New Year's Anti-Resolutions

Matthew May's blog, Elegant Solutions, is one of my favorites.  He came from the Toyota world, so he offers an insider's view of Toyota's elegant mind.  Yesterday he presented a different approach to creating New Year's resolutions:  "2009:  Don't Just Do Something."

Instead of saying what you will do or what you will add to your life, you say what you will not do or what you will delete from your life.  On that note, here are my New Year's "anti-resolutions":

1. I will eliminate blatant energy wasters from my daily life.  Living in Dallas, it will be hard to reduce my fuel usage, but I'm going to carpool more and drive the Honda Civic (35-40 mpg) more than the Toyota FJ Cruiser (18 mpg).  Also, instead of flying to Europe for vacation, we're gonna stay close (North America at least).  All incandescent light bulbs are already gone or will be gone soon.  Baby steps, but they will reduce my carbon footprint.
2. I will eliminate excessive TV & movie watching.  This past year I got fiber optic cable TV for the first time, and I was hooked.  The picture quality was so amazing and choices were so abundant that I watched a lot of everything.  It was fun while it lasted, but it's unsustainable as it's a huge time-waster.  With the start of my graduate studies and blogging, there's just no time for wasteful activities anymore.
3. I will eliminate disgusting food from my diet.  I love to eat.  My ever-expanding waistline is evidence of that.  I'll never be one for eating like a bird and I shudder at the thought of being a vegetarian.  But, I certainly would not miss all the disgusting food that I eat.  I don't need McDonald's breakfast, frozen food, fried food, anything covered in cheese and/or butter, or any processed "stuff" from the Super Wal-Mart.  I would actually like to live past 30.

Well, that's it.  I was tempted to add other items to the list, but in the elegant spirit of Mr. May's blog, I will keep to the top three.  Do you think they're achievable?  If you had to choose three things to eliminate from your life in '09, what would they be?

Happy New Year!

Christmas Morning Mimosas- "The Aftermath"

I understand that I am the "green investment" guy around this blog however I decided to go a different route with my post today. Especially with the financial markets in a holiday coma.

So I just completed another holiday week in which my brother flew in from Boston and my sister drove over from Orlando. We proceeded to pah-ty wicked hard, as my brother's fellow Bostonians would say, for the better part of a week. If I had to guess 4 bottles of champagne, 10 bottles of wine, and several hundred bottles of beer were consumed by ourselves and friends during that time. I mean who am I to change the family tradition of waking up Christmas morning to presents, stockings, and delicious Mimosas for breakfast!

All of this got me thinking- what the heck happens to all of that glass? So I jumped on the fancy interweb this morning and began googling glass recycling and the like. Wouldn't you know it, up popped this wonderful article written by Kate Galbraith for the New York Times.

The Fate of Recycled Christmas Wine Bottles

Now if somebody could come up with a way to begin wrapping our Christmas presents in recycled glass we would really be onto something!

My Green Vacation

This year, I actually saved a few vacation days till the end of the year. My wife is off of work and I thought it would be a good time for us to get away. Upon weighing the options of where to go, when to go and how much to spend, we have decided to stay at home. The logistics of traveling with two babies is a nightmare and you end up coming home needing to relax but have to go back to work. This year, we opted for the "staycation," and so far I'm enjoying it. For me, the purpose of a vacation is to recharge my batteries, hag out with people I care about and I get to do those things. It also makes me more dedicated to finding things to do close to home. We've already planned a few day trips with the kids for next week. I like that I'm spending less money, and that money helps boost the local economy.

There is also an environmental force at work (of course). We usually travel twice a year. One long plane trip and one driving trip to the beach (or somewhere else that you can drive). So if I replaced the plane trip every other year with a staycation, I would be able to save money, which could be used every other year to go on a really good trip, and save the environment a little in the process. One transatlantic flight for a family of four creates more CO2 than that family generates domestically in an entire year. Source. That means I could drive a Prius every day, but take my family on a trip to London and have the same affect as a family of four who drove a hummer all year and stayed home for vacation. Maybe I'll save my money and every 2 years take a 2 week vacation somewhere. The CO2 impact would be the same but I would be getting twice the vacation. What are your thoughts? Is anyone else considering a staycation? I know I would go crazy if I never went anywhere, but some times I think staying home is an excellent alternative.

Getting Political

Merry Christmas(or Xmas), Happy Hanukkah, Festivus, Kwanzaa, or whatever you celebrate! I'm sure you are all spending time with your family and friends and not reading this post. Nonetheless, I did not want to miss doing my weekly post on green politics.

I'm sure most of you do the individual things to be green; recycle, walk instead of driving short distances, turn off the lights, etc. For those who want to do more here is a list of ways to get political. I'm lazy myself, so I've organized them from easy to hard.

The easy ways:

1. Contact your Senator and tell him or her what green initiatives you support. You can find contact information here: Senate.gov
2. Ditto with your Congressperson (and state and local reps). Contact info: House.gov
3. Check out Change.gov. This is the Obama transition team's official site and will be the public point of contact for the new administration. Here you can read blog posts about what Obama is up to and get involved in discussions. Obama is touting an open and communicative administration, but of course only time will tell.
4. Read and understand a candidate's (for local, state or federal office) platform before voting for them. This is usually published in the newspaper but you should be able to find it on their website (personally if they don't have a website, I would not vote for them).
5. Write letters to the editor of your local paper. This is especially useful for speaking out for or against local policy.
6. Start a green political blog. We use Blogger, which is free. Given the sea of green blogs out there, including ours, it might be wise to focus on you local government and try to get you fellow citizens to read and participate.

Harder:

1. Organize or join a protest.
2. Campaign for a green candidate.
3. Attend your City Council's meetings and speak about what you want changed.

Hard:

1. Become a green lobbyist at the state or federal level. You probably will need a lot of green cred first.
2. Run for office at the local, state or federal level. Only masochists need apply.

As for myself, I have done everything on the easy list except number 5, but I need to do it all a lot more. On the harder list, I did a bit of unofficial campaigning for Obama, i.e. word of mouth, but I don't think that really counts.

For number 3, if you read the comments for my December 10 post you will know I was challenged to stop just talking green politics and start walking the walk. I accepted the challenge and will be preparing a proposal requesting the City of Hattiesburg (MS) to initiate glass recycling (we currently have only paper, metal cans and plastic) and to offer curb-side recycling. I will attend the February City Council meeting and present my proposal.

I know Trevor has said he will do a similar thing in Lake Alfred, FL. What about the rest of y'all? Want to share your own political actions or other ways to get political?

Skype Gives Me a Green Christmas

I love Skype.  I couldn't make it back to Florida for Christmas this year.  No matter.  Thanks to my free Skype account, I just opened presents with my entire extended family from 1700 miles away.  Sweet!

If you don't know, Skype is an internet phone service that also lets you do video calls if you have a web cam.  It works great and the video calls are absolutely free.  I highly recommend this company.

Anyways, not only is it cool that I got to "be" my family on Christmas Eve, but I also reduced my carbon footprint by not getting on an airplane this holiday season.  Good green stuff.

2 Passions: Sports & Environment

As a boy, I dreamed of playing a professional sport, but then I grew older and realized my athletic abilities were inferior in comparison to the Pro’s. So my dream of playing a professional sport fizzled, but my enthusiasm of following them still runs strong. I’ve often thought about how great it would be to work for a professional league, take the NFL for example, I can’t think of many jobs that I wouldn’t want. A coach, a trainer, a ref, an IT guy, a stadium announcer, a mascot - you name it, they all sound great to me. Why? Because I’m passionate about the NFL. I watch games that I don’t even care about, I spend hours a week analyzing my fantasy team, I even plan vacations and camping trips around the Cowboys schedule.

Then on Saturday night as I watched Romo on the sidelines flip through several printed pictures of his interception, I wondered what green efforts the NFL is making. I thought of how nice it would be to work in the Environmental Management Program for professional or NCAA leagues. Getting paid well, doing something you are infatuated with for an organization you are obsessed with. How can one not be wildly successful in such an environment?

I did some reading and found that most leagues either have their own internal program, or formed a strategic alliance with an existing group: NHL/GreenLife, MLB/NRDC. It seems most of these sports-related, eco-improvement initiatives involve recycling, and making events like the Superbowl “carbon neutral”. This is done by planting trees, buying offsets, and using alternative energy sources where possible. But surely they can do more, right? From a sheer public awareness standpoint, professional sporting organizations are in a great position to greenducate our youth, given who they have as spokespeople.

Suppose you were the environmental program director for a professional league, what are some projects you would consider undertaking? Could a carbon-cap (similar to a salary-cap), which sets a limit on the amount of emitted pollutant in a given season be imposed on teams?

Toyota is Lean & Green

Don't you love it when two things you really love intersect?  Like at a Christmas party when they have both Jack Daniels & Swedish meatballs.  Or when you're out by the campfire in the Texas Hill Country and somebody plays Willie Nelson on the iPod.  I've yet to see this next example, but the ultimate intersection would be a Top Golf right next to a Bone Daddy's bbq joint.  Hot doggie!

Reading about Toyota this past week, I had the pleasure of seeing an intersection of my two professional passions:  Lean & Green.

Toyota has been a legend in the Lean Manufacturing world for a long time.  They took Ford's assembly line and GM's management system, and came up with something even better:  The Toyota Production System.  Listen, I could talk all day and night about the finer points of TPS, but I won't.  Nope.  I just wanna talk about how Toyota is  becoming a Green company.

You probably noticed this week that everybody and their brother reported on Toyota's first annual loss in 70 years.  It's amazing enough that they've been (highly) profitable for 70 straight years, and it's depressing enough that the economy is in such shambles that even Toyota is losing money.  But, even with all this craziness, Toyota is still making headway with Green:  "Toyota's Environmental Update" from GreenBiz.com.

There are two ways Toyota is going green.  First, as the above article mentions, they're doing things to reduce their internal waste (energy, trash, etc.).  Secondly, they're the inventor of the Prius, the most successful hybrid vehicle yet, that gets up to 50 mpg.

Without getting into too much detail about how Toyota brings about improvements in their organization, let's just say that they have a tremendous talent for doing it.  Now that they've set their sights on eco-improvements, watch out!  They may not reach their goals this year or next, but they will reach their goals ahead of most auto manufacturers.  They are a prime example of how Lean thinking can be used to propel the Green movement.  Now, if only the Detroit 3 would use some of that $17 billion to make their operations Lean & Green.  Not likely, but I guess it's possible.  Right?

The Greeniuses Buffet: Now Serving Tasty Green News

We're dishing out links hand-selected by The Greeniuses for your consumption. Here are the daily specials:

• Treehugging Special:  "Sustainable lifestyles gaining popularity as eco-villages take root" from Asahi.com
• Capitalists Special:  "Sustainability Emerges as a Business Model" from Entrepreneur.com

Hungry for more?  Click here:  The Greeniuses Buffet

Is Green Building Our Han Solo?

I know you've all seen Star Wars, right?  I'm not talking about the sequels or prequels.  I'm talking about the original Star Wars, Episode 4.  Do you remember the climax when Han Solo (greatest movie character ever) swoops in from out of nowhere at the last second to save Luke Skywalker's butt (lamest character ever)?  Han was their ace-in-hole, their deus ex machina, their ringer.

Right now, the American economy is in bad shape.  It's like we've got Darth Vader, Boba Fett, O.J. Simpson, and Dick Cheney all after us at the same time.  We need a miracle!  Do we have a ringer?

Maybe we do.  Maybe it's Green Building:  "How the Recession Means More Green Building (and Why That's Good for the Economy" from the Green Building Elements blog.

Facts:

1. Obama wants to "weatherize one million homes annually"
2. Obama wants to "launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient"
3. The technology, expertise, and labor required to do #1 & 2 are readily available
4. Democrats control large majorities in both houses of Congress, making it likely that funding for #1 &2 will be appropriated shortly after Obama's inauguration

We in the construction industry felt the recession sooner than about anybody else.  We might feel the recovery sooner than anybody else as well.  Is any other industry in such a prime position to make an immediate impact on the economy and our environment?

Was the Grinch the first Green Santa Claus?

I guess literally and metaphorically, he was. He took the gifts and decorations from the whos and thought he would stop Christmas from coming. Didn't matter, they had Christmas without all that. I know my family has tried to buy less "plasticrap" this year, and I think if everyone bought a little less and gave a little more it would be a win for the environment and our finances. And we wouldn't have to cancel Christmas.

Check this out for 20 ways to wrap your presents without waste. My personal favorite is the present inside of a sock. I'm a little unsure about the aluminum foil, but perhaps it's been used and washed and saved from the trash. I'm assuming there are already many people on the "green Christmas wrapping paper alternative" bandwagon, but if anyone has any ideas I'm sure there's room for some Greeniuses as well. I guarantee that in 5 years wrapping paper as we know it today will be drastically different.

I'd like to weigh in on the age-old green debate on which is better: real Christmas trees or fake Christmas trees. My response is that not having a tree is best. For those of us with wives and or children who must have a tree, I say go with a real tree from a local farm. If not, then you can be like my family and use the same fake tree for 10 years and counting. This is already being done, but I see huge potential in the Christmas tree rental business. They bring a tree in a pot to your house and you hang stuff on it and put your presents beneath it. On January 1 they pick it up and plant it somewhere. Can they make a Prius with a truck body so this part of it is greener?

Ed. Note: This Christmas edition of my green living post was originally entitled "I'm dreaming of a Green Christmas," until I noticed that there were no fewer than 12,400 blog posts or internet pages of the same title.

Ed. Note: This post was typed using ECO Font. Font with microscopic holes in it so that when printed it uses less ink. Please don't print this just to see it, because that would be wasting paper. Great idea though, don't you think?

Anti-Greenius News

We try to be positive and forward looking here at The Greeniuses, but as Mike's post yesterday on our own personal anti-green habits indicates we all have a long way to go to make the world sustainable.

This week I thought I would share a few stories that are counter to the Green Revolution.

Rule Eases a Mandate Under a Law on Wildlife: Well there goes the polar bear. The good news is that we can get more of the 'fuel from hell,' to borrow Mike's term, from Alaska. Not.

EPA Plays Chicken with Regulations: Turns out that awful smell coming from chicken plants is not just offensive, but is bad for the planet. According to this Treehugger story, certain emissions are 8 times worse from chicken plants in poultry heavy states than from oil refinaries and steel mills combined, something the EPA basically ignores.

And the winner is...Air Conditioned Beach in Dubai: I'm not screwing with you. A hotel in Dubai has an outdoor beach that is air conditioned. This would be bad anywhere, but is made worse by the fact that Dubai is in the middle of a freaking desert. The only place more expensive to a/c would be the tenth circle of hell.

Now that you have once again lost your faith in humanity, let me end on a positive note. My homestate of Florida approved a deal to buy 300 square miles of Everglades land owned by U.S. Sugar for conservation purposes.

Your thoughts?

Greener Pastures

8 months ago, I left my old job because the company I wanted to work for, the one I hand selected, had agreed to hire me on. I sought this company out for several reasons, one of those being that they sell a video conferencing solution that reduces business travel and all the wastes associated with it. I guess its considered a green technology, and although it was only one of the reasons I left my old company, I cant help but wonder if others are opting for greener pastures.

Here are 5 companies with an earth-friendly business model that are worth taking a look at:

Better World Books
Herman Miller
New Leaf Paper
Pizza Fusion
SustainAbility

The Greeniuses Buffet: Now Serving Tasty Green News

We're dishing out links hand-selected by The Greeniuses for your consumption.  Here are the daily specials:

• Green Building:  "First Net Zero Energy Commercial Building in Florida" from MarketWatch
• Green Investments:  "Profits triple at Envrionment & Ecology" from BusinessFirst
• Green Living:  "Downhill trend seen in number of miles driven by Americans" from The Dallas Morning News
• Green Politics:  "Obama Should Implement Carbon Tax" from TreeHugger
• Green Technology:  "Tokyo Station Installs New Floors to Generate Electricity" from GearCrave

Hungry for more?  Click here:  The Greeniuses Buffet

Obama Rounds Out his "Green Dream Team"

Today President-elect Obama announced that he has chosen Colorado Senator Ken Salazar for Secretary of Interior and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for Secretary of Agriculture. 

On Ken Salazer and Tom Vilsack, Obama had this to say (excerpts from speech given today):

"Ken will bring to the Department of the Interior an abiding commitment to this land we love. 

His family has farmed and ranched the same land in Colorado for five generations.  As a Senator from the great state of Colorado, he has been a champion for farmers, ranchers, and rural communities – from building a clean energy economy to setting aside 250,000 acres of Rocky Mountain National Park as wilderness."

"To lead a Department of Agriculture that helps unlock the potential of a 21st century agricultural economy, I can think of no one better than Tom Vilsack. As Governor of one of our most abundant farm states, he led with vision, promoting biotech to strengthen our farmers and fostering an agricultural economy of the future that not only grows the food we eat, but the energy we use. Tom understands that the solution to our energy crisis will be found not in oil fields abroad but in our farm fields here at home. That is the kind of leader I want in my cabinet." (And yes that is his Myspace profile picture)

Go to the change.gov blog post for more on this announcement and to read or watch Obama's speech.

Wait, I'm not Green.

"So, are you like, going green or something?"  That's what I was asked the other day by a friend who was checking out our blog for the first time.  The phrasing of it struck me as funny.  It kind of indicated that she thought of Green as a personal lifestyle choice, like say, becoming a vegetarian.  "So, you're going vegetarian?  Does that mean you have to eat that tofurkey stuff?"  

This lifestyle-type question caught me off-guard, because lately I've been thinking about Green more at the macro-economic level.  More as a gamechanging global initiative.  With Barack Obama, T. Boone Pickens, and many others talking about making huge, wide-ranging, multi-billion-dollar investments in Green-related projects, it's hard not to be fixated on the big stage.

But in focusing so much on the high-level stuff, am I neglecting to face the reality of my not-so-sustainable lifestyle?  Here's a snapshot of my life in terms of my carbon footprint:

1. I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, which is really spread-out and has virtually no mass-transit (all freeways, see photo to the right)
   
2. My wife and I live in a 1720 square foot townhome
3. I drive a Toyota FJ Cruiser that only gets about 18 mpg
   
4. I live about 13 miles from work; I sometimes carpool w/ the wife
5. We buy most of our "stuff" from Wal-Mart, Target, or other importers
   
6. We like to travel a lot

So, I obviously have some work to do if I wanna "go green."  My worst guilty pleasure is my FJ.  It's an "eco-foul" no doubt.  But I love it!  I don't really want to swap it for a Prius, and can't really afford to take the hit on the trade-in value.  But in a place like DFW, I really shouldn't own an SUV.  There are just too many miles to drive, too many gallons of dirty fossil fuels to burn.  But it's an off-roading beast!

Most of you probably have a guilty pleasure or an eco-foul of your own, right?  What is it?  Come on, you can admit it.  Is it your gigantic, oversized suburban home?  Your 45 minute commute each way to work?  Your obsession with turning the A.C. down to 60 degrees the moment you walk into your hotel room?  Swimming pool?  If you're a true red-blooded American, you have something wasteful to share, so let's hear it...

Watch This Video: Obama Announces Energy Team

This is perhaps one of the most forward looking and important speeches a president has given in decades.

Update 12.17.08

In an admittedly self-serving post, change.gov compiled a list of praise for the "green dream team" announced on Monday. Check it out.

The Greeniuses Buffet: Now Serving Tasty News Stories

We're dishing out links hand-selected by The Greeniuses for your consumption. Here are the daily specials:

• Green Building:  "FlatPak:  Elegant?...Check.  Simple?...Check.  Green?...Check." from the Green By Design blog.
• Green Investments:  "Owens Corning Joins Forces with T. Boone Pickens to Advance Energy Independence" from MarketWatch
• Green Living:  "Life Abroad, A Different Shade of Green" from TreeHugger
• Green Politics:  "OPEC Races to Get Ahead of Declining Oil Demand" from The Wall Street Journal
• Green Technology:  "Green Computing-Cutting Your PC's Carbon Footprint" from Squidoo

Hungry for more?  Click here:  The Greeniuses Buffet

Global Fighting Over Global Warming

This Dot Earth blog story on the United Nations Climate Change Conferance which just convened in Poznan, Poland is perhaps the most important and underreported news story of the past two weeks. This conferance was essentially to discuss and negotiate the intitial terms for the next UN climate initiative which will replace Kyoto when it expires in 2012. This article discusses that things did not go so well.

The article is interesting, but I found the comments to be even more so with a mix of relevant comments and a spur of the moment "debate" between Global Warming believors and doubtors. 

Here is my addition to the fray:

I am another of the "fools" who has bought into the myth of Global Warming. It snowed here in southern Mississippi last week so that must mean Global Warming is a lie. Please. I think we should start using Friedman's term "Global Weirding" and perhaps these inane "But it's not hot here" arguments will end.

To not leave without being relevant to the article, I'll add my 2 cents. It's been said before, but I think the most important thing is to find solutions that have a relatively immediate and tangible benefit to rich and poor countries alike. I don't know what this is, but sadly if the only benefit is "for the good of mankind" many countries will not buy in. You can't blame the poor for this attitude and wouldn't expect anything less from the rich.

Matt Stambaugh
Webmaster and Contributor
www.thegreeniuses.com

The Pink Panther - Sneaky Green Investment Play?

Looks like Owens Corning is jumping on the Pickens Plan train that is rolling across the country.

Owens Corning Joins Forces with T. Boone Pickens to Advance Energy Independence

The Pickens Plan has always been about reducing the United States' dependence on foreign oil through the use of domestic renewable energy sources. Now, with Owens Corning involved, the plan will also include ways to increase energy efficiency in buildings across the nation.

This is where Owens Corning (NYSE symbol: OC) comes into play as a potential investment. Having been in the insulation business for 70 years now they have the product range and ability to obtain any type of government contracts that come about to bring existing buildings up to code when it comes to energy efficiency.

I for one will be very interested to see if President elect Obama includes bringing existing buildings up to "green speed" in his energy bill.

Old School Green

Do you remember those really old grass-cutting contraptions that came before lawn mowers?  Here's a photo of my wife, Mariana, using one (not really, she leaves the lawn chores to yours truly)...

Now you know what I'm talking about.  I bought that bad boy a few months ago to cut my teeny-tiny little backyard (only a couple hundred square feet).  I love it!  No motor, no gas, no grease...no problems.  Plus, it's super-green (no burning fossil fuels, less material required in manufacturing, etc.).  What an elegant solution.

This solution won't work for everyone obviously.  If you live in a traditional home, you probably have a bigger yard than mine, and you're probably not trying to mow it with this thing.  But that brings into question the whole American suburban lifestyle, and I just don't have the energy to tackle that one today...I mowed the lawn earlier.

The Greeniuses Buffet: Now Serving Tasty News Stories

We're dishing out links hand-selected by The Greeniuses for your consumption. Here are the daily specials:

• Green Building:  "Re-Visioning Urbanism:  Sustainable City Block to Rise out of Parking Lot Behind Dallas City Hall" from TreeHugger
• Green Living:  "Florida Business Give You $10 to Recycle Your Old Sex Toys" from TreeHugger
• Green Politics:  "Eight Energy Suggestions for Obama" from the Green Inc. Blog
• Green Technology:  "Harvesting Electricity From Moving Vehicles" from HotHardware.com

Hungry for more?  Click here:  The Greeniuses Buffet

Does $1/Gallon Gas Cost us More?

Lots of people are speculating about the future price of gas, but like the future price of anything, it is not an exact science. In less than five months, gas has fallen from an average of $4.11/gallon to $1.66/gallon. That is great news for most Americans as a $20 bill can almost fill up your tank again, but is it also a sign of a weak economy? Will low gas prices cause people to stop buying fuel efficient cars? Some have suggested a gas floor imposed by taxes. This money could be used to fund investments in alternative energy. I know that I am breathing easier with under $2 gas, but I am also wary of the future. Your thoughts?

Two of The Greeniuses contributors, including myself, "growed up" in Polk City, FL, a town of little more than a thousand people.


View Larger Map

I have never considered the city management to be conservation minded, but I may have to change my opinion after reading this article. In an effort to encourage water conservation, they are setting up a tiered rate system to reward those who use less water. I know I am always saying this, but people respond to conservation efforts that benefit them financially. I currently pay a flat rate for water up to 8,000 gallons/month, which I never go over, but I think it's unfair if I only use 2,000 gallons. Are a lot of municipalities changing to this system? Do you think it will reduce water usage?

I admittedly know nothing about the harvesting of algae for use as a biofuel, but the prospects sound promising. This Wired article outlines a defense department initiative to study the prospect of turning algae into jet fuel. According to the article, it is much more efficient for use as a fuel than corn, and it's use wouldn't increase the price of a food crop as not too many people are eating algae these days. Again, this is the type of research that is necessary now, but with fuel prices dropping, I hope it will continue to be funded and pursued.

Local Green

Last week I looked a few articles covering global trends in Green Politics, this week I’m going micro and discussing a couple of stories about local Green.

Florida is going Green from the Ground Up. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has launched an initiative that “provides the lodging industry with free technical assistance, encouraging hotels and motels to adopt cost-saving “green” practices that reduce waste, conserve natural resources and improve the bottom line.” My home state of Florida is a hotspot for tourists so this imitative could be a huge step towards Green if the lodging industry participates in this initiative.

Gwinnett County, Georgia is getting serious about recycling by imposing a $500 fine for those who don’t separate recyclables from trash. It is good to see my last state of residence taking such a strong step towards Green. I for one support punitive measures, if and only if the government has made things relatively easy for citizens to be Green. In this case it is warranted because you can't get much easier than curb-side recycling.

As for my current locale, after living in Gainesville, Fl and Athens, Ga, where curb-side recycling is the norm, it’s sad to live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where not only is curb-side recycling not available but you can’t even recycle glass anywhere in the county. And Hattiesburg is a freaking college town! Imagine the rest of Mississippi. Not to be too hard on my new home, but we have a long way to go.

What’s going on in your local areas? What needs to happen?

(Side note: It's snowing, I mean full on snowing, here in Mississippi today. Crazy.)

Beyond Treehugging Hippies

This site gives a great overview of how we can transform our energy infrastructure: Repower America

Even if you don't like furry little critters and idyllic walks through pristine wildernesses, you may yet become a believer in the green movement when you see how it can transform our ridiculously outdated energy infrastructure in the United States. You wanna save money on your power bill? Check. You wanna make money by selling power back to the grid? Check. You wanna get 150 miles per gallon in you car? Check. Well, all that can happen if the right people get together and make it happen (that includes you and me...maybe some treehugging hippies too).

Green Collar Careers

This time I'm not commenting on any articles or linking to any web sites. I'm just gonna ask a few real-life questions about how we see green affecting our careers, if at all. Here goes:

1. Is your dream job a "green-collar" job of any sort?

It doesn't have to be working for Greenpeace or anything, but does that sweet job you've been keeping your eye on for a while have any element that contributes in a meaningful way to the green movement? What about your current job? My current job...well, not so much (although we do build a lot of EnergyStar rated homes that are quite energy efficient). My dream job, however, would be to lead large-scale green/sustainable building projects all over the world. I think that would be a meaningful contribution.

2. What are you willing to sacrifice to land a green-collar job?

Two years studying for a master's? Taking a pay cut to apprentice with a well-known green company? Giving up the relative security of a corporate job to start up your own company? Right now, I'm in the process of deciding whether I wanna enter a Project Management MBA program at the University of Texas at Dallas. It would give me a better shot at landing a project manager position,which would give me a better shot at leading green projects worldwide. However, it's extremely expensive and time-consuming. How much do I really wanna be a Greenius?

3. What job sector should you be in right now to put yourself in prime position for jumping on an amazing green opportunity...the Green Google, or the Green iPod?

Would you be willing to start putting things in motion right now to get into that industry? Our generation jusy barely missed out on the career and investment opportunities of the IT Revolutuon of the 90's. This time around, with the Green Revolution getting ready to ignite in the U.S., our generation is in prime position to play the game. But, we have to be on the field to play the game. Can't be on the sidelines!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Green- Who's got it?

These guys that's who- GE Ecomagination

GE through the Ecomagination division has already spent $2.5 billion on R&D development for Green projects around the world. In 2007 they showed revenues of $14 billion versus $12 billion in 2006 an increase of about %15.

Why is any of this important?

Well for one if green is truly going to thrive then the government is going to need some help/investment dollars from businesses around the world to help generate some of the growth in that area.

There is a ton of interesting stuff on the Ecomagination website so just browse through at your leisure. I for one was really interested in what they are doing to reduce water use and increase water reuse across all of their businesses - GE Water Use.

Simple Green

As most intelligent people like to read, how does an intelligent, but green-thinking person rationalize the cutting down of 20 million trees per year for American book production? The Amazon Kindle is a great product, but I think it is still a few years away from being perfect. The public library is great, but they only get one or two copies of every new book and the waiting lists can be brutal. Book Swim is Netflix for books. Read it, return it in their 100% recycled plastic bag, and someone else can read it without cutting down another tree. Simple but brilliant.

While Florida is not usually considered a hot-bed for green development, Miami's Tri-Rail Trains have announced that they will be operating on a 99% biodiesel blend. Evidently South Florida is one of the few places that can run on such a pure blend of fuel due to the temperate climate. Public transportation is one of the easiest ways for someone to live green.

The brains behind RecycleBank prove that you don't have to be an expert or have a PHD to impact the environment in a positive way. They have developed a plan that rewards you for recycling. For every pound you recycle, you earn points that can be redeemed for discounts at green-friendly businesses. This article explains the process and how it has been rolled out in 13 states already, or visit RecycleBank's website. This is a win-win-win in that more people will recycle, the businesses that donate discounts get more business and good publicity, and the cities pay less to dump garbage.

These are all simple ideas that translate to huge environmental rewards. I think that simple is a big part of the future of Green.

Green is Not Just Local It's Global

Here are a few story as evidence of this trend.

• “Green” Politicians in Canada may gain majority due to missteps of conservative prime minister. It’s good to see our neighbor to the north going green. If Obama’s economic and environmental plan goes forward the U.S. could be in a great position to create a green coalition with other first world countries like Canada.
• Nations of Africa to vote as one bloc in support of tighter restrictions on carbon emissions in upcoming meeting in Poland to update the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire in 2012. More evidence that the world is starting to demand more sustainable systems. If things like Kyoto really begin to be accepted and are given teeth for enforcement, globalization will spread green like wildfire.
• The U.S. Army is taking a modest step towards green with the planned lease of 4,000 electric vehicles. How do you know a green revolution has started? When an ultra conservative and traditional institution like the U.S. Army starts embracing it. Green Government Contracts anyone?
  

I think this is a historic time, a chance for the U.S. to regain its positive image by leading the efforts towards a greener world economy. Perhaps though a little competition is in order. If another world power, say China, starts really moving towards green it could exhilarate global green efforts tremendously. Now before you call me a commy, look what we did during the Cold War. We put a freaking man on the moon, when less than 50 years earlier no one had even flown solo across the Atlantic Ocean! What do y'all think?

Buffy the Vampire Power slayer

We've seen the awareness campaigns. We know we're supposed to unplug unused electronic appliances, turn off power strips, and only plug cell phone chargers into outlets when we are actually charging. But how many of us really make the effort? And what about the appliances that we can't unplug?

The Madrid based company Good for you, good for the planet claims to have solved the phantom load problem with their 100% off product. GreenSwitch is another company that sells products to combat the vampire...and still be lazy.

Do you guys think these energy saving technologies will become mainstream soon? Where will it take off first, businesses or residential? Or will the majority of people just let it slide for now, and rely on electronic manufacturers to incorporate smarter standby modes into future devices?

I've Got Green in Low Places...

This past week, I came across several articles that show how Green Building is starting to pop up in places you'd never expect.  Here are but a few of them:

1. "Green Nightclub Trend Comes to New York" from the NY Times' Green Inc. blog.  I had never really considered looking to nightclubs for examples of Green Building, but apparently they have more to offer than eardrum popping music, hotties who apparently don't like it when you do the Mangina for them, and $12 whiskeys in plastic cups.  Good to know.
2. "Project 3.0 greens Ybor City"...as a born & raised central Florida boy, I was amazed to read that the 103 year old Tampa Bay Brewing Company building is undergoing a green renovation.  If Green Building can work in this building, they can work anywhere.
3. "New spas go green"...even the Mecca of poor urban planning, Atlanta, is showing signs of green innovation.  I love the quote from the spa founder & CEO:  "We've always been interested in building with energy efficiency and eco-chic design."  

Eco-chic, I hadn't heard that phrase before.  I think I like it, but I'm kind of dubious because it makes Green sound like just a fad.  Is Green Building the next fad?  Will it go the way of boy bands, slap bracelets, Pauly Shore, and such?  Or will it be an ever-enduring fad, like The Beatles?  Only time will tell, but I'm betting on Green.

Keynesian theory- Looks like Obama is a believer.

I have attached a link to an article in the New York Times written by N. Gregory Mankiw whom is a professor at Harvard Law. In the article he breaks down the Keynesian theory of economics and in doing so shows how the new government is going to try and get the economy jump started by spending money on infrastructure.

What Would Keynes Have Done?

My favorite part is where he brings up the argument that Keynesian theory ignores the long run impact on an economy to which John Maynard Keynes famously quipped, “In the long run we are all dead."

Home Solar Power

So Mike's last post got me curious about installing a PV solar power system at my home. Apart from the aesthetics of installing 800 sq feet of solar panels on my roof, I'm 100% open to the idea if it is cost feasible. I found a site that allows you to input your zip code (so they can determine how much sunlight on average you are going to receive), your utility company (so they know how much per KW/H you pay for power), and your average monthly bill for electricity.

Honestly, I was skeptical that it would be cost effective, but when I got my results, I was blown away. Including property value appreciation, it would take me less than one year to break even (this includes the state and federal rebates available). Removing property value appreciation from the equation, it would only take 7 years for this investment to break even. Not to mention the 203 tons of CO2 saved, or nearly half a million auto miles.

Check it out for yourself.

Hmmm, L.A. is kinda big...

"Los Angeles Unveils World's Largest Solar Plan"

How would you like to be involved with one of the suppliers for this project? I bet the economy's not too slow for them right now?

Blockbuster getting Green, whether they know it or not...

Okay, I don't know much at all about Blockbuster's GQ (Green Quotient), but their new online movie service can't be bad for the environment:

"Blockbuster Launches Internet Movie Downloads"

This is a prime example of how IT is making the Green Revolution possible.

By the way, I know Blockbuster isn't the first to offer this service, but they're so damn big that anything they do to cut down on auto travel can have a huge positive impact. Imagine no trips to the video store and no mail trucks carrying your DVD's to your mailbox.

So, what other items/activities in your life could be obtained/performed online, thus eliminating auto travel? Correspondence has long moved to e-mail and Facebook. You can renew driver's licenses and do other government-related crap online. I read the NY Times online. What hasn't been thought of yet?

Green Transportation article from Slate.com

"Trains vs. Planes vs. Automobiles"

The last part really caught my eye:

"...in some cases, construction is the biggest polluter. Roads were responsible for more particulate matter than tailpipes, for example. For rail travel, operating the trains actually accounts for less than half of a system's greenhouse-gas emissions. The implication: Making concrete and asphalt in a more environmentally friendly way can be just as important as getting vehicles to run more efficiently. In other words, it's not just the road you take, but what it's made out of, too."

Again, sustainable construction is a big deal, an important piece of the green movement. Running a cutting-edge green concrete company isn't glamorous, but I'd bet that it could be profitable in the near future. A smart green person could have an advantage on the usually slow-to-adapt traditional construction industry. I'm just sayin'...

Green Funeral

So I'm driving home from work today listening to how bad the Red Raiders choked on the local sports station, when a construction site catches my eye. I look closer, and its another freaking funeral home! Funeral homes and Senior living communities are popping up like Starbucks in the Dallas suburbs.

When I get home I do some research and learn that the National Funeral Directors Association needs a new website, and expects 2.6 million deaths in 2010...then over 3 mil in 2020. According to their fact sheet, in 2004 the average US cost of a funeral was $6,500. That cost includes an outer burial container, but does not include cemetery costs. Are you kidding me? These guys are ripping people off.

Then I start thinking more about the funeral ceremony and all the wastes involved in the process. Doesn't it seem weird that when a loved one dies, we embalm'em then store'em in a bulky, decay-resistant wooden casket?

So naturally I type 'green funerals' in google, and BAM....I'm inundated with great ideas that others (mostly Europeans) have already thought of. Things like cardboard biodegradable coffins, or super-eco friendly recycled newspaper coffins that look like those Yakima storage containers that the lesbians in Oregon put on top of their Subaru's.
The Spaniards are even getting creative with their new solar power cemetary. So what do you guys think? Maybe there's a serious future for an inexpensive green funeral service in the US.

Green Golf

If the green revolution is to take off, I think it has to affect every area of our lives. The top priority in many people's lives after all the answers they give out of obligation is golf. This article talks about how more and more golf courses are making environmentally friendly (and money-saving) changes to their courses to make them more green.

"If courses act as environmental stewards, there is the opportunity for them to actually benefit nature. The vast expanses of green grass and trees act as "air conditioners" and produce large quantities of oxygen while cleansing the air of pollution. Turfgrass can trap and hold pollutants in place, acting as a catch basin for residential and industrial runoff, according to the GCSAA. Golf courses can also be built on environmentally damaged sites, like landfills. And golf course managers, who often cite their love of nature for their career choice, continue to push new and innovative solutions to environmental problems."

I personally like the idea of golf courses built on former landfills. All that garbage would probably grow some nice grass. Would you pay more to golf at a green course? Would you play at a course that was green but the conditions weren't as perfect as the non-green course across the street?

Green Buildings = Easier Financing

"Environmentally friendly projects may have an edge in finding funding"

With the credit crunch, the ability to obtain funding has got to be nearly impossible.  Any advantage you can get is huge.  This is a huge opportunity for green builders, if they can impress lenders with their green building designs.

Green Construction article

"My View: We can create 'green' construction"

My favorite line from the article:

"Expect more locally sourced construction materials, saving transport costs and creating greater regional differences in buildings' appearances and regional adaptation."

It seems more natural to have variety based on locally/regionally available materials, don't you think?

I also like this quote:

"Today's younger people seem less tied to the idea of workplace. Face-to-face business interaction is essential, but imagine working where you are, rather than spending fuel and time to travel to work."

Brophy sells some cool high-def video solutions that make a lot of business travel unnecessary. Maybe he'll blog on this later.

The Greeniuses now on Facebook!

If you have a facebook account go to groups and search for "The Greeniuses." This is another great way to get the word out about the blog and all that is going on. Make sure to invite as many as your friends to join as you can so we can really get the discussion rolling.

Thanks,

Sean

link here: http://www.facebook.com/friends/?ref=tn#/group.php?gid=36674187377

From the University of Southern Miss' green blog

I'm speechless:  "Why Don't They Get It? Or, To Be or Not, That's the Real Question."

"Saving the World at Work" by Tim Sanders

Looks like I found a new book for everyone to start handing out around their offices. This was part of the earlier story I linked to about the fleet manager at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters challenging his drivers to reduce their use of diesel fuel due to idling.

The author Tim Sanders is the former chief solutions office at Yahoo. He uses three rules for change- 1) teach, don't preach; 2) follow up relentlessly; 3) welcome skeptics into the fold when they convert.

Man does that sound like Lean 101 to any one else!

Here is a link to his book on Amazon including some editorial reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Saving-World-Work-Individuals-Difference/dp/0385523572/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227544734&sr=1-2

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters- They just get it!

For all you Java heads out there make sure you check these guys out. Not only are they one of the most inventive coffee companies out there. They understand and embrace eco-friendly concepts.

Here is a link to their website and ways they go about protecting the environment:

http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/ContentPage.aspx?Name=BBW-Protecting-The-Environment

Also here is a link to the main page:

http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/

From all indications they are a very well run company and have a hit on their hands with the Keurig single cup brewers they are selling.

I just wanted to add one more link for Green Mountain as I came across this story from Investor's Business Daily this morning. Talks about a fleet manager at GMCR focusing his drivers on reducing their use of diesel fuel. Good stuff.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/081121/managing.html?.v=1

The "Slow Home" Movement

I came across a fascinating web site dealing with sustainable homebuilding: Slow Home.

The name initially interested me. 'Slow' Home? According to the web site, it...

"...takes its name from the slow food movement which arose as a reaction to the processed food industry. Suburban sprawl is like fast food - standardized, homogenous, and wasteful. It contributes to a too fast lifestyle that is bad for us and for the environment. In the same way that slow food helps us to avoid the processed food industry and make healthier and more sustainable choices about the food we eat"

Also from the web site, their Three Principles for sustainable living: Close, Simple & Light. Read more about it on their site. These principles pretty much represent how I feel about how we should design our communities and homes.

If you have time, check out their series of videos: Slow Home Report.

University of Southern Miss Goes Green

Mississippi is definitely behind the times, as evidenced by the fact that my employer, USM, just created an Office of Sustainability this fall and there webstite just went livet this week. You can imagine where businesses are at in the state, if universities are just now catching on to green. Nonetheless, it's a move in the right direction and I'm gld for it.

Here is the Office of Sustainability's site: usm.edu/green

Our goals at Southern Miss are to be the model of sustainable thought and practice within our state and region. While we can “do” projects to “go” green, the end-game of our entire initiative is to “be” green. To do so, we have to affect the cognitive processes of our institution on every level. Every plan we make and every action we take should begin with consideration of the tenets of sustainability. As the first dedicated office of sustainability in the state, with the first full-time professional sustainability staff, we strive everyday to make such a cultural transformation a reality.