Archive for June, 2008

Greenwashing

June 25, 2008 · Filed under Week of June 24 2008 · Tagged , , ,

Today will be another short blog just because it is so nice outside!  I would rather be out than inside on the computer! :)

So yesterday the boy and I were in Somerville, MA heading towards Arlington, MA.  We passed a Whole Foods Market with a HUGE banner hanging on the store that said, “Did you remember to bring your reusable bag?”  I LOVED that!  It really was a huge sign…it took up a whole corner of the building.  This brings me to todays topic of greenwashing.  On Monday, I posted an article on the Meeting Revolution’s Facebook page that was all about greenwashing.  Basically, greenwashing is saying that your company (or even personally) is green and environmentally friendly when your company (or you) really aren’t.

Here is the link to that article: http://thesietch.org/mysietch/keith/2008/04/10/how-to-spot-greenwash/

I see this a lot in hotels.  I have to say to hotels that is great that you have a linen program but what else?  There is so much they can do but they just don’t put the effort into it.  I can see how some people think that being green takes a lot of effort but really it isn’t.  It is changing some habits like mentioned in one of the videos on EcoTube (the British shopping video).  If you are going to do something anyway, like grocery shop, then why not bring your own bags?  Change is hard…I understand that completely!

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Eco-Tube

June 19, 2008 · Filed under Week of June 17 2008 · Tagged , ,

First a random thought…This too was taken from Harvard Business Review for Green Business…”In a federal district court case in Mississippi, plaintiffs are suing oil & coal companies for green house gas emissions arguing that they contributed to the severity of Hurricane Katrina. The claims in that case include unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy (against the American Petroleum Institute), public and private nuisance, trespass, negligence, and fraudulent misrepresentation.” Interesting, huh?

This week I got an e-mail from one of the groups that I belong to on Facebook. The e-mail talked about a U-Tube for the environment. The link is: www.eco-tube.com/home.aspx. I recommend that everyone goes and looks at these videos. I have really enjoyed the videos so far. I really enjoy the videos that take a humorous look at the issues happening. For example, these two:
http://www.eco-tube.com/v/FUN/Pussy_Killers.aspx and http://www.eco-tube.com/v/FUN/Harrison_Ford_loses_an_acre.aspx

Yes, todays blog is short but I really want you to now go to EcoTube and check it out! Go…now! :)

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Trying to kill the planet?

June 10, 2008 · Filed under Week of June 10 2008 · Tagged , , , , ,

So as an update from last week…I did hear back from the Newton Chamber of Commerce but not from the Newton Marriott.  Here is what Vanessa (Director of Events at the Newton Chamber) had to say: Amanda~ Thank you for your feedback and suggestions.   The information is valuable and we will consider your points when planning next year’s event.   Thanks again.  Vanessa Leite

Consider my points?  I hope she does more than consider them!

Random fact from the Harvard Business Review:  The World Health Organization estimates that burning dung and drinking contaminated water together cause eight million deaths per year!  Can you believe that?!!?  I was amazed when I first read that.

So on to the topic of today’s blog…I want to show that anyone can make a difference and it never hurts to speak up!  Over the weekend, I attended a Chowder Festival in Portsmouth, NH.  It is part of Prescott Park’s annual events.  I have been attending this event for over 10 years!

This event has grown a lot over the past couple of years both in attendees and in safety…I think it started when a local company (Lupo’s) decided to serve cold chowder to a couple thousand people.  That really got the health inspector’s attention.  So now there are much stricter rules.  This year they started to give out polystyrene bowls at every booth…there are about 14 booths and 4,000 attendees.   I had brought my own bowl and spoon but was refused service.  The reason why they switched from one bowl for every booth to one bowl for one booth is that the health inspector is afraid that the ladle will touch the dirty bowl and spread germs from one person to another.  So when I got home I sent an e-mail to the Executive Director of Prescott Park and this is what I said to him (this is just part of the e-mail…I had other comments which is why this seems like a strange start to this paragraph):

Also what disgusted me more than the lines were the Polystyrene bowls.  Prescott Park is trying to kill the planet.  Why couldn’t we have used a corn or bamboo based product?  Just think about it…there were 14 booths and over 4,000 people…that is at least 56,000 Polystyrene bowls!  Here is an example that I hope you can use an inspiration, “When we “greened” the Live Earth concert in Giants Stadium, using china service for 51,000 fans would have been impossible.  This of the amount of hot dogs, pizza slices, pretzels, etc. they went through during the eight hour concert!  What we were able do, however, was convince the stadium caterer to use biodegradable cups, wrappers, cutlery, etc.  Because we had composting available for the event, these items were then thrown into the compost bins along with the leftover food items, avoiding food waste going into the landfill waste.  Meeting Strategists Worldwide

This year I even brought my own bowl and spoon.  Of course the booths refused to serve me so I did something that would be worse in the eyes of the health inspector.  I took the bowl that they gave me dumped it into my bowl and left my dirty bowl on the booth.  While I was in the very long lines, I had time to talk to the people around me about the bowl situation and many were concerned about the polystyrene bowls.  One guy even said, “I can’t understand why they wouldn’t use a corn base bowl?”

The Executive Director wrote back and told me that I was absolutely correct.  He was horrified about the bowl situation as well but it was the only economical choice.  So I have volunteered my services to help the Park become green.  I want people to start speaking up about what they see or experience for themselves.  How are things going to change if no one says anything?

As I was writing the e-mail to the Executive Director I was researching how long it takes polystyrene bowls to decompose…knowing that it took a long time.  By the way, never found that number which can’t be a good thing but I came across this web site: http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_plastics/sec_pfpg.asp?CID=1421&DID=5213.  It is for American Chemistry and it is facts about polystyrene.  This fact sheet made me laugh…it looks at polystyrene is a positive light.  Of course they aren’t going to talk about the negatives…um like it kills the planet!  Read it and I hope you find it kind of funny and sad all at the same time.

This week on the Meeting Revolution Facebook page, I posted a comment on the wall.  I want anyone who does something green to write about it.  Or better yet take a picture or video of it.  Post it to the web site.  Let everyone know what good things you are doing for the environment!

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Green Expo – Newton, MA

June 5, 2008 · Filed under Week of June 3 2008 · Tagged , , ,

On Tuesday, June 3, 2008, I attended a Green Expo put on by the Newton Chamber of Commerce. I was very excited to attend this since I missed the Boston Business Summit.

The exhibit hall opened at 10:30AM (the same time as the breakout meetings started). I got there at 10:25AM and they wouldn’t let me in yet…although other people were walking in so I just followed them. I walked around the show and met some great companies and people.

The companies who exhibited were:

Solar Sam, Green Needham, Furnature, Pearl’s Premium Lawn, Gentle Giant, MA Collaborative Law Council, Green Roundtable, Green Decade,  Coca Cola Bottling Company of New England, Hill Energy/Rate it Green,   EMS, Waste Management, Chapman Construction, National Grid, Charles River Watershed, Progressive Asset Management, Climate Energy, Aircuity, NewBridge on the Charles, Poirier Appliances, Equal Exchange, Stonyfield Farm, Sterritt Lumber, Anderson Windows, Shaklee, Sunshine Cleaning Systems, Mass DEP, WXRV 92.5, E.L. Harvey, Borrego Solar, Mass Technology Collaborative, Sustainable Construction Services, Casey Company, Big Toys, Curtains Up & Down, Clean Energy Design, New England Window Systems, Mass Biofuel, Suez Energy, NStar, Northeast Data Destruction/Miller Recycling, Burke Oil, Wainwright Bank, Boston Business Journal, City of Newton/Mass Recycle, Arbonne International, Waterless/Ralco, Indrsano Electric, Conservation Solutions, Applied Ecologics, Newton Marriott Hotel, Sustainnovation Consulting, Dustless Floor Sanding, Boston Green Building, Geiger Promotional Products, Mass Energy Alliance, Gorman Richardson Architects, S&H Construction, Shear Color Printing, Next Level Promotions, Earth Our Only Home, Green On the Side, Smart Growth Alliance, ERG.

So as you can see a good amount of companies but they were really focused on the house/construction side. I was there to look for clients.  I wanted to talk to Coca Cola, Stonyfield Farm, Boston Business Journal, Newton Marriott, Boston Green Building, Earth Our Only Home and Green on the Inside.  I was able to talk to all of them except the Newton Marriott…who really needed to talk to me.

This was the Newton Marriott’s opportunity to shine in front of 200/300 local green businesses and in my opinion they did a not so great job.  First there was no recycling bins in the exhibit hall or any of the break outs.  There were bottled sodas at lunch and the water glasses were pre-poured.  There was no mention of donating the leftover food or composting the waste.  They did mention that the chicken was local but what about the rest of the meal?   Plus the major lunch sponsor was Stonyfield Farms, Gary Hirshberg was actually speaking…so they should have used Stonyfield yogurt in the dessert.  The next day when I was back in my office, I wrote to the Director of Sales at the Newton Marriott and told him these concerns.  I also told him to call me if he wanted to learn more about being green.

I also sent an e-mail to the President and the Director of Events at the Chamber and told them my thoughts.  There were other logistical issues besides being green.  I even had people at my table at lunch telling me that this event could have used my help…kind of flattering! :)

So if you go to an event that you see things that could be more green, don’t hesitate in telling the planner and the meeting site.  We need to have minds changed…be a revolutionist!

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