| Subject: Experienced Freelance Writer |
| From: Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com> |
| Date: 2/2/09, 13:28 |
| To: job-1017288192@craigslist.org |
Waste Not, Whatnot
by Barrett Brown
The Environmental Protection Agency has deemed the event and trade show industry to be the second largest producer of solid waste in the United States, second only to demolition and construction in this dubious honor. Don't apologize to your kids just yet; solid waste, while none too pretty, is only a small stroke of the brush in the greater ecological picture, with experts having developed new and better criteria as of late to determine who's been mucking up the planet and how much mucking up they've been doing. Besides, your kids may very well have their own apologizing to do. When was the last time you checked the locks on the liquor cabinet?
The implementation of eco-friendly operating procedures is surprisingly easy, increasingly marketable, and almost universally profitable. This, at least, was the central message of last month's
Green Event Summit in San Fransisco, where hundreds of event professionals met to showcase new, greener business practices of potential interest dealer owners, project managers, and the like.
Now, skepticism in the face of increasingly ubiquitous buzzwords like "eco-friendly" is understandable, particularly in the absence of any clear definitions. But the environmental movement has come a long way since the first Earth Day, having since branched out from a propensity for vagueness and granola into something that one can actually take to the bank without getting laughed at by the teller.
It's easy to forget that you can't spell "economic" without "eco" unless you're cheating on a crossword puzzle; those who have pursued greener practices for any particular reason almost always find that they've also managed to save money in the process. And the more mundane the changes, the more surprising the savings often turn out to be. The U.S. Army, for instance, recently audited its paint purchases and discovered that the eco-friendly sorts ended up costing them an average of $1.76 less per can than did the regular types even when both kinds came from the same supplier.
The trick, though, is to go about these things the right way. The Army saved itself a bundle by consulting with Green Seal (greenseal.org), one of several independent certification groups that reckon degrees of ecological efficiency by reference to "Life Cycle Assessment." As Green Seal environmental scientist Nana Wilberforce explains, an LCA measures the environmental impact of a given product or service by tracing its eco-footprint from cradle to grave, covering everything from the early extraction of raw materials to the later disposal of dangerous materials. "In all," says Wilberforce, "the concept of sustainability must be taken into consideration."
Since most firms don't have an environmental scientist on staff, such a nuanced consideration as that may seem somewhat daunting. Luckily, Green Seal offers a free online database of products and services that have met strict LCA standards. Another non-profit, the Greenguard Environmental Institute (greenguard.org), hosts a similar database with an emphasis on emissions and indoor air quality. Between these two websites alone, one can quickly locate green-certified suppliers of surfacing materials, furnitures paint, textiles, adhesives, fleet vehicle maintenance, cleaning services, print materials, and other items of relevance to the trade show world.
But saving money while going green can be even easier than simply changing suppliers, and the event industry is in a particularly advantageous position to do so. "Saving money on eliminating bottled water is the easiest, low-hanging fruit," says Amy Spatrisano, one of the Green Event Summit's keynote speakers and a principal of Meeting Strategies Worldwide. "We've had clients save $25,000 to $50,000 by not serving bottled water and providing large drinking water containers instead. Caterers can also save 15 to 50 percent on serving items in bulk versus individual packets." At the same time, it's easy to get sloppy in the process. "In their enthusiasm to adopt something green, [companies] don't always think it through," Spatrisano notes. "If you're going to eliminate bottled water and provide a refillable container, make sure the container is made environmentally responsibility." LCA standards to the rescue!
Several of the methods by which display dealers in particular stand to save both money and planets are slightly more complicated, though still well within the realm of the doable. Josh Rose, who serves as the Event Designers and Producers Association's vice president of connectivity and also sits on its board of directors and runs his own consultancy firm to boot, points out that the industry practice of pricing shipments by weight provides an opportunity to kill two birds with one etcetera. "Greener products are being designed into exhibits to reduce weight and add flexibility for future adaptation: more aluminum instead of wood and steel, more fabric instead of wood and laminated or plastic finishes. This reduction in weight has lower material handling costs and fuel costs." Then, there's the recycling route. "The red carpet at Fox events in Hollywood for the last year or two has been standardized, cleaned, and reused instead of going to the landfill," Rose points out. "When you are talking about thousands of square feet, that translates to real dollars. Also, builders are creatively restocking used exhibit components and then 'reskinning' them for the next client or show. Instead of pitching old graphics after a specific event, the graphic has become more generic and reused for multiple events with a changeable tag line. One of our clients has saved over $20,000 a year by using this process on an eight-show circuit."
Once you've gotten on the waste wagon, there still exists the matter of communicating your new-found social responsibility to customers. In a market that's becoming increasingly glutted with such terminology, simply describing your firm as "environmentally-friendly" is akin to offering cheap candy in Candy Land. "Greenwashing is becoming a much bigger issue," says Spatrisano, using a term that denotes the making of misleading claims regarding a firm's ecological commitment. Environmental watchdogs have always been on the lookout for fraud in this regard; now, customers are increasingly savvy to such things as well, so it's important to be specific about your greenery. Point out that you're doing business with "LCA-certified suppliers of green products and services," for instance, and you'll get increased business with those who know their stuff, as well as those who are easily impressed by mysterious acronyms.
Also, don't forget to render your TLK's with an upper-trending FRW before the next FOM.
Just kidding. But seriously, though, LCA is a real thing, and you should get on it ASAP.
It's Not Easy Being Green... Or Is It?
Paul Firth, vice president of technology for the environmental watchdog group Green Standard, has some ideas on how to get the ball rolling:
Your firm should pursue "waste management and recycling that addresses office and production wastes." An inexpensive session with an environmental consultant will help.
Before moving on to the more advanced stuff, seek to reduce energy use "through reductions or efficiency gains." Some firms are rolling out corporate buses; others make do with energy-efficient light bulbs and computer monitors, while still others just turn the damned things off at the end of the day. Also, cell phone chargers and the like should be pulled from the socket when not in use; they still run when there's nothing hooked up to them, people.
Compose "a plan to move towards more renewable or alternative energy sources." Again, a consultant will come in handy.
Lock your principals in a room together until they settle on a "purchasing policy to address purchasing habits and criteria to aid in using more sustainable materials." Switching to products and services with favorable LCAs is surefire.