Charleston Green Business

Clean Energy Legislation Decoded

2010-04-06T08:30:00.003-04:00

Hello Green Biz Community!

So here we are, beginning of April, 2010, and we are closer than ever before to passing legislation that will guarantee a stable future for renewable energy, global climate, and green businesses. Right now there are two different Bills being debated in Congress that represent our last hope to advance this cause. Most experts believe that the Democrats will loose their majority in the elections this upcoming November. Thus, we may be facing our last chance in the near future to pass a legislative act that will ensure a clean energy and sustainable future for the United States of America.

Our goal as the Green Business community is to educate ourselves about the details of these bills and how it will impact our industry; BEFORE all the details get skewed by the media and the opposition. If you are interested in learning more about The Clean Energy and Security Act (Waxman) and The Clean Energy Act (Graham), I have posted this article on my personal blog for just that purpose. I have provided the full text versions of both bills for you to download, and a short summary and comparison of each one. Feel free to leave any questions or comments so we can start a discussion on this issue.

House and Senate Clean Energy Bill: A Comparison

Guaranteed market for renewables in China

2009-12-30T17:05:00.002-05:00

What could it do for renewables if our governments mandated a market like China is doing?

Go GREEN this year for the Holidays!

2009-12-18T12:41:00.002-05:00

You can still decorate with other festive Holiday colors such as red, white, silver, and gold if you’d like. I don’t mean you should surround yourself in only a green hue nor do I mean you should spend excessive amounts of green. Instead, I’m hoping all of us holiday enthusiasts can think of creative ways to be less wasteful and more environmentally conscious this year.

I’ve come up with a few relatively easy and creative ways to rethink our traditional holiday habits. It’s just a start, but I hope it encourages us all to remember Mother Nature as we celebrate the Season of Giving.

Gifts
· Purchase a recyclable reusable mug for the coffee or tea lover in your family, especially for the one who frequently purchases their caffeinated beverages on the go.
· Stuff the student’s stocking with eco-friendly school supplies such as pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, folders, and binders made from recycled and recyclable materials.
· Dress the fashion queen with some hip and trendy clothing made from all natural fibers that are made at shops that respect the environment and its employees.
· Treat someone’s feet to a new pair of shoes or slippers made from either all natural and/or recycled materials.
· Buy the book worms you know a “like new” slightly used copy of their favorite readings from a local bookstore. Better yet, unless you are personally attached, give away your books to those you feel will most enjoy them.
· Restock the beauty queen’s supply of makeup and other cosmetics or toiletries with environmentally friendly products.
· Purchase (or make) the pooches you know and love a new bed, blanket, toys, or treats using all natural materials or ingredients.

Wrapping
· Instead of wrapping paper, use a decorative or personalized (monogrammed) blanket or towel to wrap a gift. Tie it up with a pretty ribbon that can be saved and reused for another gift or purpose.
· Instead of paper or plastic gift bags, put someone’s present in a reusable bag of some sort: tote bag, grocery bag, duffel bag, etc.
· Pack the school supplies in an eco-friendly backpack.
· Place the books in a personalized book tote bag.
· Put the cosmetics in a travel makeup bag.
· Pack clothing items in a piece of luggage or duffel bag.
· Choose a decorative basket or bowl to load up someone’s gifts and goodies.
· Place a new set of towels, sheets, etc inside a nice laundry hamper.
· Use a large mixing bowl or popcorn bowl as the basis for a gift
· Pick out an oversized tub made from recycled plastic to fill with toys or pet gifts. The tub can then be used to store the toys in the future.
· Use a trash can or mop bucket to fill with house or car cleaning needs. Buy environmentally cleaning products as well as a recycled can or bucket if possible.
· Choose decorative storage containers such as canisters for coffee or tea or jars for cookies or dog treats.
· And if you prefer regular wrapping paper, choose a recycled paper product. And try to use string, bows, and tags that can saved and reused.

And just because you rethink your gifts and wrapping this year doesn’t mean those giving you gifts will. Try to be an example this year, by saving or recycling what excess holiday trash you can. Save trashed wrapping paper to insulate the next fragile gift you wrap. Save what bows and ribbons you can. Take the time to separate recyclables from trash and be sure to encourage your friends and families to do the same. The Holidays can still be merry and fun without so much excess waste. As an eco supporter, do your part to be conscious and creative during the holidays and then use the festive get togethers as times to be the example of what being green really means. Happy Holidays to all!

Ethical Consumerism as Opportunity

2009-12-17T13:25:00.002-05:00

Ethical consumerism is the practice of consumers deliberately purchasing goods or products produced “responsibly” so they eliminate or reduce environmental and/or social harm. Each time someone purchases a product, he or she is not only supporting the proliferation of that product, but all that goes into the creation of that product. Each product is considered a vote – for inhumane working conditions or fair trade, for further environmental degradation or conservation. Ethical consumerism appears to be on the rise; one can find evidence at any grocery store. A wider availability of organic produce, fair-trade coffee, and free range eggs are some obvious examples. Many products tout their eco-friendly characteristics – how they were made, ingredients, packaging, and so on. Providing information to the consumer is a great opportunity for businesses to market their product. Of course, many companies disingenously market their products to look like something they're not, as with “greenwashing.” This can make it difficult for preferences to be shown for genuine products. Seeking certification is one way for genuine progressive companies to stand above the rest. Fairtrade, the Organic Trade Association, the Forest Stewardship Council, and Cradle to Cradle certification are just a small sampling of different certification programs various companies can apply to that may boost their marketability and image. The standards and benefits of various programs are debatable, but in the days of information overload, they seem a step in the right direction.

For more information on ethical consumerism, see Ethical Consumer, a U.K. - based magazine that provides free buyers' guides and information.

Solar Heated Hot Tubs!

2009-12-14T19:11:00.003-05:00

Looking for a hot tub? Consider a solar tub!

Using the sun to create hot water for pools and hot tubs is now a reality. “With the increased efficiency of solar vacuum tubes, heating hot tubs has become more and more popular using solar. The basic principle of a solar hot tub is to use the solar collectors during the day to heat the tub." Solar powered hot tubs use tube pressurized collector panels. In these panels, water is heated by the sun and then transferred to the hot tub by a 12-volt water pump, which also runs on solar power.

Traditional water heaters and especially pool heaters are bulky, require regular maintenance, and are quite expensive to operate and service. Modern solar water heaters are better than traditional hot water heaters, because they are smaller in size and more efficient to operate. Ultimately, solar water heating offers more efficiency and long term savings.

From an environmental standpoint, many are interested in solar water heaters simply to utilize the sun’s energy. There is a large movement of consumers looking to take advantage of money saving solar technology. And for many green consumers, solar water heating is a major step to reduce your carbon footprint.

Geothermal Heating

2009-12-13T12:15:00.002-05:00

Many people spend hundreds of dollars a year on heating and air conditioning for their homes. Especially people that live in places where temperatures get below freezing. Traditional heating methods include gas furnaces, oil furnaces, electric furnaces, and hot water heating systems. All of these methods use a lot of energy and cost a lot of money. In today's world there is a trend toward "going green" and conserving energy. Can this ideology be applied to heating our homes? Yes it can!! Geothermal energy provides people with a cheaper, more energy efficient alternative. Geothermal energy comes from the heat of our planet which has been there since its formation. A geothermal heat pump allows us to capture heat even from cold ground. Since there is no energy conversion necesarry, thermal efficiency is high. I got to witness this great idea when my family rented a mountain house in PA over Thanksgiving. The house was architecturally beautiful and I never would have guessed that there was an alternative energy heating system. It felt as warm and comfortable as any home with modern technology. Hopefully, geothermal energy will become more popular in the near future.

Liquid Wood

2009-12-11T16:12:00.000-05:00

With the growing price of crude oil and concerns over the safety of everyday products it is no surprise that new alternatives are being explored in the world of plastics. Plastics are petroleum based and are linked to heavy metals and softeners known as phthalates which is cause for concern when it is being used for everything from food containers to baby toys. Plastics are also non-renewable and some are not recyclable leading to greater amounts of trash that remain in a landfill forever. When burned, plastics release toxic fumes into the atmosphere. A growing alternative to petroleum based plastics is a bio-plastic called Arboform.

Arboform is a non-toxic bio-plastic composed of wood pulp based lignin, which can be mixed with other natural fibers along with wax to make a strong waterproof plastic alternative. Lignin, is an idyllic raw material because tens of millions of tons are often discarded as a byproduct of the papermaking process. Most commonly, lignin is separated from the cellulose and hemicellulose used to make high quality paper, by means of a sulfite or sulfate pulping process. Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology in Germany have found a way to was to use high-pressure hydrolysis (with nothing more than water, high temperature and high pressure) to yield water insoluble lignin that does not need to be separated out by chemical means. With scares about the safety of children's toys Arboform seems like a perfect alternative being lower in chemicals and able to retain its stability even against saliva. When under high pressure conditions, Arboform can be injected into molds and behave just like plastic. Its versatility and renewability makes Arboform a very attractive prospect to manufacturers. When the life of the product is over it can be broken down and recycled as filler or can be burned just like wood without any additional toxic fumes.

This technology is relatively new in the United States but Arboform could be a real solution to reducing dependence on oil. Since the raw materials are renewable and can be grown in the country, the security of the resource is exponentially greater than that of crude oil. Paper manufacturing companies could easily incorporate the production of Arboform along with their products making them more efficient and allowing them to earn greater profits from their raw materials. Arboform is attractive to health conscious consumers that demand non-toxic products for themselves and their families. Even though it is more popular in Europe manufacturers hope that with the green movement Arboform will gain popularity in the U.S. More testing is needed for the safety of the product but overall the outlook is very positive.

By: Stephanie Berry

Resources:

MSNBC "A greener alternative to plastics: liquid wood" By: Bryn Nelson

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28283260/page/2/
http://www.sustainabilityninja.com/sustainable-alternative-materials/liquid-wood-an-eco-alternative-to-plastics/

Will Hydrogen be the Fuel of the Future?

2009-12-10T12:47:00.001-05:00

For decades byproducts of petroleum have fueled our industries and vehicles. Though the burning of these fuels has been the backbone of our economy they have had an adverse effect on our environment. As the fear of global warming rises; governments, entrepreneurs, and industries are spending millions to find what will replace oil byproducts. Hydrogen, one of the most abundant elements on earth, has become one of the fuels to challenge oil’s supremacy, but will it be the fuel to power the green revolution?
There are many pros to hydrogen fuel cells. In the fuel cells hydrogen is mixed with oxygen to create electricity to power a vehicle. Fuel cell vehicles emit no noxious gases; the byproducts of a fuel cell are water vapor and heat. The abundance of hydrogen makes it a perfect substitute from oil, which is a finite resource. Hydrogen can also be produced in large quantities domestically by using water from the great lakes, lessening our dependence on foreign sources of energy and creating jobs that cannot be outsourced. Currently hydrogen fuel is also being used in a variety of prototype vehicles from cars, buses, airplanes, rockets, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Even with all of hydrogen’s benefits there are some major problems with hydrogen.
A major problem with hydrogen is that it does not occur naturally by itself in nature. Hydrogen is usually bonded to other elements due to the fact that it only has one electron that orbits its atomic structure. Hydrogen can be separated from water by using electrolysis, but this method is very expensive and power intensive. Most hydrogen now is processed from natural gas because of the high cost of the separation process. Another problem is the cost of the fuel cell within the car. Even though fuel cells have been in use for over fifteen years engineers have not found an innovative way to make fuel cells cheaper. These high cost make the hydrogen powered car to expensive for most consumers and not cost effective for companies to mass produce. At the present time there are only a few hydrogen fueling stations scattered around the country and for hydrogen to overtake gasoline a distribution system has to be built which would cost billions and would take decades to build and get running efficiently to satisfy the consumer s fuel needs.
Besides the problems that hydrogen has the industry has fierce competitors like electric cars and plug in hybrids that seemed poised to knock hydrogen down the list for alternatives. In 2009 US energy secretary Steven Chu eliminated public funding for hydrogen fuel cell research, but Congress rejected the idea and approved 300 million to continue research on hydrogen fuel cells. There are some in Congress that think that hydrogen will be the vital to repowering how America will travel in the future. As for an entrepreneur wanting to get in the hydrogen fuel cell industry it seems that without drastic innovation to bring down cost and the political will to start building distribution infrastructure, hydrogen fuel will not be the fuel to replace oil.

Green Patent Acceleration

2009-12-09T16:06:00.003-05:00

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced it will be starting a program to accelerate the review of clean technology patents. Under the current system, patents going through the USPTO can take over 40 months to be passed. This places a great burden on the spread of new technology throughout our country because people do not want to release their technology to the market until it is protected by patents. By accelerating the patent process, this gives America the potential to have an increased spread of clean technologys which have the ability to aid green ventures in all realms of the economy. In addition, compared to economic stimulus, this is a relatively low cost way of moving towards making America more competitive in the clean tech race.

Green Energy in South Carolina

2009-12-08T22:19:00.000-05:00

Last week, I was reading Clean Tech Revolution and discovered that Austin Energy is the nation's leader in selling green power. Curious to see how they pulled this off, I logged on to Austin Energy's website, and found that they offer a Greenchoice energy program in which their customers pay an additional 2.05 cents per kilowatt hour to be supplied with local, clean energy. This made me wonder, does South Carolina have a program like this set up? The answer is yes they have a program, but not an identical one. As of April 2008, SCE&G, Duke Energy Corp., and Progress Energy Inc. are all offering to sell green energy to their 1.3 million South Carolina customers.

So why have South Carolina’s programs not been as successful as Austin Energy, who’s Greenchoice program often has a waiting list? The answer may lie in the fact that South Carolina’s energy companies charge a 4 cent premium for green energy while Austin Energy only charges a 2 cent premium. Also, Austin Energy offers a 5 year green energy contract. This binding agreement is popular because many customers believe that it will save them money in the long run, as regular energy prices continue to rise. If South Carolina energy companies enacted similar programs, demand for green energy would rise, as would local green energy production. Currently, South Carolina’s energy companies are supplied with green energy from several landfill methane projects and one solar project. If demand for green energy rises as much as it has in Austin (up 400million kwh since 2007), South Carolina would see a large amount of growth in the green energy industry, especially wind and solar. This would create more jobs in South Carolina, and put this state on the map as a mecca for green energy production.

Greener miles traveled

2009-12-07T13:16:00.003-05:00

It is holiday season and many of us will be traveling to see family and friends in the upcoming weeks. For some like myself, that means flying. Flying is convenient and if you're going outside of the North American Continent, it is the only feasible option.

In a time when most of us are concerned with greenhouse gases, it is important to make notice that air transportation accounts for 3.5% of global annual emissions. And although that number may not seem that significant, the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calculates that number will jump to almost 15% by 2050. Emissions from airplanes are of greater concern because of their elevation. There hasn't been much research done to understand how long those emissions remain in the atmosphere, and how quickly they have an effect on global climate change (regular emissions are calculated to last up to 300 years in the atmosphere, scary isn't it?). What if airplanes could harvest their own emissions and use carbon sinks to deposit them? It wouldn't be a long-term solution but it could help reduce emissions in the short-term.

On the positive side, there are indications that some development is taking place to reduce emissions. NASA is working on lighter materials and engines. Some researchers are attempting to create bio jet fuel to reduce the emissions from oil based jet fuels. Is it time for creativity to take place and a completely new and efficient design of airplane to take place? One that uses the natural world for inspiration (bio mimicry).

To all I wish Safe and if possible Green travels!

Solar-Powered Recording Studios

2009-12-06T23:07:00.004-05:00

**Click on picture for website link**

After perusing this blog, the Off The Grid party and Green Salons articles caught my eye and they got me thinking of other studios and services that could adopt a sustainable spin. The notion of green recording studios came to my mind as a fun and interesting industry that could reduce their carbon footprint while simultaneously providing premium recording services to musical artists. I came across a professional recording studio located in the UK that is apparently the first or one of the first fully solar-powered professional recording studio in the UK. The studio "was built using recycled materials where this was possible, and the electronics right down to the air conditioning is adapted to managing with a low energy demand". The studio manager commented that the sound quality is very high and the efficient use of alternative energy is always a plus! I feel that the arts/culture scene is a demographic that has a potentially high interest in sustainability and this also stems back to the Off The Grid party - using alternative energy to "fuel" a musical industry
Ian Amundson

Organic Cotton

2009-12-06T17:28:00.003-05:00

Today, I’m wearing jeans and a t-shirt, neither of which are made from organic cotton. The environmental implications of my simple jeans and a t-shirt are much more significant than I imagined. According to the November 2009 US Cotton Market Monthly Economic Letter, the United States will produce 19.2 million pounds of cotton t his year alone. The world’s cotton production is about 120 million pounds. Of all of the cotton in the United States, 3.2 million pounds are organically grown. The 16 million pounds of cotton that is not grown organically in the United States are full of pesticides. 10 percent of the world’s pesticide use is just for cotton, and 25 percent of the world’s insecticides are sprayed on cotton fields. That means right now I’m wearing roughly one pound of chemicals just from a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Some of the sprays used on cotton are among the most toxic in the world and have been linked to immune issues, birth defects and reproductive disorders. The insecticides and pesticides used on “traditional” cotton crops are not the only environmental concern. The majority of the world’s cotton is still picked by hand. Any harmful effects caused by the insecticides and pesticides directly affect those harvesting the cotton. The chemicals seep into the soil, also possibly effecting water supply. Cottonseed oil is also a common ingredient in baked goods and salad dressings. We all come into contact with the contaminants in cotton. Irrigation for cotton is also extensive, as cotton uses the most water of all agricultural crops. Organic cotton farmers, besides helping the environment, also produce arguably a better product. Organic cotton fabrics are softer and better for the skin. Also, smaller organic farmers supply a less expensive product as they do not have to buy copious amounts of pesticides and insecticides.

The demand for organic cotton has increased along with its popularity. Patagonia, among other brands and smaller boutiques are incorporating organic cotton clothing into their lines. Patagonia, after researching where their cotton originated, made the switch to using only organic cotton for their clothing, “[Organic] methods support biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, improve the quality of soil and often use less water. Growing organically takes more time, requires more knowledge and skill, and, for now, costs more. But it's worth it.”

Buy Local

2009-12-06T16:09:00.004-05:00

This week in Charleston was Buy Local, Be Local week, November 30th- December 6th. Some of the events included "Eat Local Night", "Holiday Stroll", and "Buy Local, Be Local Bash". The campaign is a grassroots campaign designed to educate residents the think more local when they make purchases. There are a lot of opportunities around Charleston to buy local and support the local businesses that keep the community unique. The campaign wants to increase market share to independent, locally owned businesses by increasing awareness about the benefits of choosing local. The campaign has made it easier to identify the local businesses with the Lowcountry Local First logo window decal.

Lowcountry Local First "is committed to building a network of small businesses that allows all business owners to participate on the same level. Retail, manufacturing and agricultural businesses will unite with the same mission - to promote and preserve their local economy through the promotion of their goods and services."

Off the Grid Party

2009-12-02T14:15:00.003-05:00

I have recently made friends with a few local DJ's in town and we have come up with the idea to throw an OFF THE GRID party at the beginning of 2010. What we want to do is build at least 3 bikes that would be hooked up to all of the DJ equipment via batteries that will power everything. At the party the fans will be able to participate by peddling during the party and to keep peoples interest we plan on having a projector set up with racing backgrounds behind the cyclers so that it looks and feels like you are in a bike race while the music is playing. Right now we are still in the building and planning process. We have gotten all of the watt information from the equipment and see that we will need to create roughly 1500-2000 watts of power to keep everything going. Right now we are looking for sponsors or anyone who would want to help and take part in the planning process. We need to find a warehouse in or near downtown where we can throw the party. We would love any bike donations and are planning to use marine batteries to store the energy created by the bikes. We have gotten a lot of positive feedback on this idea and feel like we can make it happen! Right now if anyone would like to donate, sponsor or help in any way you can contact me on this blog or through mp3sfornicole@gmail.com!
Nicole Seyle

Green Salon

2009-12-02T14:14:00.006-05:00

**picture courtesy of greenhairpdx.com; click on their picture to go to site**

As the semester progressed I began thinking of ideas that would interest me and at the same time enhance the green movement. The other day while I was at the hair salon I overhead some hair stylist discussing a green salon so I began doing research on the idea. It turns out there are many "green"salons worldwide. The products used in these salons are organic products and the furniture is recyclable. You can locate a green spa/salon near you at: www.gogreensalon.com. Green salons include products such as organic shampoo, organic nail polish, recyclable furniture and materials, plastic material, etc. I found this idea to be quite interesting being such a girly girl. If there was a green salon near I would definitely support it because after all they are contributing to your carbon footprint...lol. You can also visit www.greenhairpdx.com to see a real green salon. Some of their green updates include:

Reclaimed wood when rebuilding each station
All paper goods were printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink.
Styling chairs were upholstered in Eco-friendly PVC-free material.
Low VOC paint was used to paint every surface inside the building.
Cotton denim insulation was used wherever new insulation was needed.
Use Energy Star appliances
Use earth-friendly cleaning products.
Use Davine products; Davines is a company that produce products with all natural ingredients. They also only use renewable energy sources in their laboratories. For more information on their products visit: www.Davines.com.

The Green Roof Wave has hit Charleston!

2009-12-02T14:00:00.001-05:00

GRO (Green Roof Outfitters) is based in the Charleston area and services any and all who are interested in green roofing. There are many locations throughout the U.S. but it is nice to know that we have one right here in Charleston as well! Through this company even a Wal Mart in America now has a green roof! GRO provides the following services to its customers: consultation on scope of green roof project, provide cost estimation, propagation of vegetated modules, delivery to site (if needed), installation (if needed), 1 year warranty & maintenance included, and an ongoing maintenance plan (if needed). The GRO Modular green roof system can assist a building in achieving over 50% of the points needed to attain LEED Certification! The LEED Credits associated with GRO include sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy &atmosphere, materials & resources, and innovation & design process. They are even helping to organize an environmentally friendly 5K race in Mt. Pleasant! The race is called Catch the Leprechaun 5K and it takes place at 6:30pm on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at the Memorial Waterfront Park. There will be Irish music, a great post race party, a pot of gold for the winners and there will even be a Leprechaun, and if you finish before the Leprechaun you win a prize! Be sure to check out GRO and the race details at www.greenroofoutfitters.com.

"Buy American"

2009-11-30T15:53:00.003-05:00

After watching the “Story of Stuff” video and reading the Cradle to Cradle book, I was interested in learning more about how buying “stuff” impacts our environment and our economy. I found a very interesting article about the stimulus bill and new clean technology. With the downturn in our economy the government passed a stimulus bill to encourage people to buy more, which would boost our economy. What many people do not know is that in that stimulus bill was a “Buy American” regulation. This regulation states that everything must be bought in America using the stimulus money. While buying locally does help the environment and economy, the “Buy American” regulation has some very bad consequences for the implementation and progression of “energy-saving building technology.” Not only are companies not able to produce energy-efficient technologies (due to the fact that most circuits and parts are built overseas), but also it is possible for trade partners to retaliate and “90% of the world's consumers live outside of the United States, which remains one of the world's three largest exporter.” While the environmental benefits of a “Buy American” regulation are obvious, the fact that it takes away from advances in clean technologies and causes economic problems shows that the “Buy American” plan is not working. Instead of a large corporate “Buy American” regulation, the government should take this opportunity to help local governments provide information about buying locally in their communities, which would be more beneficial.

For more information visit the web site: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2009/11/11/buy-american-bad-america

Marketing "Green" to Consumers

2009-11-29T17:09:00.006-05:00

The sustainable marketplace is growing exponentially each year but a large proportion of consumers still do not believe in the value of going green. Issues such as higher prices and long-term return of investment dissuade mainstream consumers from becoming “green”. In order to convey the value of a green product or service, marketers must exhibit both the direct and indirect impact of purchasing a green product. For example, organic foods are becoming more and more popular due to consumers understanding of the health and environmental benefits. The key to successfully marketing a green product is to educate the consumer so they may understand their the impact of buying a green product versus a traditional product. Whole Foods is a great example of this strategy. Educational displays are placed beside their products, to provide customers an understanding of why their price is higher and the direct and indirect benefits. As a result, Whole Foods has been highly successful. The focus for marketing green in the future is to engage customers to use their dollars in positive change beyond their immediate and local context.

2009-11-19T23:35:00.003-05:00

Eco-Unit Army

Right here is Charleston is the Eco-Unit Army, a home improvement green business. They go around advertising their service of refurnishing homes to virtually cut down utility costs up to 40%. That should be enough to capture someone right there, but what they do is even more fascinating. They do projects such as window coating, green fiber insulation and rain water collection systems on new and old houses. The workers are highly skilled in working on old houses to keep the antique culture of Charleston while making them energy star "green" certified.

They also know how to market themselves well which I feel like is a huge issue in the green industry. They know that stating that their service will give your house a competitive advantage will draw people in. Last year at the green fair my sorority participated in marketing their service to the public, we had over 200 people sign up for more information and so far they have improved homes in the entire Charleston area including Isle of Palms. Marketing their product to the right target market in the most appealing way makes a huge difference and the fact that they have an advantage with knowledge of the historic houses sets them apart from the rest.

http://www.eco-unit.org/index.htm

The Fast Food Frontier

2009-11-17T12:34:00.005-05:00

Have you ever driven through a McDonald’s at 3 in the morning after a night out at the bars? I have. And that’s what got me thinking.

Time after time, we Americans are told that we’re obese. That our country keeps growing by the minute. Instead of an insult, I’ll take that as a compliment! Our technology is growing. Our industries are growing. Our movement towards sustainability and green is growing.

But, what if we cut out the burgers at 3 in the morning and cut down energy use at the same time? We could become a country that shrinks in size and grows in green. My suggestion is this: cut out the 24 hour services that use energy around the clock and cut back on eating after dark. But really, that’s not feasible for this country. Our answer? Develop a product like POWERleap.

POWERleap is a flooring system that creates energy when pressure is applied. Put these flooring systems in McDonald’s restaurants across the nation and people start creating the energy used to make their burgers. Store the energy generated by foot traffic during the day and use it to keep the drive-through running at night. It’s the perfect solution for a horrible habit.

But wait that’s not all! What if we turned the McDonald’s into a local fast food joint? Well then we could have healthy, locally grown food at 3 in the morning instead of a fat, greasy hamburger. Burgerville is doing just that, with its 39 restaurants currently running in the Pacific Northwest. Although it costs a little bit more, the benefit is the healthier feeling of knowing what you just ate was locally grown and good for you!

So, add the POWERleap with the Burgerville and the 24 hour service that McDonald’s provides and what do we get? A less obese country? Not quite. But what we do get is a more sustainable service that we have grown to love.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act

2009-11-15T18:14:00.009-05:00

Attention Charleston Green Business Community:

Just under the national political radar looms an opportunity to finally pass comprehensive Clean Energy and Green Jobs legislation.

The American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act of 2009-2010 will be debated and voted upon immediately after the final decision regarding the Comprehensive Healthcare Reform Bill. This is a call to action for the Green Business community to educate themselves and speak out with their opinions in support for this legislation.

Current Supporters say the ACES act will:

"* Put America back to work
* Transition the U.S. to clean, affordable energy
* Make us safer as we lessen our dependence on foreign oil
* Help America regain the mantle of leadership as the international community negotiates a global climate treaty later this year"

(www.repoweramerica.org)

Current critics claim:

"The Kerry-Boxer bill could mean a huge new energy tax on farmers, truckers, small businesses and America’s families and imperil millions of U.S. jobs."
(energycitizens.org)

Senator Lindsey Graham has decided to contribute bi-partisan support to the ACES act and is currently under extreme pressure from special interests to reverse his decision. Please take the time to educate yourself about the stipulations of the ACES act and join me and other concerned voters by writing a letter to senator Graham. As members of the Green Business Community and citizens of the World it is our responsibility to voice our support for this bill and share our opinions about how it could be better for the American people.

The bill will provide the right mix of Federal incentives to support growing green businesses and facilitate the creation of clean energy and sustainability focused jobs. Trade negotiations with nations that fail to respect the environmental concerns of this age will ensure that U.S businesses are not put at risk by these new policies. Most importantly, the new energy resources explored by this bill will drastically reduce our country's reliance on foreign petroleum products and help regain energy independence for the United States of America.

I have created a facebook group to facilitate open discussion and share opinions. Search for Support Clean Energy Legislation on facebook to join. Our members, with help from RePower South Carolina, intend to host several events to rally other concerned citizens to this cause. We will host sessions to share ideas and letter writing events to get legitimate arguments on to the senator's desk.

If you would like to help our efforts or contribute in any way, please contact me, Benjamin Gordon. You can find my contact information on the facebook group and explore the links and discussions being held on the subject. For more detailed info, a brief summary and open discussion of the ACES act can be found on my blog at www.generationbinary.com/wordpress.

Thank you for your interest in helping to fight for successful Clean Energy and Green Jobs legislation. Make your voice heard and help turn the pages of history for a brighter 21st century!

Benjamin D. Gordon

Outdoor Education as a Business Opportunity

2009-11-12T12:08:00.003-05:00

We have had various discussions this past semester in Ecopreneurship about the realm of education and the importance of informing the general public on issues concerning the environment. As the world of eco friendly business expands it is important to consider this environmental education of our future generation. No matter what goods or services a “green” business provides, its success depends on environmentally conscious individuals at every level. This past summer I had the incredible opportunity to work at the Green River Preserve summer camp for “young naturalists”. The camp sits on 3,400 acres of pristine wilderness and teaches kids the importance of respecting our environment, living sustainably and understanding the interconnectedness of all life. The program director has taken this model and implemented it into the local schools in the area along with other environmental leaders. A program called Muddy Sneakers has come about due to his vision and is currently found in 18 schools around the district. Muddy Sneakers uses values and practices, like that of the Green River Preserve, to get kids outdoors and help them understand our intimate connection to the natural world.
Programs like Muddy Sneakers are beginning to pop up all over the country and for good reason. The understanding our society is beginning to have about our effect on the environment is causing a “green revolution” to sweep the nation. The business world is being affected just as much any other area of society. In my opinion green business should not only provide eco-friendly products but should also work to support the environmental education system that is beginning to develop in the US and around the world. This would aid green businesses in two ways. One, with more support from local businesses, education programs like Muddy Sneakers could continue to do the great work they do while receiving more financial support from local green business owners. Green businesses could improve their reputation, their networking and their advertising market by helping support communities with strong environmental education programs.
Secondly, the more financial aid green businesses can provide to environmental education systems the greater the amount of people those systems will be able to educate. With more environmentally conscious citizens, come more potential customers for green businesses. The benefit could go both ways. Green Businesses are constantly in need of more public relations and a larger customer base. Environmental education programs are constantly in need of financial support and interest from their local communities. Green businesses, no matter what their product line may be, need to start seeing these areas of education as business opportunities in order to help out our future generations.

For more information on the recent news of Muddy Sneakers, please check out:
http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20090421/NEWS/904209947?&tc=autorefresh

America Recycles Day

2009-11-12T11:38:00.001-05:00

America Recycles Day (ARD), is coming up soon! This November 15th, is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products.

This will be the 12th year that millions of Americans have pledged to increase their recycling habits at home and work and to buy products made with recycled materials. The ARD supports local communities and raises awareness by educating citizens about the benefits of recycling. Volunteer America Recycles Day coordinators are positioned throughout the country and work to organize recycling awareness events in their schools and communities. 

“The purpose of America Recycles Day is to continue to promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling and encourage more people to join the movement toward creating a better natural environment.”

By taking the pledge you promise to:

-Find out what materials you can and cannot recycle in your community.

-Lead by example in your neighborhood by recycling

-Email your elected officials to ask them to increase funding for your community’s recycling program

-Tell 5 friends that recycling is the easiest thing they can do to slow global warming.

Food: The New Frontier of Citywide Recycling

2009-11-03T17:57:00.000-05:00

According to the US Department of Agriculture Americans throw away more than 25% of the food we prepare which amounts to 96 billion pounds of waste each year or 12% of the total waste generated by the country.

Composting is an extremely effective way to eliminate some of this addition to the waste stream. Compost, the rich, earthy result of nature’s own recycling process, transforms ordinary food scraps into a highly effective soil enricher, can prevent soil erosion and actually cleans pollutants from the earth.

Most cities currently have recycling programs to reduce the waste of plastics, glass and aluminum. Some cities are taking this a step further and are adding citywide composting to their recycling programs. San Francisco and Toronto were the first two North American cities to start large scale composting programs, but many cities like New York, Chicago, Ottawa, Denver and Minneapolis are currently working towards implementing similar programs.

The San Francisco program provides green bins for food waste to be placed in. The waste in these bins is collected (along with the garbage and recycling) and shipped to 3 local organic farms where the decaying process is sped up by oxygen and the resulting product is used as fertilizer. These organic farms then sell their products to locals in theory creating a closed loop system.

Could something like this work in Charleston???

The average South Carolinian generates 6.4 pounds of trash a day, which is 1.8 pounds more than the national average. The Charleston recycling program requires little or no effort (you don’t even have to sort your recyclables!), yet only about 30% of Charlestonians recycle. Also Charleston County does not accept many kinds of plastics. Laziness (both by citizens and the County) is the word that comes to mind when I think of recycling in Charleston. In my opinion it will take a long time and a big change of outlook for any kind of composting program to be established in Charleston, although it could make a big difference here with the large amount of waste we South Carolinians produce.

EPA's Greening Your Products

2009-10-22T13:44:00.002-04:00

Hello, fellow Charleston Green Business supporters! I just wanted to share a document with you that I ran across while surfing the Internet.

In February 2002, the EPA released a very educational document entitled “Greening Your Products: Good for the environment, good for your bottom line”. In the paper, they give reasons why introducing green products can be more profitable. The authors provide thoughts on identifying, producing, and marketing green products.

They also provide many useful links, diagrams, and environmental program descriptions that may aid in a green businessperson’s product/service conceptualization. The article also supplies several case studies that set the ecopreneurial mind in motion.

Whether you already have or are considering launching a green business, this publication is definitely worth your perusal.

The full document (a great source of reference) can be viewed and downloaded at:
http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/jwod_product.pdf?cm_sp=ExternalLink-_-Federal-_-EPA

Green Roofs

2009-10-22T12:50:00.004-04:00

I posted pictures of green roofs in Norway last year. Turns out those are rather popular (one of the major links in to the blog from Google searches). Today the Post and Courier has a story on green roofs. Of course it's not about roofs in Charleston. Some of my students a year and a half ago looked into the possibility of getting a green roof business going here and the initial response was rather negative - most people had no idea what one was or why they would want it. Maybe today's article will help on both counts. Can the green roof wave hit Charleston?

EcoSwims: Using swimming to raise money for good causes

2009-10-14T22:50:00.003-04:00

I partnered with Charleston Waterkeeper, a non profit organization dedicated to protecting Charleston’s waterways, and Barrier Island Ecothon, a local multisport racing company, to conduct open water swim clinics starting this Fall. These EcoSwims take place every Friday at station 29 on Sullivan’s Island with a suggested donation of $10. My experience in coaching around the country, collegiate swimming, and Ironman distance triathlon is utilized by those who want to improve their swimming skills, get over their fear of the water, or just come out for a beautiful sunset swim.

I am thrilled at the results: it is a winning situation for each entity involved. CWK benefits from the generated revenue, publicity, and increased involvement in the waterways, which enhances the embodiment of ‘owning’ our waterways. BIE benefits from the generated revenue, publicity, and increased involvement in training clinics for its’ adventure races. The participants receive great training and confidence in the water. I benefit from knowing that my skills are being used to generate funds for two great organizations, share my love of the water, and increase awareness about open water swimming. I initiated this collaboration in an effort to develop a culture of open water swimming in the Lowcountry much like the supportive swimming network I experienced while living in San Francisco.

For more information on these swims please view the following websites:

CWK: http://charlestonwaterkeeper.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/like-swimming-join-us-for-an-open-water-swim/

BIE: http://ecothon.blogspot.com/2009/07/swim-clinic.html

South Carolina Bioenergy Summit tomorrow

2009-10-14T12:14:00.004-04:00

Clemson is hosting a summit, primarily on switchgrass, all day tomorrow in Florence. Info at http://www.clemson.edu/public/rec/peedee/research/switchgrass/

Featuring Presentations on:
- Impacts of Climate Change Legislation on Biomass Demand
and Production
- Bioenergy Research in South Carolina
- Emerging Biomass Industries
- The SC Switchgrass Initiative
- Biomass Opportunities for Limited Resource Farms

Environmental Consulting Marketplace

2009-10-13T13:16:00.001-04:00

Greenbiz.com just launched a site for consultants and those looking for consultants. http://professional-services.greenbiz.com/all-listings

Funding a Green Business

2009-10-02T10:32:00.003-04:00

I gave a talk on funding green businesses at the Green Business Expo last week. This week there is an article on greenbiz.com the topic from a VC perspective. Some of it mirrors what I talked about:

AC: You outline 5 types of investment capital in a business: self-funding, friends and family, angel investors, venture capitalists, and traditional lenders. Which strategy is most appropriate for seed stage, early stage and late stage companies?

BK: Seed stage is really just an idea and a business plan. Early stage is when you have a product or service ready to handle sales and customers. Late stage is when you are up and running, you've got customers, and are further along in generating revenue. Most venture capitalists are early and late stage investors because seed stage deals carry greater risk to the investor. For these seed and early stage companies, self-funding, friends and family, and angel investors are the best bets.

But it does get more into the VC perspective than I discussed.

One key lesson - get out there, start the business and focus on generating revenue. You're not going to get much investment without proven sales.

Follow up on Auto Bailout Post

2009-09-10T14:21:00.004-04:00

Last year when the Detroit automakers went to Washington to ask for a bailout I wrote a blog post suggesting that rather than bail out businesses that don't seem to want to change the government should look to help entrepreneurial car companies. With the kind of money the automakers were asking for I suggested that these start ups, like Tesla Motors, could buy some of the closed auto plants. Now it looks like energy companies are doing just that, according to a story over at Bnet.

Next Networking Event

2009-09-03T10:43:00.000-04:00

Join us next week for this fall's first Green Business Networking event. We will meet Sep 10th from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm on the second floor of the Tate Center (enter through the Beatty Center, 5 Liberty Street). Our hope for the monthly event is to bring together a variety of knowledge, skills, motivation, and expertise to share ideas about helping businesses be more environmentally-friendly, starting new sustainable businesses, finding employees/employment and generating general networking contacts here in Charleston and the Lowcountry. Come out and meet like-minded representatives from local businesses and organizations plus CofC students, alumni, staff and faculty. If you know anyone that might be interested, please feel free to pass this along to them, or just bring them with you.

Also, join us on LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1786534. The group was set up to allow the networking to continue virtually in between our monthly events. Please feel encouraged to join the group and share what you are doing, ask or answer questions about green business or share interesting news articles.

Wal-Mart's Move Towards a Sustainability Index

2009-07-21T11:12:00.003-04:00

In case you haven't heard about it yet, Wal-Mart is embarking on a project to develop a sustainability index for its suppliers. At this point they are just gathering data and are far from having an index. The article link says Wal-Mart plans to make the index available to the public. They have a webcast of the meeting available on their site. This index should eventually have a huge impact on supply chain. As I've told my students, if you want to run a sustainable company, you need to ensure that members of your supply chain have sustainability in mind as well. As a start up or small company, you don't have a lot of power to influence your suppliers to change their ways and you might not have a lot of options to move to another supplier. But if you do, your best bet is to follow larger companies that are moving towards sustainability and use their suppliers.

Carrotmob

2009-07-12T18:19:00.001-04:00

Check out this video to see how people can help a local business be more green.

charleston carrotmob represent. from Justin Nathanson on Vimeo.

Buying Local

2009-06-15T16:34:00.003-04:00

I've been a strong supporter of buying local for a long time. It's not only the right thing to do generally (help your neighbors) and economically (keeps money flowing through the local economy, which will eventually come back to you in some way) but also environmentally. Whenever we buy something it has to be transported from its source. For many products that means traveling over oceans. All that travel of course burns fuel. The Buy Local movement has been picking up here in Charleston and ended up in the paper yesterday. If you are a local business, be sure to join Lowcountry Local First. They are a great organization (we do have a lot of those around here). The major project they have going on now is the 10% shift, which is discussed in the article and on their website.

Ecopreneurship

2009-06-09T21:18:00.002-04:00

I recently attended the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC), the premier conference for entrepreneurship research. I attended a couple of paper sessions on social entrepreneurship, but there was only one on sustainable- or eco-preneurship. Academically, there seems to be a greater interest in the sociatel than the environmental business. In fact, over the last few years nearly every time there is a paper or session on sustainable business/entrepreneurship, it is always tied with social business/entrepreneurship (and usually ends up being secondary). While I realize the triple bottom line does often represent sustainable views I wonder if sustainable business/entrepreneurship can ever stand on its own. The issue may be that sustainable business is just what many of think of as the way all business should be, but social enterprises are a distinct subset. So I pose the question to those of you that consider yourself ecopreneurs - is there a social aspect to your business philosophy and if so is it equal to, less than or greater than the environmental aspect?

Purchasing New Computer Equipment

2009-06-02T11:07:00.002-04:00

If your business (or you personally) is in need of upgrading and expanding your computers, I recommend checking EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) from the Green Electronics Council. I recently was in the market to buy a new laptop and wanted to get the most environmentally benign (let's face it, electronics are far from "environmentally-friendly") laptop I could reasonably afford. Over a couple of days searching the Internet, the best resource I found was EPEAT. What is good about the site is that you can search for various specifications that you are looking for, not just environmental impact, but things like screen size too.

The program rates equipment on "23 required criteria and 28 optional criteria" and groups them into Gold, Silver and Bronze ratings. All three ratings include meeting all required criteria. The optional criteria is used for differentiating Gold, Silver and Bronze. The categories of criteria are broad and include things like elimination/reduction of sensitive material, packaging, end of life, corporate responsibility, packaging and Energy Star. (The information seems to be submitted by the manufacturers.)

What I decided to do was look through all the laptops reported to have no environmentally sensitive materials (lead, cadmium, mercury, etc.) using the search by optional criteria. I also wanted a decent size laptop - 15" or greater. There weren't a lot of options. One was MacBook Pro, which are quite pricey. There were some Dell, Sony and Lenovo that were there mainly due to having an LED backlit screen. I settled on a Asus N50V. I'm quite happy with it.

Green IT for Dummies

2009-05-28T08:46:00.000-04:00

Ran across this guide from HP. Don't know if is any good, but it is electronic, only 28 pages and it is free. Here is what the site says:

HP has launched a limited edition "Green IT for Dummies" pocket book as an introduction to help organizations go green. The guide is intended to give organizations simple and straight-forward ideas on how to reduce the environmental impact of IT systems and harness the power of IT to reduce the wider environmental impacts of climate change in society.

The guide, produced independently by research and analysis firm Freeform Dynamics, provides guidance for where to start in greening an organization and maps out a pragmatic, yet comprehensive course of action ranked according to expense and difficulty of implementation.

Is your organization ready to embrace and implement an IT-powered green strategy?

Register for your complimentary copy of HP's Green IT for Dummies Limited Edition by answering two simple questions here.

Been a While

2009-05-27T14:44:00.002-04:00

So it's been a while since I last posted. But even though there have been no new posts, there are still visits to this blog every day. So there must be some interest. Therefore, I will resume posting, especially since classes are over with and I actually have some of this thing they call "free time."

Green Business Networking event

2009-01-20T20:10:00.000-05:00

Join us next Tuesday for this spring's first Green Business Networking event. We will meet January 27th from 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm on the second floor of the Tate Center (enter through the Beatty Center, 5 Liberty Street). For this event we're going to continue what we started last fall. While we're networking I'll have brainstorming sheets available around the Tate Center for collecting ideas on how businesses can be more green. This of course fits with our hope for the monthly event to bring together a variety of knowledge, skills, motivation, and expertise to share ideas about helping businesses be more environmentally-friendly, starting new sustainable businesses, finding employees/employment and generating general networking contacts here in Charleston and the Lowcountry. With the wide range of people that attend, we should be able to come up with a ton of ideas.

Additionally, the deadline for the logo contest is just a few days away. Please submit your entry by January 23rd. The logo should try to incorporate the three basic themes: green/environment/sustainability/eco-friendly; business/entrepreneurship/innovation; and networking/socializing/sharing ideas. The winner will receive a lunch downtown and will be revealed at the January event.

Come out and meet like-minded representatives from local businesses and organizations plus CofC students, alumni, staff and faculty and add your thoughts for improving business. If you know anyone that might be interested, please feel free to pass this along to them, or just bring them with you.

Recycling Polystyrene

2008-12-08T11:03:00.003-05:00

With the holidays approaching, no doubt you're buying and receiving numerous products packaged in expanded polystyrene (EPS) - that solid white foam that protects fragile products and makes them so difficult to get out of the box. As you're looking for an alternative to tossing all that white foam into your trash can, take a visit to the Alliance of Foam Packaging for alternatives. Or if you have a huge box full of foam peanuts call the Peanut Hotline (800-828-2214) or check out www.loosefillpackaging.com. According to the website, the 5 Pak Mail locations around Charleston will take the peanuts as well as Postnet in Mt. Pleasant. Although only place in South Carolina that recycles EPS is Foam Fabricators, Inc. in Anderson, SC, they do suggest that you mail it to one of the regional recyclers, including the one in Anderson, rather than driving many miles and burning fuel.

Interesting New Business

2008-12-03T10:16:00.004-05:00

I just read a story, linked from GreenBiz.com, about a new gas station in Dover, NH that sell only biofuels (blended) and has a "congreenience" store. The store pledged that 75% of its products will come from within 100 miles. The store is also powered by solar panels. What will be interesting to see, besides whether the business will succeed, is whether the greater availability of biofuels will impact local residents' vehicle purchase decisions. Will they be more likely to by a E85 car or a diesel so they can run on biodiesel? I know that if I could get biodiesel conveniently, I would seriously consider trading in for a diesel. So who wants to open a station like this downtown?

Impacts of LEED Certified Buildings Measured

2008-11-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

Wondering what kind of impact LEED certification actually has? Well, GreenerBuildings.com has compiled a report of the benefits from LEED certified buildings. From the story at greenbiz.com:

Green buildings have saved the U.S. billions of gallons of water and enough energy to avoid the equivalent of burning of 1.3 million tons of coal for electricity since the development of the LEED standards.

In the process, these high-performance buildings have produced millions of dollars in employee productivity gains, avoided thousands of tons of soil erosion, and created a multibillion dollar market for the green building materials used in their construction.

Shareholders Demanding Businesses Reduce Impact on Climate

2008-11-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

The November/December issue of Sierra notes that there were 57 climate-related shareholder resolutions filed in 2008. They further note that this is double the number filed 5 years ago. What is interestingly positive is that many of them were withdrawn because the company decided to make changes. This suggests two things. First, shareholders are starting to push corporations to be more responsible for their impact on the climate. Second, that companies are listening and acting rather than fighting.

Tour Sustainability Award Winning Blackbaud Stadium

2008-11-22T10:19:00.002-05:00

The Charleston Battery won the private sector category Sustainable Community Award from the Sustainability Institute earlier this month primarily for the greening efforts they have made on their stadium. Now the two are working together to show what the award was all about. Join them on December 4th for a tour of the Daniel Island stadium.

Green Jobs List

2008-11-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Greenprofs.com (which is short for green professionals, rather than green professors as I initially thought) has created a green job listing. It's a nationally listing, but that shouldn't prevent people from listing and looking for jobs around here.

Creative Destruction of the Auto Industry via the Bailout?

2008-11-21T16:26:00.003-05:00

Yesterday one of my students, Sam Cook, and I were talking before my Sustainable Business Venturing class began about the $25 billion that the auto industry wants. We both agreed that the money would be better spent supporting entrepreneurs. Some have suggested that the $25 billion come from money set aside for loan program for fuel-efficient cars. But with $25 billion, the government could foster a wave of innovative start ups in the auto industry that should do a much better job of developing and marketing more environmentally-friendly/fuel-efficient cars.

I don't think I'm the only one that doubts the automakers' ability and willingness to truly develop fuel-efficient cars. To do so would mean drastic changes and cannibalizing their existing product lines, which companies generally avoid doing, even when it means they could improve their company overall. On the other hand, there are several start ups making tremendous progress towards better cars. The most common example being Tesla Motors (most recently seen on a new Sci Fi channel game/reality show Cha$e). Besides Tesla there are many others around the world developing great new technology and if large sums of money were made available, many of the foreign-based companies would likely move to the US. The only way for the Big 3 to catch up would be to buy those companies. But why should these aging giants that clearly forgot basic business knowledge of market scanning to see trends take over these rising stars.

If you've studied economics it's likely you've been introduced to the term creative destruction, which is the basic idea of old industries being replaced by new innovative ones. One example that I remember from class, ironically, is that the auto industry 'creatively destroyed' the buggy industry. Once autos became commonplace, those making anything to do with the traditional horse and buggy went out of business. There was no bailout for them. The wise companies saw the trends and changed. The unwise? Well, they went on to become examples for future business students.

So here is a radical proposal: Set the $25 billion for a government-backed new venture capital (VC) firm to specifically invest in clean tech automakers willing to develop primary operations in the US. With that kind of money, companies like Tesla Motors can buy and modify production plants from the Big 3 and foreign-based companies would move to the US and hire US workers. That would keep jobs here, indirectly give the Big 3 some money to possibly stay in business, but also give them tremendous market pressure to improve the environmental performance of their vehicles (since I doubt that they will change much if the government tells them to change).

Cutting Food Waste at Hotels

2008-11-17T20:16:00.003-05:00

Everyone knows that Charleston is a major tourist destination. The numerous hotels produce a lot of jobs and revenue for the area. What they also produce is a lot of food, much of which goes to waste. There is an article at greenerbuildings.com that reviews four machines that cut food waste that is sent to the landfill through rapid decomposition. In my opinion, only the first one, eCorect, is worthwhile. That one coverts the waste into a powder that can be used as compost. The others flush the waste into the sewer system. That doesn't seem like a very wise option. It's not very green and while it may be cheaper than having waste hauled off to the landfill, it is only cheaper because water and sewage are underpriced. Of course the best waste reduction happens on the front end, as one commenter posted.

Recycling Buildings

2008-11-16T22:58:00.002-05:00

Two articles in today's Post and Courier - Recycled Structures and Deconstruction Saves Money, Helps at Landfill. The first article features The Sustainable Warehouse, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit.

Today's Green Business Networking event

2008-11-14T11:21:00.003-05:00

For today's event we're going to continue to brainstorm ways to make local businesses more green. I've taken the list we came up with last time and divided it into 5 categories, which can be seen below. These will serve as a starting point for generating more ideas tonight. So come out to the Tate Center from 4:30 - 6:30 and bring your creative thinking cap.

Office/Materials/Supplies
Turn off lights when not needed
Print on recycled paper
Print less
Mandate 2-sided printing
Use freecycle or craigslist to acquire and dispose of materials
Offer reusable items in kitchens
Educate employees about wasteful practices
Compost foodscraps
Use green cleaning/janitorial services

Employees
Institute a 4-day work week
Offer telecommuting
Facilitate carpooling and bicycle commuting
Have a mid-day recess

Building
Select sustainable worksites (e.g. LEED certified)
Install green roofs, rain barrels, programmable thermostats, solar panels
Seal building envelope
Use existing structures
Create an organic garden on site

Internal Organization
Name a sustainability officer and develop a plan
Use lifecycle analysis in formulating environmental plan
Use or create environmentally friendly products
E-organizing

External
Partner with DHEC for SCEEP
E-marketing instead of paper
Partner/work with other sustainable businesses

Travelers Insurance Helps Businesses Be Green

2008-11-06T08:52:00.003-05:00

According to GreenerBuildings.com, the insurance company Travelers is offering benefits for green replacements and upgrades for small businesses that have a covered loss, including extra time to rebuild to green standards, especially if those standards were previously attained. And what's more is that it doesn't cost anything extra. "As of October anybody with a renewal or seeking new small business Master Pac coverage automatically gets it (the green enhancements package) without having to ask for it and at no additional charge." The article also notes that they offer a 10% discount in car insurance to hybrid owners and their homepage has an spotlight on discounts for hybrid boats.

Greening Your Office

2008-09-21T13:25:00.003-04:00

Just ran across this useful site from Energy Star. Most of the tips are things you already know: use power strips, turn stuff off when not in use, etc. The most useful suggestion is starting a Green Team. It's missing a lot of other useful tips like: encouraging employees to carpool/bike/walk/take public transportation, ensure maintenance use eco-friendly cleaning products, etc. But that's probably because it's Energy Star and all they're concerned with is energy.

New Theme for Next Networking Event: Bring Your Creativity

2008-09-17T09:59:00.003-04:00

I've been asked a few times what the theme will be for the next event. After a bit of thinking I decided that while it's great to have themes about particular industries and gets people thinking of new ideas, it would be really great if we could puts all of those great ideas together and create some value to share with everyone. As my emails note the primary intention of the events is to bring together a wide range of minds. That wide range of experience and knowledge can lead to a wonderfully wide range of ideas. So we will try something new: brainstorming.

Here's what I have in mind. While the regular interactive networking is going on, I will have poster boards or something for capturing ideas. We'll set a new topic each month to address and ask everyone to contribute some ideas. So for the first month we'll do something easy, "tips on how to make businesses more green." With two to three dozen diverse people we can easily come up with a list of 100 or more ideas.

This of course won't take away from the regular networking since the brainstorming will be mostly silent (like a silent auction). And since one of my areas of research expertise is creativity, especially in groups, I can take some time in a separate room to facilitate a more interactive brainstorming session if needed.

Apple Improving

2008-09-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Since I've knocked Apple a bit in the past, it's only fair to report on positive moves they make. The latest Nano appears to be an improvement. The story over at GreenBiz.com says that they've eliminated PVC, mercury and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and are using arsenic-free glass. What it doesn't say is that you probably still can't replace batteries yourself or do any kind of low cost repair, essentially making them disposable products. At least they are more recyclable: "Jobs said the new Nano is also highly recyclable due to its aluminum and glass content."

Got a Great Green Idea?

2008-09-11T17:39:00.004-04:00

There is a new contest being sponsored by the folks that run the X Prize. Submit a video to YouTube of your best/most creative/craziest green idea and maybe win $25,000.
Here are the basic rules:

1. Submit a 2 minute video to this group by October 31, 2008 explaining what you think should be the next Energy and Environment X PRIZE: http://www.youtube.com/groups_addvide...
2. We'll post the three most viable ideas to http://www.xprize.org on November 15.
3. The public will be given two weeks to vote for the winner on http://www.xprize.org
The most creative, revolutionary idea and video will receive $25,000 and could become the next great X PRIZE!

Be sure that your video answers the following questions:

1. What is the Grand Challenge or world-wide problem that you are trying to solve?
2. What is the specific prize idea (goal, rules, judging criteria)?
3. How will this prize lead to benefits for humanity?

More information is available at YouTube.

Better Know a Lowcountry Green Business - Southeast BioDiesel

2008-09-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Southeast BioDiesel, sebd.biz, is a relatively new company to the area, launching in 2006 by Jim Thompson and Dean Schmelter. They are up in the Noisette area in North Charleston. You won't find their product widely available however, local retailers haven't bought into the idea...yet. There is one gas station in North Charleston, but I don't recall which one. Local shrimpers have been using their product and I understand that they really like how clean it burns compared to the noxious exhaust from petro-diesel.

Besides being a "clean tech" industry, what makes them green? Unlike many other biodiesel producers that use soybeans, SEBD uses rendered poultry fat - a waste product. On top of that their plant was built with plenty of environmental benefits - for example: a lot of reused/repurposed materials including the buidling itself and wise use/reuse of water and rain leading to having no sewege. In fact, the plant is really cool to check out. They seem to like giving tours (I've taken the tour twice), so get in touch with them if you want to see it. I should mention that I know so much about SEBD because Jim and Dean have been kind enough to speak to and work with my students on several occasions - they are true friends of the College.

New Feature - Real Charleston Green Businesses

2008-09-08T08:00:00.001-04:00

Over the past year I've come to know many green businesses in the area, and new ones keep popping up on my radar daily. In the past I've mentioned them here and there in posts, but now in the tradition of Stephen Colbert's "Better Know a District/Lobbyist" I will begin a new feature in which I will devote a weekly post entirely to one company. I'll begin with the companies that I know best or are "hot" right now for one reason or another. If you have a company and you would like me to feature it just let me know about it.

We're Back

2008-08-30T18:58:00.002-04:00

Summer conference season is over, classes are back in session and the Green Business Networking events are coming soon. This year the events will be held on Fridays, the second Friday of each month to be exact. They will run from 4:30 to 6:30. So once a month get your weekend started by networking with others interested in helping businesses being more environmentally friendly, starting new green businesses, finding employees/employment, and generating networking contacts here in Charleston and the Lowcountry.

Alternative "How to Get Here" Directions

2008-07-26T08:08:00.003-04:00

Most businesses have a page on their website with basic directions on how to get to their location. This is obviously beneficial for any business that wants to ensure customers can find their business easily. Of course people can just use Google maps or Mapquest or the like to find the location, but often times they are not detailed enough. So the extra bit of local knowledge on the businesses' website can help ensure customers don't get lost, give up, get frustrated and/or go somewhere else.

Of course one problem with these maps is that they are geared towards driving. So what is a customer or an employee that wants to walk, bike or take the bus supposed to do? An article I read this morning talked about some map websites working to add these options. The difficulty is that it takes local knowledge to develop them - road maps don't usually detail sidewalks, bike trails, bus routes, etc. This means that it's going to take time to develop. With Charleston being a smaller city it will likely be low on the list of cities to be bike/bus mapped. So it would be worthwhile for local businesses to provide this information on their websites. Even if they don't know the best bike or walking routes themselves, there are plenty of resources to help figure it out. CARTA provides good details on their website for figuring out bus routes. Figuring out walking routes might involve taking a walk and/or being observant of the sidewalks, paths and trails nearby. And there are cycling clubs that would probably help with figuring out bike routes. And of course if there are customers or employees already walking, biking or taking the bus it is rather simple to just ask them how they get there.

Traditional Green Roofs in Norway

2008-07-20T13:15:00.005-04:00

While visiting the Norsk Folkemuseum, where there are collections of traditional buildings dating back hundreds of years, we saw many instances of the traditional green roof. And of course we have pictures, like the house to the below. You can take a look at several of the roofs here. You'll see some close ups (as close as I could get) to see that they use birch bark as a lining material.

Green Ideas from Norway

2008-07-14T11:17:00.003-04:00

So we're back now from a conference in Stockholm and visiting family and touring in Norway. I have to say I was a bit surprised at the lack of ease of recycling in both countries. I expected to see recycling bins everywhere, but just like here, there were more trash than recycling bins. Of course there were for more recycling bins than you find on the streets here in Charleston (has anyone found a single one?) One thing that I did find pretty cool was parking spaces in Bergen (behind a public administration building) specifically for plug-in vehicles. Upon close inspection it appears that plugging in is also free. While this might be more likely to be done as a public service, I wouldn't hold out hope for that here. However, local businesses could probably set up something like this pretty easily. Particularly useful for shops with their own parking - it would encourage longer browsing (and thus hopefully more purchases). And it would be even more cool if that electricity came for the store's own renewable energy. On the other hand, if and when plug-ins come to Charleston it might be possible to make a business out of this if it were possible to lease a parking space or two.

Conference season

2008-06-10T09:20:00.002-04:00

In case any one is wondering why I haven't posted in a while, it's conference season. As soon as classes end, the academic conferences begin. This means research, preparation and travel. I just returned from one conference and I'm now heading off to Scandinavia for another. I look forward to seeing their advances in alternative energy, especially what Norway is doing. I'll try to make a report about it either from the road or when I get back.

New Local Green Business

2008-05-12T14:44:00.001-04:00

One of the most recent attendees of the Green Business Networking event has just launched a new business. Here is his announcement:

Hello Friends, I am writing to inform you of a few exciting announcements…

This week, Jude Kitchens and I launched 'Green Man Lawn Care - Organic Turf & Plant Health Care'. We offer ecological landscape maintenance services to our Charleston community.

This service is 100% Organic! It is based on an all natural, non-toxic, chemical free, child and pet safe, good for people and the environment, sustainable, biological approach to land and plant stewardship called the 'Soil Food Web'.

Please consider visiting our new website at: www.GreenManLawnCare.com to learn more about the Soil Food Web and the new exciting organic turf and plant health care services Green Man Lawn Care now offers.

These services include:

organic weed control

organic grub control

biological soil fertilization

liquid soil aeration

over seeding

top dressing

organic palm and live oak tree care

and, don't forget... Skeeter Beater organic and effective mosquito and gnat control!

A downloadable PDF highlighting our services is available at the website for printing and sharing with others.

Green Man has been invited and will be present at the Charleston Battery Soccer Green Game this Friday, May 9 to meet with you and discuss organic lawn care. Check out: www.charlestonbattery.com for more details. Bring your friends and get there early to participate in the fun!

Remember to tune your radio to station WSC 94.3 FM at 8 AM on Sundays for 'Charleston Green' with John Tarkany, principle of Charleston's premier ecological landscape architecture firm DesignWorks, LLC. Hear the discussion about organic turf and plant health care using a biological approach with the Soil Food Web on Sunday, May 18, 8 AM.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Please feel free to circulate this news widely and contact us anytime. Get Healthy; get green and go organic! ~ Kevin

--
Kevin John Richardson
Local Solutions
Sustainable Systems & Community Development
(240) 286-7624

Go Green Night This Friday!

2008-05-08T18:20:00.001-04:00

If you're looking for something to do and to meet like-minded people (business and otherwise) and you enjoy outdoors and/or soccer, then check out this month's Green Drinks event.

Green Drinks is proud to be a supporter of Go Green Night at Blackbaud Stadium! Please join us along with dozens of lowcountry green businesses at 6PM in the beer garden. We still have a limited quantity of $5 tickets for our patrons, so please shoot us an email if you are interested! The match is versus Miami FC and we expect very strong attendance. Here are directions to the stadium...

Will We See These Around Charleston Soon?

2008-05-08T12:37:00.003-04:00

Cool 8-seat solar powered bike/car. This Flinstone-like car would be perfect for tours around town.

More on Apple

2008-05-08T11:31:00.004-04:00

I previously posted about Apple being listed as a non-environmentally friendly company, in part for being one of the only computer companies to still use toxic materials. CNET now reports on a study by Climate Counts that puts Apple dead last in a list of electronics companies in terms of carbon footprints. They gave Apple a score of 11 out of 100 (which interestingly enough is up 9 from last year). It's amazing that a company that is so forward looking with designs is so backward in regards to the environment.

Greening Your Office

2008-05-04T21:03:00.004-04:00

If you need to go out and get some new supplies for the office, look for the TerraCycle products coming to OfficeMax. According to GreenBiz.com, the office supply store will begin stocking some of TerraCycle's products, such as the pencil holders made from Capri Sun pouches. The neat thing about TerraCycle is that they are repurposing (reusing) products rather than recycling them in the more common sense of melting them down and turning them into something else, which uses plenty of energy. Of course looking at their products makes it easy for the crafty to make some of the stuff themselves, but I don't think the company would be too upset about that.

Supply Chain Footprint

2008-04-27T12:34:00.003-04:00

Patagonia has a new, refreshingly honest feature on their site. It details the supply chain for several of their products. It maps the progression of the products from raw material to finished good. What makes me say "refreshingly honest" is that it's not just a highlight of what they do well. The do point out for example that the Synchilla vest, though it's made from recycled materials, travels a great distance throughout North America and much of that by truck. They even offer a total amount of carbon emitted to get the product from origin to distribution. Seeing how much traveling a product does should emphasize to everyone to buy locally produced products*, especially if reducing your own carbon footprint is a major emphasis.

* Note that I try to purchase as locally as possible for the Green Business Networking events. I'll take recommendations for good regional wine, since what I've been getting comes from California (even though it's essentially the store brand from Earth Fare.)

More on Greening Supply Chain

2008-04-24T12:00:00.004-04:00

We're back from another trip to Chicago where we saw a few Prius taxis, which is an idea that just simply makes financial sense given how much taxis stop and go. What also seems to be making sense for large companies like Clorox is introducing green products, like Green Works. I don't know how truly green it is given that it's a product made by Clorox, but people are buying it. In reading an article this morning about Clorox and their supply chain issues, this quote shows a good reason for the increase in green products: "From internal surveys, the company knows its customers will pay 10 to 15 percent more for greener products." Clearly it makes financial sense to sell a product that is more green. However, the article makes a point that getting the supplies to make the green products is a challenge. Clorox bought Burt's Bees not too long ago, and it has been having problems scaling up the business, which traditionally used many small suppliers. What this tells me is that there is plenty of opportunity for start ups to produce the raw and component materials for this boom in green products. Large consumer product companies like Clorox, GE, etc. need to get materials in large quantities in order to get their products to market. This means that either companies producing the raw materials now need to scale up (hopefully in a sustainable manner) or other start ups can enter the market and help fulfill the large companies' demand.

526 Extension Alternative

2008-04-18T08:05:00.002-04:00

We were at the Charleston Green Drinks event last week where we saw a presentation by the Coastal Conservation League on an alternative to the 526 extension. I thought what they presented was a great example of the need to provide an alternative to the undesirable action. They clearly understood that 526 was intended to solve a problem, but that it was an inefficient solution - not just undesirable environmentally. If we're going to convince businesses and governments not to do thing that destroy the environment we have to have better alternatives for them to consider.

Do check out the website and see the designs they have. They are very aesthetically pleasing. But more importantly and more relevant to this blog, is that I think the redesign, particularly the one for Savannah Highway, would be good for business. The redesign would create back roads off of Savannah Highway to allow local residents to get to and from local businesses without ever having to enter Savannah Highway. That should improve traffic flow to these business and thus would hopefully improve patronage of them.

Sustainable Business Venturing Class

2008-04-15T21:37:00.004-04:00

This may be a little late, but if you're a student at the College of Charleston (or know one) and you're still looking for classes for fall, consider the new class I'm teaching. Here is a course description and list of learning objectives:

MGMT 360-002: Sustainable Business (Venturing)

Fall-12358 – Hansen, T/H 1:40

Course Description

This course approaches environmental problems as entrepreneurial opportunities and sees entrepreneurs as influential in creating social and economic change. This course will help students recognize opportunities to create new businesses that move us towards a more sustainable economy. Industry sectors with strong representation the Lowcountry with a high need and/or possibility for improvement in environmental sustainability will be a particular focus. Students will learn about these sectors through speakers, case studies and industry research. Students will also learn about the business case for sustainability and about creating value for all of an organization’s stakeholders. Students will work in teams to develop a well-defined sustainable new business concept.

Outcomes & learning objectives:

Understanding of the importance of sustainability/ impact of business on the environment
Understanding of consideration of value creation for all stakeholders
Knowledge of locally-represented sectors of sustainable business
Ability to recognize sustainable business opportunities
Development of a well-defined sustainable new business concept
Four written reports, with accompanying presentations: sector report, market research, existing sustainable business, team final business concepts (will include updates of first two)
Graduate students will conduct a review of the sustainable entrepreneurship literature

Investment in Green Tech

2008-04-14T06:23:00.002-04:00

I've been reading a few articles lately about the increasing volumes of venture capital money flowing into green tech ventures. John Doerr has been the central character in just about everyone one of them. This morning I read about a speech he gave this weekend at MIT. One quote I found interesting is "There's too much money chasing too few good ventures, despite the size of this problem." In that speech and other articles, like this one in Fast Company, Doerr describes the green tech sector as bigger than the Internet. The problem is that while the problems being addressed by green tech are considerably large and have enormous market potential, they will take considerably longer to materialize compared to Internet companies. Hopefully investors will have the stomachs to hold on long enough to see the returns and we won't experience a collapse similar to the dot-com bubble.

Upcoming Events

2008-04-11T21:40:00.003-04:00

Just a reminder that the next event will be this coming Monday. Same time, same place (4:30-7:00 at the Tate Center). The focus will be on green building, but you are all free to discuss whatever you want of course.

Also this Sunday will be the Eat, Drink and Be Green event. It will take place from 4:00 to 8:00 at Patriot's Point. Proceeds benefit green initiatives at the College of Charleston. While there are plenty of green events going on this month, this one's unique in the fact that it's been organized as a class project. I hope you all will come out and give a little support to the College (and of course stop by Margaret's Ecolibrio jewelry booth).

My apologies to Jason and Green Drinks for not promoting the event this week. It was an interesting one with a presentation by CCL regarding the 526 extension. I'll have more to say about it in a future blog (once I'm caught up with grading), particularly what I think it means for local businesses.

Plastic Bottle Recycling

2008-04-07T21:18:00.003-04:00

A student provided a link with information about plastic recycling today and I found it quite interesting so I thought I'd share. You can see plastic bottle recycling rates. Rates have been going down. However they're going down only in percent of sales. That is, the actual amount of plastic bottle recycling is going up, but the sales of plastic bottles is going up even faster, as this image shows. What I find surprising is that rates were at about 1/3 just a decade ago (but are now down below 1/4). A comparison with Sweden's rates is also interesting. Clearly something happened in Sweden in 1995. Something happened here too. Per capita waste started shooting up in 1995 - about the time bottled water started catching on. There is plenty more information about other container recycling, have fun with it.

Party for a Purpose

2008-04-02T20:19:00.005-04:00

Update: The event is postponed until Wednesday, April 16th. Same time and place, though there will be a backup plan to hold it in the Stern Center ballroom in case it's raining again.

If you're around the College of Charleston campus tomorrow (Thursday) check out an event going on: Party for a Purpose. It will run from 12 - 5 in the Stern Center garden. There will be entertainment and vendors (including my wife's EcoLibrio jewelry) and perhaps a few speeches, including one potentially from yours truly. The event is being organized by Green Team Entertainment, which is run by Adam Chase, a Green Business Networking regular.

Here are the details:

On Thursday, April 3, 2008, from 12pm to 5pm Green Team Entertainment will host Party for a Purpose at the College of Charleston. With the help of students and staff we have determined some of the key issues faced by the school and will be using this first event to raise awareness about those issues while offering practical solutions. Local artists and musicians will be joining the cause providing entertainment and interactive art projects to engage students and attendees. Go Green coffee shop, Kronic Coffee, of James Island, will be providing food and drink which will be served on biodegradable plastic-ware, which will be composted by our Green Team Entertainment clean up crew. For more information or to get involved, you can email us:
info@greenteamentertainment.com

Greening Your Office

2008-03-31T06:26:00.003-04:00

There's a good article today over on GreenBiz.com about creating The Zero Waste Office. Waste has been one of my primary concerns going way back to grade school in the 70's where I was taught to "waste not, want not" and "reduce, reuse, recycle". The latter of which is hierarchical. That is, try to reduce first, if that's not possible, reuse, then recycle. It seems too often people jump right into recycling without trying the others first. Being one that pretty much abhors waste, I'd like to see people begin bragging about how much they've reduced and reused before they talk about their recycling efforts. Which gets me back to the article. It's one of the few I've read recently that actually brings up the old reduce, reuse, recycle concept. The thing is, it makes perfect business sense. Reducing and reusing saves money, recycling usually doesn't, and in fact may even cost money. Any organization, whether it's a for-profit business, a non-profit charity or even a family, can benefit from saving money by reducing and reusing.

Greener Wine: Shipping by Sail

2008-03-30T10:54:00.002-04:00

As a recurring theme here, one way businesses need to work to make their products more green is to improve the shipping process. Here's a story about French wine makers going back to the way they used to ship wine - by sail. I've said this on numerous occasions in discussions - we used to do things without the use of oil or major machinery and it would be wise of us to go back a reexamine those old ways. Shipping wine by sail, a product that does not need to rush to market, is a great example. Of course if the journey takes too long there might be a few cases missing by the time the boat reaches its destination.

Green Builder Directory

2008-03-29T19:49:00.003-04:00

For those that haven't already seen the press release or heard about the directory that was discussed by Niall Cytryn at the most recent Green Business Networking event I'm posting it below. On a similar note, due to the popularity of green building we will focus the next event on the topic. More to come soon.

The Sustainability Institute Introduces Green Building Directory
A one of a kind innovation for South Carolina, a new service that illustrates the growing green building industry throughout the state, is here. On March 7, the non-profit, North Charleston-based Sustainability Institute began accepting entries for the South Carolina Green Building Directory. This is the first online resource of its type in the state allowing instant access to information on sustainable products and services. The directory will be fully operational in April, and is available free of charge to businesses and non-profit organizations who register with the site.

Three South Carolina state government agencies – the Department of Health and Environmental Control, Department of Commerce, and Department of Energy – are supporting the Sustainability Institute project through grant funding. The Institute has designed the online service to help create markets for green building materials and services within the state. The web site has space for hundreds of companies to exhibit information on their products and services, creating a virtual free market for the regional building industry.

“The Sustainability Institute and its state agency partners are proud to offer the Green Building Directory as a cutting-edge tool to the building industry,” says Bryan Cordell, Executive Director of The Sustainability Institute. “We believe that it will become a valuable tool to building industry professionals across South Carolina and the southeast region. The Directory will connect customers with companies offering sustainable products and services in a unique way that stimulates green commerce.”

“We owe a great deal to our Project Manager, Niall Cytryn, and our Web Developer Laura Addis, who have contributed to making the Directory a reality,” adds Cordell. Sustainability Institute staff and consultants maintain the site.

The Institute is emailing electronic postcards to prospective participants. A news release will be sent to the media during the week of March 17 targeting homebuilders associations, chapters of the US Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects, professional industry associations, and individual businesses.

Cordell believes the Directory is a boon to companies seeking to showcase their products and services to prospective clients and contractors. Information on companies can be viewed for free, with links and summaries on each company and non-profit listed on the site. According to Niall Cytryn, The Institute’s Project Manager for the SCGBD, “For building professionals, the Directory will offer the highly-sought after ability to search for products by type, applicability to LEED credit, CSI Division, and proximity to site location.”

Cordell concludes, “We envision that the use of this directory will result in much greater utilization of sustainable products and services throughout South Carolina and the southeast.”

For more information on the South Carolina Green Building Directory (SCGBD), contact the Sustainability Institute by phone at 843-529-3416, email: info@scgreenbuildingdirectory.org, or online at www.scgreenbuildingdirectory.org.

Government Money to Help Small Businesses Develop Green Technology

2008-03-28T06:11:00.003-04:00

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is something that is always included in lectures about alternative ways for start ups to get money besides the more traditional funding from FFF (family, friends and fools), angels and venture capitalists. However for my students it's often just an interesting note since it is focused on high tech, like nano- and biotechnology, which undergraduate business students are not likely to be involved with. But now, as GreenBiz News reports, SBIR seems to be working with the EPA to offer a set of grants specifically focused on green technology, which includes "pollution prevention, biodiesel and ethanol, solid and hazardous waste, air pollution control and homeland security" in addition to nanotech. Grants are $70,000 and will be given to 25 companies. Proof of concepts are due by May 21.

However, GreenBiz doesn't provide a link to the news source and I can't find the solicitation on the SBIR website. I'll keep looking into it, but if anyone knows more about the program please leave a comment or contact me.

Skysail Results

2008-03-24T06:49:00.002-04:00

Last month in one of my blogs about ports I mentioned a project to add sails to a shipping freighter. Well, the first trip has been completed and the results are in. On a trip from Germany to Venezuela the ship cut fuel by 20%. That's, according to CNET, 2.5 tons of fuel, or in economic terms, $1000 per day. There's been plenty of talk that being more green makes business sense. When you get numbers like this, it's hard to refute that notion.

Predicting the Future for Business

2008-03-22T10:16:00.003-04:00

In one of the many various electronic newsletter that I receive (getfuturethink.com - focused on innovation) there was a link to a recent NPR piece on predicting the future for business. The main gist of story was about companies' attempts to come up with the next iPod or similar "next big thing." Although not discussed in the NPR piece, the e-mail led into the story with

"While every company is looking for “the next big thing,” few successfully find it. How can you avoid failure when looking toward the future? Keep it simple, and solve people’s most fundamental problems."

This is something I teach my entrepreneurship students - focus on solving problems. This works for the case of green business very well - work on solving environmental problems, but from a consumer perspective. That is, look at consumer problems that are also environmental. A good example is in energy. It costs quite a lot for people fill up their cars or heat/cool their homes. Many of the solutions we can think of also have environmental benefits, primarily that being getting us away from or reducing the use of fossil fuels: solar power, led lighting, bio-diesel, etc.

Next Green Business Networking Event

2008-03-20T10:21:00.003-04:00

Join us for the next Green Business Networking event Monday, March 24th. It will run from 4:30 pm - 7:00 pm on the second floor of the Tate Center (enter through the Beatty Center, 5 Liberty Street). This event will feature a slightly different format. In one room we will have the Executive Directors of: The Navy Yard at Noisette, The Sustainability Institute and The Michaux Conservancy in attendance. Each will speak for 10-15 minutes about their organizations, which we'll follow with an interactive discussion on the implications for green business in the Lowcountry. In the main gallery we will have our usual informal networking along with the food and beverages.

Our hope is to bring together a variety of knowledge, skills, motivation, and expertise to share ideas about helping businesses be more environmentally-friendly, starting new sustainable businesses, finding employees/employment and generating general networking contacts here in Charleston and the Lowcountry. So come out and meet like-minded representatives from local businesses and organizations plus CofC students, alumni, staff and faculty. If you know anyone that might be interested, please feel free bring them with you.

Volunteers: we’re looking for volunteers to help set up and tear down at these monthly events - only about 10-15 minutes worth of work. If you’re interested, please contact me at hansend [at] cofc.edu.

Green Event Looking for Business and Organizations to Participate

2008-03-19T08:14:00.005-04:00

You may have heard about this already. Andrea Canberg, one of my colleagues over in the Hospitality and Tourism Management department, has been working with students to put on a green event. Andrea and her students are looking for businesses and organizations to set up to vend and/or distribute information at the event.
Here's a copy of the flyer:

The College of Charleston &

Other Brother Entertainment Present

Eat, Drink, & Be Green!

All proceeds will go toward Green Initiatives at the College.

Together We Can Make a Difference!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina at Patriots Point

Hank Futch & Greg Walker of the Blue Dogs will be playing!

4:00pm to 8:00pm

Tickets are $10 in advance, and $12 at the door.

Children 12 and under are free!

Tickets will be available on March 21st^th at:

Half-Moon Outfitters and the College of Charleston Bookstore.

For more information contact:

Andrea at canberga [at] cofc.edu or visit www.cofcgreenevent.com

Planned by Event Management HTM 362 Class!

Proceeds will be used to improve the recycling program, implement energy efficient practices, create environmental awareness programs, and to make our campus a more environmentally sustainable campus!

Green Collar Jobs

2008-03-17T21:29:00.003-04:00

"Green collar jobs" has been a frequent buzzword lately. I was even interviewed about it a couple months ago (the day of the first green business networking event). In the interview I defined green collar as any job at a company that itself could be considered green. So both traditional blue and white collar can be called green if the job is with the right company. A reason for the increase in the buzz about green collar is that it's a way to put a more positive spin on support of environmental improvements, in particular led by the government. People might resist the government spending money to improve our environment directly or imposing restrictions on existing businesses, but they tend to be in favor of helping to create new jobs. The green collar movement (if you want to call it that) is a combination of both. By investing in businesses and industries that can be considered green, the large number of nascent firms, start ups and small businesses can grow. And that means hiring more workers. For example, expanding the renewable energy industry would lead to plenty of job growth as plants and wind turbines and such need to be built, workers will be needed to maintain them, managers will be needed to manage the firms and resources, etc.

Today I ran across a comprehensive study (pdf) on green jobs. They look at three industries: energy efficiency, wind power and biofuels. I wont pretend to have read through all 50 pages, but in skimming it one thing I got was that the greatest opportunity is in energy efficiency. That is, there is a lot more potential to create new jobs in improving home energy use. What I like about it is that it's also much more open to entrepreneurial activity. In my entrepreneurship classes my students frequently work on ideas related to starting businesses geared towards improving home resource efficiency. In fact I've encouraged my current students to come out to the next event to talk to all of you about their concepts, so please be encouraged to share your thoughts with them.

Green Contracting Guide

2008-03-16T18:03:00.002-04:00

Yes, I've been negligent this week in posting on the blog. So as a quick attempt at reconciliation I'd like to offer this guide on Green Performance Contracting (pdf). From the Greener Buildings website:

This guide from the Leonardo Academy addresses how all interested parties can bring sustainability into performance contracting. It looks at how building owners can bring green issues into contracts for upgrades and also how contracting services can include sustainable measures in their offerings.

Green Business Connections

2008-03-12T08:34:00.003-04:00

Looking for investment or an investment opportunity? Looking for some other green business connection? I just ran across this page this morning. Build Business Relationships, Find Vendors, Distributors, Partners, Sell Excess Inventory!

Here are a couple examples:

African Wood Inc

We are looking for development partners for our business promoting and facilitating travel, trade and sustainable investment in Africa.

Futura Solar, LLC

Futura Solar seeks licensing partners, manufacturers, installers, green developers.

South Tropical

Ecuador organic shrimp farm seeks development partners and distributors.

MINK
Upscale vegan women's shoe line hand-made in Italy seeks strategic partner knowledgeable about the shoe industry.

One thing I notice is lots of bio-diesel businesses. The other notable is that these businesses are all over the world.

Upcoming events

2008-03-11T20:20:00.005-04:00

There's not much upcoming that I'm aware of in the immediate future (of course my awareness may be the problem). I imagine that a lot of organizations are just saving up for Earth Day/Month, so expect plenty of event announcements soon. In the meantime, Wednesday, March 12th, will be the next installment of Green Drinks Charleston. It's held at the Trusted Palate at 563 King Street beginning at 7 pm. Of course the next Green Business Networking event will be Monday March 24th, from 4:30 - 6:30.

St. Patrick's Day is this Saturday. [You may have heard that Irish bishops set it for March 15th this year (instead of the 17th) due to conflict with Holy Week.] Besides being noted for drinking and parades, it's also highly associated with the color green. I'm not aware of any past attempts to link it with the environmental shade, but that might be a good idea. So here's a suggestion, if you're already planning on wearing something green that day, why not make it environmentally "green"?

Green Product Design Conference

2008-03-08T16:36:00.005-05:00

This might be of interest to a few people. In June Greenbiz.com is hosting a large product development conference focused on green design. It's two days (Th/F 6-12/13, 2008) of speakers, workshops and interactive sessions just up the road in Alexandria, VA. It's a bit pricey ($1799 before April 1), but you can get 15% off by using a code "greenbuzz".

Two particularly interesting sessions are:

Panel discussion on: "The New Tools: Biomimicry, Cradle-to-Cradle, Green Chemistry" featuring Jason Pearson, Executive Director, GreenBlue; Biomimicry Guild; Dr. Cenan Ozmeral, GVP Functional Polymers, RBU, BASF
Invited Panel from IDEO, Ziba, Frog and Tricycle

ps. I could have sworn that it was run or co-sponsored by the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA), but there is no mention of it on the conference website or the PDMA's website. And the "Green Gurus @ Play" is just like the PDMA's Gurus @ Play. But it should be a good event none-the-less.

Local Living

2008-03-07T09:46:00.003-05:00

I'm back in Charleston now, and it's time to get back to local stories. I ran across an interesting organization this morning, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, which has a chapter here in Charleston, Lowcountry Local First. It should be of interest to most of you that read this blog, whether you're a business and would consider joining or you're just looking to support local businesses. Here is the LLF description:

Mission:

Lowcountry Local First advocates the benefits of a local living economy by strengthening community support for independent locally owned businesses and farmers.

We are an alliance that educates the public on the importance of supporting the local economy, and encourages businesses and consumers to be environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. We are one of 52 chapters of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) www.livingeconomies.org.

We envision a sustainable global economy as a network of Local Living Economies, building long-term economic empowerment and prosperity in communities through local business ownership, economic justice, cultural diversity and a healthy natural environment. Independent businesses create wealth by engaging local people in the production, marketing, and consumption of goods, they pay taxes, and reinvest in our communities.

We educate the public to:

• Reduce material and energy costs

• Recycle and reuse waste

• Buy and sell locally.

• Support local agriculture

The list of member companies is a good resource (found under membership page). While you probably already know local businesses from national chains, it's good to know which businesses are getting involved in things like this. Buying local is of course one of the simplest changes we can make towards being more environmentally-friendly from the simple fact that transportation is reduced. Which means less fuel burned and all the benefits that accompany that. And that goes for not just consumers, but businesses as well - remember that your supply chain can have a huge environmental impact.

News From the Road

2008-03-01T21:14:00.002-05:00

I'm in Chicago for a few days and rather than keep you waiting until I get back for a new post, I'm going to be lazy (and get back to the assorted celebrations I'm here for: wedding, birthday and engagement). A sort of follow up to the french fry story: read here about a new service to help companies analyze the carbon footprint of their entire supply chain.

Your French Fries and iPods Are Contributing to Environmental Degradation

2008-02-26T20:28:00.009-05:00

A new list of bad companies is out. Condé Nast Portfolio has compiled a list of companies it feels "could be doing better, given their resources and position in their industries." While the list includes your standard evil oil and power companies, it includes some surprises. Simplot, maker of french fries for McDonald's and others is listed for their misuse and poor storage of chemical fertilizers. While this may not be a surprise to some, others may find themselves in a dilemma if they've been justifying eating McDonald's fries because the used cooking oil can be used to power their vehicle. The bigger surprise may be the inclusion of Apple. While Jobs & co may be consistently ahead of the curve in design, they are behind the curve in eliminating harmful toxins and developing recycling programs. While not mentioned in the article, Apple has been accused of being bad for the environment due to their insistence on designing products that only they can fix, for which they charge an arm and a leg. That tends to make iPods and iPhones disposable products, and the fact that they contain toxins only makes matters worse.

So what's the morale of the story for green businesses? First the Simplot example reminds businesses that they need the full partnership of all supply chain members in order to truly be green. One supplier, logistics firm, reseller or wholesaler can "offset" many of the positive environmental impacts a company makes. Second, design of a product should include a reduction of environmental impact throughout all stages of the product's life cycle. One source of ideas on this topic is McDonough and Braungart's book "Cradle to Cradle" (which I haven't had a chance to read yet). It follows a basic idea that at the end of a product's life, what remains should provide the raw ingredients for creating something else, similar to the way the death of one animal or plant can be the food that gives life to another. (This of course is not a unique idea. Others have written about Bio-Mimicry or sustainable design, but the Cradle to Cradle book has received a lot of rave reviews.)

Charleston Battery (Soccer) Going Green

2008-02-24T09:09:00.004-05:00

I think this is pretty cool. The Battery have installed solar panels at one end of their stadium. Not only will they power some of the electronic functions (like the scoreboard) but they are also quite visible to all fans "to get the word out to a wider audience about global warming", both in attendance and on TV (for the few games they're on Fox Soccer Channel.) I can't wait to get out to a game and check it out. I just hope they've set up some kind of net to prevent widely errant clearance passes from knocking out the panels.

Survey Asks How “Green” is the American Workplace?

2008-02-23T19:14:00.003-05:00

I received this in a email from a colleague.

Companies say it’s not easy being green, but the benefits are great

Alexandria, Va., January 16, 2008 – “Going green” is a hot topic, but has the workplace caught on yet? According to the 2008 SHRM Green Workplace Survey released today by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 50 percent of surveyed organizations have a formal or informal environmental responsibility policy, but 43 percent have no such policy and no plans to implement one within the next 12 months.

“The findings revealed a surprising paradox,” said Susan R. Meisinger, president and CEO of SHRM. “The study shows that companies really do benefit from environmentally-friendly practices, and yet a large portion of firms have no plans to ‘go green’,” she added.

Companies that implement environmental responsibility programs report considerable benefits. Human resource (HR) professionals cite improved employee morale (44 percent) and a stronger public image for the company (42 percent) as top benefits. They also report increased consumer/customer confidence/choice (20 percent) and a positive financial bottom line (19 percent) as a result of the organization’s environmental responsible program. Survey respondents also cite increased employee loyalty (16 percent).

These findings indicate that “green” initiatives can be a selling point to attract potential employees, particularly among younger workers. “These employees check the background of organizations and talk with employees to find out for themselves if the ‘green’ CSR messaging delivers on its promise,” said Gerlinde Herrmann, SHRP, president of the Herrmann Group and a member of SHRM’s Corporate Social Responsibility Expertise Panel.

Despite the benefits, HR professionals admit that it’s not easy for their companies to become and remain environmentally friendly. The most common barrier to creating an environmental program is implementation cost (85 percent) followed by maintenance cost (74 percent). Other barriers include lack of management support (43 percent), lack of employee support (25 percent), and concern for workplace inefficiency (20 percent).

Still, nearly three out of four employees from companies without environmental programs say they want their employers to “go green.” Seventy-three (73) percent of surveyed employees in companies without an environmental responsibility policy thought it was very or somewhat important that their organization develop an environmental responsibility policy.

“It is possible for every organization to provide some level of environmentally responsible practices,” said Victoria Johnson, M.S., PHR, the human resources director of Fellowship House and a member of SHRM’s Corporate Social Responsibility Expertise Panel.

Other notable findings in the SHRM Green Workplace Survey are below.

• While C-suite support for company initiatives is key, relatively few at the CEO/President (15 percent) level are responsible for creating the environmentally responsible program and fewer (four percent) are responsible for program implementation. The majority of such programs are created by a senior management team (32 percent) and roughly the same number (31 percent) are also responsible for implementation.

• HR professionals rank the top five environmentally-responsible practices to be: 1) encouraging employees to work more environmentally friendly (83 percent); 2) offering a recycling program for office products (83 percent); 3) donating and discounting used office furniture and supplies to employees or local charity (73 percent); 4) using energy efficient lighting systems and equipment such as ENERGY STAR® equipment and occupancy sensors (66 percent); and 5) installing automatic shutoff for equipment (63 percent).

• Employees offer a slightly different view and rank the five most important environmentally-responsible practices as follows: 1) donating and discounting used office furniture and supplies to employees or local charity (53 percent); 2) promoting walking, biking, taking public transit (49 percent); 3) using energy efficient lighting systems and equipment (43 percent); 4) offering a recycling programs for office products (39 percent); and 5) encouraging employees to work more environmentally friendly (36 percent).

• Both human resource professionals and employees state that their primary, or number one, motivation for participating in environmentally responsible programs is to make a contribution to society. HR professionals placed more weight on environmental (53 percent) and economic (46 percent) considerations as second and third most prevalent company motivators. Employees report public relations strategy (26 percent) and health and safety considerations (24 percent), respectively, as the second and third driving factors.

The Green Workplace Survey’s 429 HR professional respondents represent publicly- and privately-owned companies, nonprofits, and the government sector. The 504 employee sample was randomly selected from U.S. telephone population. All employee respondents were either employed full time or part time.

A complete copy of the survey is available at www.shrm.org/surveys. (But it's for members only).

More About Ports

2008-02-22T07:06:00.007-05:00

I posted a report a couple weeks ago about the state of pollution in ports, with Charleston being one of the worst. I've recently been reading more about what some businesses are doing about it. I'm sure many of you have heard about the Skysail: a large sail added to a freighter to reduce fuel usage (and thus emissions), used by DHL. Today I read about the Coalition for Responsible Transportation, which was founded by Target, among others, and recently joined by Wal-Mart. A quick description from their website:

C.R.T. is comprised of private sector companies who strive to be responsible stewards of the environment by not only complying with all environmental regulations but by implementing business practices that minimize diesel emissions and encourage sustainable practices. C.R.T. founding members, NYK Group Companies, Target, Total Transportation Services, Inc., are actively seeking to partner with other like-minded companies who share in their commitment to the environment and the communities in which they operate.

So are any local companies involved or thinking of getting involved?

Greening Your Business

2008-02-19T20:55:00.003-05:00

Continuing on this topic from a couple of weeks ago... I ran across this (pdf) today. Five technology companies provide advice on making the office more green. Most of what's in there might be old hat to many of you, but this is geared more towards the mainstream. What do you think? Is there anything in there that's new to you or perhaps presented in a different way that might make the argument to go green more appealing to the average corporate executive or middle manager? Does the message sound any different given that's it's European (other than talking about Pounds and Euros)?

Another Good Event Tonight

2008-02-18T21:00:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note to say that I hope everyone had a good time this evening and did some good networking. Turnout was a little less than I expected, but a combination of: holiday, weather and short span in time since the last one kept some people away. But I will still say this was a success. Several people indicated that they met someone in their industry of interest or made some other worthwhile connection. And it's especially satisfying to know that several of those connections were between CofC students and members of the community, because that's one of the main reasons we hold this event. As I've mentioned in an early blog, I'd like to hear some of the success stories. So if you've got one from this event (or the previous one) and are willing to share, please post a comment.

Green Business Incubator

2008-02-16T21:51:00.003-05:00

I'd love to see something like this here. Of course, I think Noisette fills that role to some extent. Interesting to note that the idea was announced at Green Drinks NYC. Which reminds me, if you haven't been out to a Green Drinks event here in Charleston, you really should. The event is growing every month, it's a great complement to the Green Business Networking event (or vice versa since Green Drinks came first.)

It's Not Easy Being Green

2008-02-15T20:55:00.004-05:00

Tuesday night I took part in a focus group run by CofC communications students working with the Charleston Green Committee. The discussion was quite lively and informative. In fact I barely got to say a word throughout the session, but my mind was racing (as best it could after a long day). The thing I came up with that seemed to unite all the concerns and suggestions brought up was that what is needed is to make being green, easy. Or to put it another way, the easy decisions we make every day should be green. One example that came up was recycling. The City of, and College of, Charleston do not do a very good job of recycling, especially compared to cities and colleges around the world. Right now it's difficult to recycle. In my building, I have to walk down to the end of hall, cross a bridge, down the stairs, to the end of another hall in order to deposit my recyclables in the proper place. Now I don't mind this at all, this is actually some of the little exercise I get in my day. But there are many others that are not willing to go out of their way to recycle - it's much easier to throw things away in the trash. There are trash bins everywhere - I've got one under my desk (which rarely gets used). So I have a simple decision to make - take the easy route and toss my recyclables in the trash can in my office or take a 2 minute walk to properly throw them away. But what if the easy route was to recycle? What if there were recycling bins everywhere and people had to go out of their way to find a regular trash bin? We'd see much more recycling because that would be the easy decision. We can apply the same logic to other decisions. For example, if I were looking to buy a new refrigerator and the more energy-efficient version was also the cheaper one, my decision would be easy. So if the "green" decision was the one that was quicker, simpler, cheaper, etc. it would be much easier being green. So to try to take environmental-friendliness to the mainstream, we need to take a look at each individual issue and find ways to make the green option, the easy option.

In case you're stuck with the old Kermit the Frog song in your head (or maybe you are NOW), here's the video: It's not easy being green. Enjoy.

Next Green Business Networking Event

2008-02-14T21:53:00.004-05:00

After the success of the first networking event, my hopes are high that the next event will be just as good or better. As a slight change from the first one I'm proposing a topic of discussion - what local governments do to help or hinder green business and what they can do to improve. I think that through some discussion we should be able to identify several key things that can help green businesses (of which they might not be aware) and several key things that we should focus on getting our governments to do.

In case you haven't already received the announcement (and if not, please contact me so that I can add you to my mailing list) the next Green Business Networking Event will be Monday, February 18th, from 4:30 - 6:30 at the Tate Center gallery (second floor). Enter through the Beatty Center (5 Liberty Street), go up the stairs and across the bridge. Please bring anyone you know that might be interested.