The Fast Food Frontier

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.

Outdoor Education as a Business Opportunity

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

Food: The New Frontier of Citywide Recycling

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.

We're Back

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.

Sustainable Business Venturing Class

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