GREEN BUSINESS VIEWS

Posts Tagged ‘green lifestyle’

Are you anxiously waiting for one of those elusive Green jobs to appear?  Isn’t everybody?  The promised Green jobs seem to be yet another on of those “word games” of congress and this administration.   We are just gullible enough to believe that all those “jobs bills” are actually jobs bills instead of a tax or pork barrel bills.  The spend-crazed congress is an embarrassment to our country and certain need an overhaul this November.  However, it is my goal to bring the right attitude to anyone who is looking for a job, or a green job.

I was impressed when I read a recent article from the Chicago Tribune that spoke of two veterans who took out a VA loan to start their Green business.

“Two Army veterans are taking to the streets of Muncie with a new business venture they hope will appeal to environmentally conscious travelers.  Cory Brown and Tyler Wright have launched Doing It Green Pedicab to ferry people home from downtown Muncie and bars near Ball State University in a pedicab, which resembles a rickshaw pulled by bicycles.”  This is an industry picking up in others areas as well, like Green Gears in Pittsburgh,

I was extremely impressed about several things in this article.  First of all, they didn’t wait for someone to “give them a job,” but had the heart and courage to make one that filled a community need.  Secondly, they wanted it to be a Green job, which I think is extraordinarily Green.  Third, I loved the inventiveness of their business.  I really hope it catches on like wildfire, and becomes a business model for others.  Wouldn’t this be great in many congested areas, other than vacation sites?

I recall writing about Illinois Governor Quinn signing a law that declassified organic waste as trash.  This allowed organic waste to go to composting areas instead of the land fills.  What a moment of lucid thought for Quinn and the Illinois lawmakers!  The second thought was, “Here is a great chance for some Green entrepreneurs to step up and create a new Green industry.  Collecting the organic waste is a profit center for those doing the work.  I believe that there is some grants or loans for this kind of business.  There may even be some tax credits that make this a even more profitable business.

Once composted, the organically rich soil is then sold to farmers as something better than chemical fertilizers.  The farmers will eventually sell their produce to the restaurants that made that organic trash.  This is that idea “full circle” that we must love as an environmentally-minded people.  Where are the bureaucrats in something like this?  Why not allocate some money for people with Green ideas instead of the money moguls that can’t run a business without bankrupting it?

Why not Green landscaping, Green handymen, Green painters, and Green cleaning services?  The Green Clean Institute offers training and certification for Green janitorial and cleaning services.  The cleaning industry provides one million jobs to the U.S. economy.

Other Green careers are the ability to become a Certified Green Consultant or a Certified Sustainability Officer.  A Certified Green Consultant is an independent consultant working to assist many companies to install Green practices and eventually earn Green business certification.  A Certified Sustainability Officer is someone who works within a company to develop and implement a Green program.  These are programs of the Green Business League, Inc that acts as the national standard for Green business certification.  Both represent an upper level job opportunity, and those going into this area of business need to make themselves invaluable to business.

So, you can wait for a Green job to magically appear one day, or you can go out there and make one.  No one said that it would be easy, but you should make it a career that you will enjoy.  I read once that there were a great many millionaires made in the Great Recession, and I frankly wonder if our present economic situation isn’t a kind or reset where some are knocked out and others step up.  Why not be one of those who steps up and wins the day?

Having read an article reported coming from a scientist that argues that live Christmas trees are “greener” than fake trees, I find myself less convinced than I would be years ago.  With so much contradictory information coming from the scientific community, I try to take all this kind of information with several grains of salt.  Merely attaching the word “scientist” to a statement no longer holds the value that it once did.  In the post-Copenhagen twilight, the news of the tweaked climate models, and the controversial emails of scientists withholding all the facts they had in hand; I am no longer readily convinced that anything said by a scientist is reputable.

Now, I may agree that a real Christmas tree is essentially carbon neutral in that it is not a rain forest issue and new trees will replace harvested trees.   I still wonder at the partial and one-sided information that these kinds of public statements convey.  The lifecycle analysis of a real tree must include all the care it took to grow these trees, transport these trees, and dispose of these trees.  It is not merely about the carbon footprint represented by growing and disposing of the tree.

By the way, did you realize that a common mold can be brought into a home by the much-loved live Christmas tree?  Twelve times during a two week period, researchers measured mold counts in a room containing a live Christmas tree, beginning when the tree was brought inside and decorated. The tree was located 10 feet from a heat vent, and the indoor temperature was maintained at between 65 and 68 degrees.

For the first three days, counts remained at 800 spores per cubic meter of air, then began escalating, rising to a maximum of 5,000 spores per cubic meter by day 14, when the tree was taken down.  Mold allergy affects up to 15% of the population, and people with sensitivity to certain molds commonly experience nasal, eye, and throat irritation; nasal stuffiness; and headache. Additionally, there is a well-documented link between asthma attacks and molds, and the added risk of invasive fungal disease among people with compromised immune systems.  Normal indoor air has a mold level of 500-700 spores per cubic meter, and anything higher indicates a source of mold growth inside the building.

So, let me add another consideration to the “Green” representation.  The best definition of “Green” is the health impact of the actions that we take.  When we are talking about the carbon footprint, the proper designation is “Sustainability.”  The term “Green” has been broadly re-interpreted as nearly anything environmental, but we much not forget that health is a fundamental human issue, and Green is best defined relative to health impact.  Further understanding of Green also considers “proximity” as part of the process.  In other words, the closer you are to the problem, the more responsible you are to do something about it.  This redefinition of Green always sparks an anxious debate, but we need to keep our terms clear.  Although “Green” and “Sustainable” are complimentary terms, they are not synonymous.  Both terms would be sub-categories of the broad concept of environmentalism.

If the sole criteria is carbon footprint, then the live Christmas tree would win the “Greenest” tree, even though I would suggest the “Most Sustainable Tree” would be the correct designation.  If we look at the often-neglected indoor air quality that might be impacted by bringing in a live tree, the fake tree would be the the Greenest tree.  If  a lifecycle analysis was applied, the metrics change and the live tree would likely be the winner.  If you are a treehugger, than the fake tree is something to re-consider.

What I am ultimately demonstrating is called the “Trade Off.”  There are no perfect solutions, just better ones.  In many cases, the trade offs are nearly totally one-sided.  Personal jets, like the ones used by so many politicians, high-level business people; and even Al Gore, have no real defense even if they buy carbon credits.  The sheer waste of these luxuries are indefensible.  While we debate the wisdom of our next car choice, the laundry detergent that we buy, or the proper choice of a Christmas tree; those who are so public about climate change travel in private jets, live in mansions, and ignore all the smaller issues that they encourage among the “common people.”

If there is a “Bah, Humbug” factor in this Christmas season, it is the Scrooge-like hauntings of wrongs being done to others, leaving the lesser people suffer while the elite utter mocking words of concern.  As we gather around our live or fake Christmas trees this year adorned with energy-saving LED lights, and dress more warmly so we can cut back on our power consumption, congress contemplates the cap and trade legislation that will place another onerous and austere tax on the American economy.  Carbon emissions have mutated from a true science to a political power grab that seems to steal away the true concerns of valid environmental efforts to radicalized political agendas that never worry about “cooking the books.”

I believe that we all want to do our part in the world that we share.  The efforts of pragmatic environmentalism should not be stolen away by those who wish to use this issue, pervert the science, and leave the special interest groups in control of the majority’s welfare.  Perhaps, that is why more and more abused common people identify with Sarah Palin and her “common man” approach to politics, while elitists miss no opportunity to scourge her publically.  The “Change” that we need is not an elitist demagoguery and rules that apply to all but the wealthy.  I believe the best Christmas gift we can ask for this year is that the people in positions of power to stop telling us what is good for us while they hold secret meetings and trade favors among themselves, but that they finally ask how they can help improve our lives and protect our freedoms.  The harm done this Christmas season will return in Christmas ghosts at election time for those who think they know better than the common folks what we need in life.

Ant and Grasshopper

There are still those people standing on the sideline of the environmental controversy, who are unwilling to join the Green lifestyle because they “really aren’t sure” that this is anything more than a trend.  Let’s be honest, why bother if this will all pass like the cyclical flu season?  “Bad times come and bad times go,” we could say to ourselves.  Sometimes change is the new direction of life rather than a temporary fad.  Some time ago, I read that the manufactures of the buggy whip refused to believe that the automobile would catch on until they were forced into bankruptcy.   At this stage in history, it seems like a total lapse of common sense.

Change is is something that must happen whether we like it or not, whereas trends are directions that are frankly options for anyone to join or take a pass.  Change is a bend in the road that you will follow, and trends resemble an alternate route.  Both feel alike, but they have different durations.

The second issue is that we love change that seems to feel good, and we resist change that doesn’t feel so good.  It is not just a money thing because we’ll spend money for a change that we like.  It is the perception of the value and promise of what comes next that causes us to resist or embrace change.  This is the core issue for those who resist or embrace the changes required in a world that become more environmentally friendly.   This new lifestyle is a shift from convenience to inconvenience.  Al Gore had this part right.  It is an inconvenient truth, but it is not just about polar bears and calving glacial fronts.   It is about the reality that this new wave is a true change in behavior and not a friendly trend that we can join or ignore.

The facts make the case for us.  Population growth, finite energy resources, and climatic concerns are are to call mere trends.  Population has gone for 4 billion people worldwide in the 1950′s to 6.8 billion in 2008.  By 2025, the experts predict 9 billion people in the world.  That’s a fact, not a choice.  We are now calculating the limit on the oil and gas reserves left on our planet, although I feel they are more than “what is known” now.  Finally, whether you accept global warming or not, climates do change, droughts will occur, and we can experience a cycle of bad weather that demand that we adjust or die.

With this simplistic review of hard-hitting changes faced by everyone in the world, I strongly suggest that the environmental change is not a trend.  If this is a permanent change to our world complexion, we must change as well or be punished by our “grasshopper and the ant” rejection of reality.  As the story goes, the grasshopper fiddled away the summer while the ant worked.  When winter hit, the ant survived while the grasshopper froze to death.  A fitting metaphor for where we are right now in world history.

The Green lifestyle is not a trend, fad, or option.  Sooner or later, the reality will hit us hard.  Like losing your job forces an immediate and substantive change in everything you do, the environmental issues press us to take action in a season of opportunities or suffer like the blindsighted grasshopper when winter hits.  We are a people with a new mission and challenge.  We must intelligently adjust the way we operate now to minimize the impact of a world in change.  If we adjust today, we will live better tomorrow.

I also see that most people do not know how to make the necessary changes in their lives.  They lack information, connections, and guidance.  That is why I suggest that family or businesses contact a Certified Green Consultant to help make the change to a lifestyle that we can sustain for many years into the future and through generations.  The Green Business League promotes the Green Lifestyle through Green Awareness training, Green practices, and Green certification.  Don’t stand by while others prepare for our pending day of scarcity.  We need a bold and rapid rise in Green pracitces at every level of our society.