was huge, and there was simply not enough time for everyone to speak. Philomena confided in me that she couldn’t turn anyone down after they gratefully accepted her invitation. As someone who has had to coordinate this type of an event, I know how hard it is to get commitments, and even harder to get everyone to show. In this case, nearly everyone committed and showed, which only reflects on the regions desire to move forward in the green economy. Among the speakers were scientists, faculty, business owners, and even one student who co-organized and helped to create the green roof on the new rec center building at CSU!

I also attended a NE Ohio USGBC Chapter social gathering. Held at Stone Mad, I was delighted to see people from all industries and walks of life. Michelle Kilroy has done an excellent job of making our local affiliate of the USGBC something to be proud of. When I joined, I really didn’t see the benefits, as they were going through a serious transition. Since Michelle has taken over, however, it has gone from an affiliate to full chapter status. Furthermore, she has organized committees, created programs for continuing education credits, and started social and general informational sessions. If you are interested in sustainability in NE Ohio, then you should definitely join. It is always good to connect socially with like minded individuals, and the event at Stone Mad was perfect. The weather was beautiful, and the place was full. I ran into many of my colleagues and cohorts, and was really pleased to touch base with Jennifer Eaton from Tri-C. Colleges and universities have been fairly slow in their acceptance of the green movement as an area that needs to be addressed in the curriculum. Not so for Tri-C! They have an entire Green Academy and Center for Sustainability. This goes beyond the simple make our campus buildings greener approach, they are training the leaders of the sustainability movement. With courses that help prepare the workforce in things like renewable energy, they are going to have programming that will be a leader in our education system. For those vendors, buyers, and developers who are interested in Greenbuild (the yearly trade show of the USGBC), but cannot attend in December, Tri-C is going to offer a special chance to attend without attending. On January 23, 2010 Tri-C will be hosting a Greenbuild Re-Cap. This will be an all day conference featuring Greenbuild highlights, including breakout sessions, speakers and exhibits. At only one day and $85, this will be a great way to see the best of the show without spending the huge lay out of cash. To register call 216-987-2800, and the course number is 16053. Want to exhibit? Call 216-987-2859. For more information, contact Jennifer Eaton, the Program Manager: jennifer.eaton@tri-c.edu

Then there is the Sustainability Summit. Moving forward, many groups have formed the necessary components for next steps. During the summit, 20 key areas were created which we could use to move the green economy of Cleveland forward. Many groups have been going gung-ho to organize and create momentum. The Waste to Profit group, for example, has been working hard. One sub group of this group is the Wastipedia Center group. This is the group that I have been involved with. We have been meeting regularly since the summit and have even put our first application in for a Civic Innovation Lab grant. We did not get chosen to move forward, yet, but we did get valuable insight into moving forward and honing our executive summary to a really sharp focus. We are currently working on the economics of our ideas. Another sub group, the Zero Waste Initiative has also been meeting regularly. This group is on fire! They have organized and started a zero waste pledge drive. They are striving to get 50 local business to sign the pledge and become zero waste businesses. They already have a good start, join us here! They are also working on drafting public policy for a zero waste initiative for Cleveland. This would put us in good company with the likes of Seattle, Boulder, Austin and Oakland. The Green City Blue Lake blog has a great post on what this group is doing. In addition, the steering committee has been formed for next years sustainability summit. I was glad to be included in this group who will help make next year’s event even more successful than this year. We meet next week to begin the process.

Last week also marked the grand opening of the Evergreen Cooperative Laundry. While this project is exciting for its green values alone (dry cleaners and laundries have HUGE environmental impact), it is also a cooperative. This means that the workers have a stake in the company and are going to work hard to make it a success. Hopefully this is just the beginning of the co-op movement in Cleveland, as this type of business model makes more sense that working just to make someone else rich. This could change the way Clevelanders look at work and make them proud to be employed, because they are employed by a business they partially own.

Yes, the leaves are getting colorful. While the trees are displaying a bright mixture of reds, golds and oranges, Cleveland is pulling out it the green.

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The world agrees-the environment is a big issue.

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

I have been reading the Pew Global Attitudes Project report. It is an interesting read and covers a range of topics. The main crux of the report is how the world is changing its view of the US, now that Obama is the president. It addresses extremism, world trade, how people view their own lives, and even swine flu. The most important part to me, was the world’s view of the environment.

Leading the list in concern is Brazil. Ninety percent of those surveyed consider the environment to be a serious issue. The list that had a response rate of 2/3 or more that are concerned about the environment included Argentina, France, South Korea, India, Turkey, Japan and Mexico. Are you curious as to where America falls? Out of 25 countries surveyed, the US tied with Russia to be third from the bottom! The only people who care less are Poland and China. So, it is those of the world who do the most damage who care the least. What does that say about us and our standing in the world? And concern is on the rise in most countries. In the Middle East (like Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon) concern has risen by over 10 percentage points just since last year.

They asked the question as to whether the environment should take precedence over economic growth. The results were truly telling. Those countries whose economy had a good year (Brazil, China, and India) were most like to respond that the environment should be more important than the economy. Those countries who didn’t fare as well this year were far less likely to agree with them.

Nationalism and politics plays into the results of this survey as well. When asked which country was most trusted to figure out a solution to the Global Warming issue, several countries chose themselves as best suited: US, China, India, Brazil, and Germany all think that they are most trusted to find a solution. Kenya, Nigeria, Israel, Indonesia and Canada agree with the US. Most of Western Europe believe in Germany. The rest of the results are across the board.

The survey simply shows the results, and doesn’t give out the commentary. So, naturally I will. As usual, we as people on the planet are more concerned with our economic success than anything else. we say we want to save the planet for our children, but are more concerned with making the money than saving the environment, so the next generation has a planet worth living on. If we spent more time instilling the values that will break this cycle, and less effort on trying to have enough money to buy our way out of it, then the next generation will have more on their side. The one thing that was missing from this report was the ultimate solution. What is economies could expand and grow by saving the environment? The truth is, we can do both. The one thing that I took away from the Sustainability Summit, is that you can do good and make a living. That has to be our goal if any real change is to happen.

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Cleveland Sustainability Summit: Fueling the Economic Engine with Renewable Resorces

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

I wanted to start out with a few quotes of the people that I am connected to:

Carole over at Cleveland Real Estate News wrote this to me: Robert it was the most amazing conference/summit i have ever been to. Bar none! I made so many good connections and had so many wonderful conversations surrounding how to improve the neighborhoods for both business and residents. OMG it was fabulous!

Jonathan Sin-Jin Satayathum wrote on FB: The ‘Sustainable Cleveland 2019′ summit was incredibly meaningful and cathartic to me personally-but also for our beloved City.

Chris Gammell wrote on his blog: I must say, I’m impressed.

And Joe Koncelik at Ohio Environmental Law Blog wrote: The Sustainable Cleveland 2019 summit was unlike any other conference or summit I had attended. I have been to plenty where the goal was simply to raise awareness- Typically a parade of talking heads followed up by urgent pleas to do something in the future.

I enjoyed the whole experience. If you have been to an E4S meeting, then it was similar to some of those meetings. If you haven’t, then you need to go. Holly Harlan has done more to promote a sustainable economy in this city than anyone I know. I was glad that she was recognized at the summit and received a standing ovation. It is true leadership like this that makes a difference. Over the three days, we were kept on topic, told to stay positive, learned to interact and asked to dream big. And we did! Some visions of the year 2019 were Utopian. I believe in dreaming big, but hunger and poverty may not be possible to eradicate in a decade-by I am willing to help give it a try. Some things that people worked on, though, were completely attainable. We can get a larger portion of our food from the local economy, creating new jobs and promoting local businesses. We can put a windfarm on the lake, increase recycling regionally, turn garbage into energy, and weatherize every home in the city.

stage1The final day, we created prototypes for our ideas. Some were thought out, and ready to go. Our team developed a prototype for a year-round facility where materials could be diverted from landfill and turned into resources for the community. The plan includes job creation, promoting the arts and the local economy, and job and art training. When I sat down on day 3, we seemed to know what to do. We built a prototype. It came together. We thought, this is a great idea. It needs to be done. Let’s do it. I have heard of things like this happening. Great minds come together and a deal is struck, or an idea formulated, or a company formed…all over coffee or a lunch. stage2 The idea for this summit was to get the juices flowing, to help form public policy, to help figure out how to help fuel this economic engine with renewable resources. How can we get the advanced energy center going? How can we attract the people who assemble wind turbines into the city? Where can we find the capital to get these ideas rolling? Cheer leading and appreciation is not to be discounted, but words mean little without the action. I challenged everyone in the room to figure out how to continue this work, to take their ideas to the next step. Since moving here in 2000, there has always been a lot of talk, but a lot less action. If we want to make big changes, we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work. We need to stop asking the government to bail us out and create our own future. This city is behind us, but the city can’t do it all. Without the true efforts of the business community, then how can we recreate a vibrant economy? It is business that creates jobs, careers, opportunities. This event was about Cleveland’s Green Economy. Don’t get me wrong, the environmental crisis is real. But this summit was not about the feel-good, save the planet. It was about rethinking Cleveland and making a change that can have economic impact as well as an environmental one.

I had one great conversation about casinos with a fellow participant. He was knowledgeable and intelligent. He supports casinos as the beginnings of economic growth and believes that it could be one factor in helping to jump start our economy. I disagree. Furthermore, I wonder why we are even considering it. We know we need to tap into new technologies, green collar industries and renewables. What if all the money spent on lobbying, on campaigning, on signature gathering was spent on advancing a sustainable city, then the work would be half over already. Those who want to form casinos are not really looking for a way to help the city, or they would be pushing for something that doesn’t exploit our situation, but uses it as an opportunity for real and lasting change. I would say, sure we can have a casino in the city-IF it is owned by majority stakeholders who live in the city limits, IF a minimum job creation target is achieved, IF it is designed and built using local talent and businesses, IF it is green and sustainable. Now that is something that I can get behind.

Now that the rant is over, let me tell you a few other things that impressed me about this event.
The commitment. This was 3 full days. People took time away from their jobs, their families, even their homes to be here. They wanted to be a part of the solution.
Dedication: An event of this size does not occur spontaneously. It take huge efforts by staff, and Andrew Watterson and his team pulled it off with flying colors!
Leadership: The mayor and his staff were here every day. City Council members Cummings, Zone, and Sweeney were there (and possibly more).
Interest: There is a way to touch on many aspects of this issue and make a difference. Whether you want to work on local food, advanced energy, or waste, there is a place for you to contribute. So I challenge you-what will you do to create a vibrant local green economy?

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Van Jones

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

I will be writing about the last couple of days at the summit, but first I have to catch up. One of the blogs that I read is the Green Building Law Update. The author is Chris Cheatham. His work is insightful and far more informational than mine. I highly recommend you check out his blog and follow him on witter or your favorite social media. Anyhow, he posted this video of Van Jones, and I wanted to share it with you. I said that he was inspirational when he spoke at the summit, so now you can see why I say that!

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