Green Energy Efficiency

Businesses the world over are leveraging LOHAS as a way to understand the consumption preferences of a growing number of people who care deeply about personal, community and planetary health and well-being, and are willing to spend accordingly.

While this theme acts as a backbone for LOHAS globally, significant differences exist in the interpretation of LOHAS from one geography to another. Not surprisingly, these differences tend to be largely driven by local cultural, environmental and social nuances.

For example, according to Peter Salmon from Moxie Design Group, LOHASians in New Zealand express their LOHAS values through outdoor experiences, seeking a connection with the landscape and concern about social issues.  This differs from U.S.-based LOHAS consumers, who typically have a stronger focus on personal well-being.  In Australia, the situation is different again, with environmental issues of drought and climate change hitting many Australians hard in their own backyard. Severe water restrictions are forcing Aussies to change how they think about their much-loved gardens and lawns.

CERTIFICATION KEY TO MARKET ACCEPTANCE
A key theme emerging from European and Australian studies is consumers’ desire for certification marks or “trust” marks from credible certification bodies, providing independent verification that the product lives up to its LOHAS claims. Supporting this claim are the findings of a  recent Porter Novelli report, which revealed that Europeans were 32 percent more likely than American consumers to buy products with such marks, and Mobium Group’s Living LOHAS report, which found similar conclusions among the Australian population.

LOHAS IN ASIA
Despite many similarities, key differences have emerged in the use of LOHAS between Western countries and the countries of East Asia—including Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, where LOHAS is a booming consumer term. The emergence of LOHAS-branded foods and beverages, fashion labels and even LOHAS department stores heralds a new use of the LOHAS term as it crosses from business-speak into the consumer vocabulary.
While most Western consumers would draw a blank if asked for a definition of LOHAS, approximately 70 percent of Japanese adults at least recognize the term while up to 40 percent can articulate its meaning, according to Toshi Ide of the Japan-based LOHAS Business Alliance.

But how is LOHAS really interpreted in Asia? In China, LOHAS has been roughly translated to mean “good life” and has even been picked up by Chinese state radio. And English-language website Chinadaily.com.cn has published several articles referring to “escaping city life” and enjoying LOHAS experiences on the weekends in the countryside surrounding Beijing.

In Singapore, the city state’s Tourism Board markets the country to its Asian visitors as the LOHAS city—focusing on its spa resorts, authentic Nyonya-style cooking and its water recycling efforts (a necessity in such a small island nation, as the key to its LOHAS claims).

The emergence of LOHAS as a consumer brand has brought with it a range of organizations seeking to capitalize on the term, with varying levels of commitment to the values of core LOHAS consumers offered through a wide a range of products and services.

INNOVATION
Small and medium-size enterprises comprise one sector where serious efforts have been made to address the needs and desires of LOHAS consumers on platforms of personal and planetary health and wellness. In many cases, these businesses have been the keys to LOHAS innovation.

One example of this sort of innovation is U.S.-based Terracycle.net, a company achieving mainstream distribution and significant success turning waste streams into value through a range of innovative products and services, including a novel approach to garden fertilizer.  With major distribution agreements across North America and licensing interest from across the globe, Terracycle has demonstrated that LOHAS innovation can deliver clear business value.

Another example is Australia-based professional garment cleaners, Daisy (www.daisy.net.au). Daisy has managed to eliminate the harmful chemical, perchloroethylene (tetrachloroethylene) from its dry cleaning process, using a water-based alternative to deliver an odorless dry cleaning solution free from harmful toxins. Such is the popularity of the Daisy service, excess demand currently means a wait of three days to have your suit cleaned! But based on the volume of customers prepared to wait, the LOHAS approach to dry cleaning has again demonstrated a commercial payoff.

Similarly, this year saw the launch in France of Velib (www.velib.paris.fr), a Paris-based commercial bicycle sharing operation that provides bicycles for commuters for a nominal fee. With over 10,000 bikes in circulation across 750 self-service docking stations throughout the city, this model is providing inspiration for cities the world over.
It seems that everywhere you look, there are examples of innovations, often by small and medium enterprises that are working toward more sustainable and healthier outcomes for people and the planet.

CONNECTIVITY
One of the difficulties faced by LOHAS consumers and the businesses that supply their needs is seeking out and finding each other—and connecting.
This key theme is driving the emergence of media platforms that respond to LOHAS consumers’ desire for greater connectivity—to other LOHASians and the organizations that manufacture and retail products and services that meet their values criteria.

Examples of recent activity in this space include Gaiam’s acquisition of Lime.com and zaadz.com, two strongly LOHAS-oriented information and social networking sites. Businesses, including U.S.-based Sustainlane, New Zealand-based Celsias, and a range of other sites across Europe, are springing up across the globe to fill this gap for information, referrals and advice. Discovery Channel recently purchased website Treehugger.com as the online property for its soon-to-be-launched Planet Green program.

Across the globe, mainstream consumer and investor interest in opportunities related to renewable energy, organic food, complementary medicine, low-impact transportation and other LOHAS products and services clearly demonstrates that LOHAS businesses have moved out of the fringes and are now attracting significant investor capital and expertise. Companies and investors that embrace the opportunity that LOHAS presents have the opportunity to take a leading position in the industries that will define the 21st century.

Key Facts: LOHAS in Australia
• Nearly 4 million adult Australians (26 percent of adult population) are LOHAS aligned. 
• Individuals with a LOHAS outlook are drawn from all parts of society; their values and world view are not strongly tied to income, geography or gender.
• Australian consumers currently spend $12 billion on goods and services in the LOHAS market segments, with an overall growth rate of 20 percent expected to continue. The market is expected to reach $21 billion by 2010.
• While 8 percent of the population are LOHAS “Leaders” who are highly committed and active participants in fully integrated healthier, more sustainable lives, the LOHAS “Learners” are the largest of the four segments, identified at 46 percent and standing as a largely untapped opportunity. 
• Learners would like to do the “right thing” but are not sure where to start. Solving for their key barriers, which include price and availability, are paramount to unlocking this market.
Source: Mobium Group, www.mobium.com.au, Living LOHAS Report, 2007.

Key Facts: LOHAS, New Zealand
• 32 percent of population Solution Seekers (NZ Equivalent of LOHAS)
• 57 percent female
• Greatest concentration (29 percent) are in the 45-54 year age bracket
• Slight skew toward rural rather than metropolitan locations
• Income profile of NZ LOHAS is growing over time
Source: Peter Salmon, Moxie Design Group, www.moxie.co.nz
Examples:
1. Media/online:
2. Lime – online portal to information, help and advice on LOHAS lifestyle
3. Zaadz and Riverwired – online LOHAS-oriented social networking sites
4. treehugger.com, Celsias.com – innovative online information sources for LOHAS-related themes and online collaboration
5. lohasguide.de (Germany), Sustainlane.com – LOHAS-related product and service listings and market information
6. Mobium Group – Australian research and strategy business focusing on sustainability and well-being; conducted the first research into Australian LOHAS consumers
7. Macro Wholefoods (Australia) – organic and natural foods retail store chain
8. Eco Age (eco-age.com) – a new store in London claiming to provide “a store, showroom, consultancy and destination that will offer inspiration, ideas and specific domestic solutions for all those who want to lead a greener and more energy efficient life”
9. Terracycle – Innovative company that re-uses waste streams and turns them into value-added products
10. Velib – Paris-based bicycle-share company
11. Flexicar.com.au – Australian car-share business winning support from local governments for their eco-friendly and cost-effective car-sharing program
 

Authored by The SOAP Group

Language shapes the way we think and determines what we can think about,” said linguist Benjamin Whorf. Since advertising is the most read text in our culture (we’re hit with between 300 and 3,000 messages each day), the role that advertising’s language plays in shaping thinking about sustainability should not be ignored.

To look at this issue in a bit more depth, we surveyed 100 green print advertisements from both mainstream and
green-minded publications. The ads were for a variety of goods and services, including building products, food and beverages, automobiles, airlines, investing, electronics, detergents, pet food, and cosmetics among others.

Understanding the most commonly used green words of today, reveals insight into the communications trends of tomorrow. As a marketer, understanding ubiquity and saturation is one of the first steps in identifying what’s next. It is then important to recognize that the pulse of modern language provides the market advantage of differentiation.

Emotion vs. Science
The advertising survey bisected operative words (headlines and positioning content in copy) and word families (e.g.,
carbon, CO2, and carbon offset were grouped as one set) into Emotive (“change,” “progress,” “clean”) and Scientific (“carbon,” ”planet,” ”hybrid”) categories. Hyphenated words, like ”eco-friendly,” were considered emotive. We also looked at language intent: Was the phrase intended to be emotional or scientific? For example, in nearly all cases “green” was used emotionally or aspirationally, not scientifically.

At this primary grouping, science-derived words were used 168 times as opposed to emotional words at 116. This
represents marketers’ awareness that prevailing consumers are looking for factual data when making purchases in green contexts. That said, most of the science was fairly vapid, relying more on the language of science than on science itself. This means that science, as a brand differentiator, still has unclaimed potential.

More interesting, however, is the emotive side of the ledger. “Green” was toppled as the leading operative word in its
own category of goods and services. “Less” is today’s operative. “Less” represented the most common linguistic turn
of phrase, showing up 28 times in 100  ads (“green” appeared 23 times). The phrase “go green” is all but abandoned
today. “Green” and its variations are telltales of greenwashing. Still, it seems that it has been relegated to serving as a shortcut to define the category, but doesn’t offer much depth beyond that.

Is “Less” the New “Green”?
Maybe. Green marketing often takes the shape of its current cultural condition. When energy (fuel, etc.) prices were
painfully inflated, marketing language (and solutions) turned to saving money and distance efficiency. Way back in
2008, one could be green and indulge at the same time, as long as they drove a hybrid to get there. Today, energy prices have fallen, but less immediately controllable economic hardships have replaced them. The current condition is one of anti-overindulgence, simplicity (noted eight times, it is a form of “less,” but not classified as such in our survey), and doing more with well...less. This is a cultural condition of the economic turn. “Less” is on the lips of CEOs, school administrators, advertising sales teams, governors, and kitchen-table budgeters. And, apparently, green marketers have picked up on this fact. No surprise there. But, “less” in these ads is a factor of economics, not life philosophy. This was the case with “green” too, where it was arguably more about social status and trend than a
change in values.

It’s odd how a phrase intrinsically linked to anti-consumption can become the most popular word in marketing goods and services. Like “green,” this is the co-opting of the LOHAS language by the mainstream all over again.

But advertising has never been accused of being “accurate” language, so in a sense what’s odd is that we expect authenticity to play a role in it at all. Or at the very least, we should.

Most advertising is based on use of the superlative. “Very” lost its meaning through overuse, so we installed “very, very” into the language set. “Yes” has had to become “absolutely.” “Green” is currently interviewing for hyper-replacements, both in terms of movement and language. This is evolutionary language theory at its quickest. It will be interesting to watch “less” become a superlative. And, of course, we await lesswashing — where the consumption of less is a contrived illusion.

Encouraging consumers to consume less is an emerging marketing strategy. Engineering ways for them to have the same reward consumption offers is a sustainability strategy.

Author Edward Abbey said, “Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.” In more theoretic terms, according to ecopedagogy, sustainability is not being realized because it represents the antithesis to the political, economic, and cultural status quo of the powerful forces needed to fuel growth. The ‘less’ backlash is a response to this and marks a real milestone along the pathway to culture change and LOHAS ubiquity.

What is a LOHAS Ad?
What’s the difference between a mainstream ad and a LOHAS ad? Maybe a LOHAS ad is a gadfly. A LOHAS ad may be one that challenges the status quo of not just health and sustainability, but of advertising itself. Maybe LOHAS advertising needs to do more than promote and educate. On some level, LOHAS ads have both an opportunity to simultaneously inspire and make a mess.

Shakespeare said, “Past is prologue.” So how can we use these linguistic trends as an opportunity to create more authentic culture change stemming from the LOHAS business community and emerge into the mainstream (as opposed to mainstream marketing to LOHAS)? There are some new frontiers that are ready for marketing to embrace.
• Local as the new niche market (“The 100 Mile Diet” goes mainstream)
• Overwhelming positivity
• Authentic “me” instead of purchased badges of community
• The acquisition of experience over products
• Activist-based marketing (not guerilla, rather marketing that has a purpose beyond marketing)

Advertisements tend to signify cultural trends. They enforce classic structures of economy and politics. But they can also subvert the same. We are advocating for LOHAS marketers to push harder now more than ever to promote their goods and services through the principles and ideals of the LOHAS marketplace, not just the associated signs and signifiers. Move beyond language, go deeper into the trends, and create new levels of business consumer dialogue and engagement.

In 1968, when Garrett Hardin wrote “The Tragedy of the Commons” he was describing a particular dilemma in which individuals acting independently in their own self-interest ultimately destroy a shared resource—even where it’s clear that it is not in anyone’s long-term interest for this to happen. Today’s green ads may be serving the interest in meeting a company’s quarterly bottom line, but few are acting in the interest of communal sustainability.

Unfortunately, advertising shapes American culture; it shapes our image of ourselves. But it is through deconstructing the codes of advertising that we can begin to learn the limits of these codes. And, in turn, improve the odds of sustainability, social equity, and enduring value.

More often then not I get emails and calls asking if there are any positions available at LOHAS. I also get many emails and meetings over coffee to discuss options with collegues who are between things which is the PC way of saying they too are out of work. The fact that there are more people looking for fewer poistions makes it a competitive arena and intimidating. Plus many don't want to sacrifice their LOHAS values for the sake of food on the table. To aid those in search of a future LOHAS employer we have comprised a list of links that you may find useful to your desired field of work.

GREEN INDUSTRY
Great Green Careers
Great Green Careers lists jobs in renewable energy, the environment and sustainable building.

Idealist.org
A place to find dream job in the nonprofit sector, or find resources to continue growing in career.

Ethical Jobs
Jobs and resumes in ethical fields - Charities, Corporate Social Responsibility, Family & Children and other categories.

Care2.com Job Listing
Care2 is the largest online network for people who want to make a difference.

Greenjobs
"One-stop" site where recruiters and job seekers can interact.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy - Career Network
Employment opportunities in company gift, charity and fund raising programs.

SpiritList.com (Southern California)
SpiritList is designed for all involved in the fields of holistic health and well-being.

Clean Edge
Your source for Clean Tech jobs.

ENVIRONMENTAL/ ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Green Career Central
Green Career Central is a membership website that provides expert career coaching and advice. There is  a green job board that is open to everyone as source of green job and career openings.

Green Dream Jobs at Sustainablebusiness.com
Offer opportunities that fulfill society's needs while contributing to the well-being of all earth's inhabitants.

Environmental Career Opportunities
500+ Environmental Jobs in conservation, education, policy, science & engineering and more!

EnvironmentalCAREER.com
Assists individuals and employers in matching potential employees with employers.

EcoEmploy.com
Find environmental jobs in government, companies and non-profits. Includes science, natural and green opportunities.

Green Biz Job Listing
Provides a listing of opportunities in various environmentally oriented businesses.

Envirolink
A grassroots online community that unites hundreds of organizations and volunteers.

The UK Green Directory 
Information about the environmental sector in the UK for consumer, professional and business users.

GeographyJobs
GeographyJobs is a job search and job by e-mail service that is focused on bringing together geographers and employers in need of their talents.

WELLNESS/FITNESS
Wellness Jobs
Post Wellness job employment resume or find a Wellness job listing

WellnessCoachCareers.com
Search for Personal Trainer Jobs, Fitness Jobs, and Careers in Corporate Fitness and Wellness.

American Herbal Products Association Job Bank
The AHPA Job Board powered by CPGjobs provides natural health product companies with a specialized tool to assist in the recruitment and hiring of quality candidates.

Yoga Finder
Find yoga jobs and opportunities.

Health and Yoga Community
As the Yoga community grows around the world, Health and Yoga Placements & Recruitments allows Yoga Job Seekers and Yoga Recruiters to find each other.

FitnessJobs.com
FitnessJobs.com is an internet recruitment site/job board that specializes in the health, fitness, recreation and leisure industries.

HEALING ARTS
Healing Schools Job Listing
This listing can help you transition from student to practitioner with a salary. You can also find internships as well.

DIVERSITY/MINORITY
Jobs4.0
The leading source of job opportunities for candidates 40 and over.

Diversity Jobs
Diversity job board and workplace diversity blog with the latest news, articles, opinions and information.

MinorityJobs.net
Free Resume posting & Job listing site, with Career guide, civil rights, legal & government news archive, plus scholarship links.

DiversityWorking.com
The largest diversity job board online, career opportunity and news source resource and job search engine for the cultural diversity marketplace.

Women on Hire Job Listing
National career fair and diversity recruitment information as well as career advice for women including: job interview questions, resume example and cover letter.

Women’s Job List
Over 2000 companies and organizations link to this site, providing employers with exclusive access to highly qualified candidates.

OUTDOORS
Outdoor Adventure Professional Network Job Listing
Free job search and posting site for outdoor adventure professionals.

OceanCareers.com
Explore over fifty ocean-related careers.

Wilderdom Job Listing
Current outdoor education jobs and employment opportunities - links to adventure education positions around the world.

NON-LOHAS SITES (but information on LOHAS jobs available)
Juju
Speed up your job search and find better jobs! Juju searches millions of jobs from thousands of sites.

Simply Hired
Search over 5 million job listings and thousands of jobs sites to find a job you love.

Craigslist
craigslist provides local classifieds and forums for jobs, housing, for sale, personals, services, local community, and events.

CareerBuilder.com
Search 1.6 million Jobs on CareerBuilder.com. Find new employment or work. Fresh job listings posted daily.

Indeed
Search millions of jobs from thousands of job boards, newspapers, classifieds and company websites.

If there are any others you wish to add please let me know. There are a ton out there and Id like to know which ones are good and bad. Good luck in your search! 

On a whim, I spent part of the holiday season in Sydney, Australia, one of few major world cities I have never visited. Sydney is a great place to tour, but you better bring lots of money, as prices are very high, more like London or Paris than most U.S. cities. So long as you can afford it, the sightseeing is terrific.

It could be argued that the Sydney Aquarium is among the best in the world, boasting incredible specimens of sting rays, dugongs, giant sea turtles, crocodiles, and many more. The design of the building itself is first rate, great viewing even with big crowds, especially where you walk "through" the huge tanks with giant fish passing over your head - it appears the six inch thick glass is strong enough. The famous Opera House is even more breathtaking in person, and the indoor views are as stunning as the exterior. You can climb to the top of the giant Sydney Harbor Bridge on foot, try that in the States with our lawsuit-happy society. The Art Gallery of New South Wales offers a world class collection spanning the centuries. The champagnes, petit syrah, and shiraz continue to get better and better. The food is generally good, and a growing variety of organic and natural choices are offered. As for the customer service, well, I'll circle back on that in a moment.

To my surprise, I found the folks Down Under are ahead of us in a number of ways when it comes to going green and sustainability management. I stayed in the City Centre area of downtown, which is noticeably clean and tidy. Strange looking "Go Green" passenger-carrying bicycles with full canopies, kind of like the pedi-cabs in Central Park, periodically troll by. A natural gas powered fleet of city buses circulates regularly. Dual-flush toilets are very common in public places. Separate recycling containers are inconsistent but available. Apparently most residential neighborhoods are given three separate bins, for bottles and cans, compost, and regular trash. And unlike many U.S. downtowns, many building lights and signs are turned off at night to conserve power.

What's most impressive are the strict new rules - in an economy at least as compromised as ours - pertaining to energy efficient new construction. All homes must meet stringent energy efficiency standards to receive building permits; each home must also have a rainwater collection system which supplies the toilets. There seemed to be a high level of ecological thinking, awareness and support for these policies, at least among the various citizens I encountered.

Unfortunately, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been unable to pass a national cap and trade or equivalent policy to limit carbon output. Like our Senate, the Australians have failed to push meaningful climate change legislation across the goal line. When discussing this with the local intelligentsia, the feeling is that Australia is behind other nations and is missing out on a chance to rebuild their economy around renewable energy and clean tech. Policies such as scrapping their solar incentive program are inconsistent with Rudd's declaration that "climate change is the greatest moral and economic challenge of our time," according to The Australian on December 30th.

My only complaint is that service is "relaxed" compared to our standard in major cities. Even in the heart of downtown Sydney, the pace and intensity is not the same as America. In many cases we couldn't get waited on at all unless we literally grabbed a waitperson. You sometimes felt like you were intruding by asking for someone to take your order. ]To the good, it feels like there is a higher standard of ethics and integrity among the retail trade: I had several salespeople send me up the street to direct competitors if they didn't have what I was looking for. Cab drivers don't try to rip you off. It seemed that in general, a deal's a deal, no strings. Very refreshing.

Globalization is definitely affecting Sydney. You still see the traditional, burly Crocodile-Dundee type guys on the street, but in general foot traffic reveals a melting pot not unlike London or New York. I think I will have to come back to see the Outback regions and scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef.

As always, I'm curious to hear your impressions of how green Australia is, and, whether you agree with me about the service. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in reading more about energy efficiency upgrades and rainwater catchment systems, please click here. 

      Model years 2010 and 2011 (and to a lesser extent, 2012) are shaping up to be critical years for automobile engine technology. The most well known challengers are gas-electric hybrids like the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight, Ford Escape, etc. In 2010, for the first time in recent memory, a primarily electric car will be on the market, courtesy of the GM Chevy Volt—40 mile range, around $40,000. Nissan is promising a 100- mile range vehicle (the Leaf), available in the US by the end of 2010. Renault’s all electric entry, announced at the recent Frankfurt Auto Show, will follow in 2011. (If you are a lucky New Yorker, you are road testing an all-electric BMW Mini Cooper slated for launch in 2012). All of these electric cars feature rechargeable batteries.

      At the same time, other “greener car” technologies are in various stages of development. Companies like Toyota and Ford are expanding and improving their hybrid product line. Volkswagen is testing diesel-electric models. Diesel is also gaining more attention as a fuel-efficient alternative to the conventional gas engine. Subaru is one company (along with Volkswagen) working on this kind of technology. And, other companies are trying to make the conventional gas engine more efficient with better gas mileage.

      All of this activity implies that the manufacturers feel that a market exists to buy some kind of electric car. Does it? That is open question. Some elements of the auto industry are rather dubious. The head of Audi North America has been quoted as saying that no one will pay $40,000 for a Chevy Volt (electric) when there are numerous competitive gas engine options for $25,000. And there have many comments to the effect that buying a Toyota Prius does not make sense because you cannot save enough in gas money to make up for the hybrid price differential.  So therefore, the argument goes, only a few people will buy these cars.  This flies in the face of the success of the Prius and other hybrids, especially during last year’s spike in gas prices.

      Even if the “green car” buyers are only a segment—so what? There are many segments of the auto market. There are SUV buyers, truck buyers, muscle car aficionados, family minivans, cruisers, etc. Those segments thrive. The evidence is anecdotal, but I do think that there are enough people to make a segment of buyers for some version of electric or hybrid cars. After all, almost all of the world’s carmakers are developing some sort of non-gas engine technology.   

      The skeptics are also forgetting that new technologies in many fields tend to come down in price as they get introduced into the market place. Also, if something becomes fashionable, cost becomes a whole lot less important if it is competitive. If enough people buy these cars, then “electrics” or “hybrids” will become a sustainable segment in the auto market.  When it comes time for me to buy another car, hopefully I can join one of these segments.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/sep2009/gb20090917_962378.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/business/energy-environment/16electric.html?sq=electric%20cars&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=2&adxnnlx=1253667664-lNOjX6nAZ5dETLpEXnIFpA

Blazing neon lights 24/7, the world’s most grandiose fountains, gridlock on Las Vegas Boulevard, frigid indoor air over millions of square feet when it’s a hundred and ten outside … not exactly a poster boy for sustainability.  Name the top ten green cities in America – I’ll bet Las Vegas would not make your shortlist.
 

Well, think again.  After meeting with officials from the City of Las Vegas to learn more about their green initiatives for our Sierra Club Green Home Web site, I must conclude that America’s adult playground is making a sincere effort to embrace sustainability.  And the major casinos have actually been pioneers in energy saving techniques – with the power and water bills they generate, it makes economic as well as altruistic sense for them.  “What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas” but it might be beneficial for the casinos to get the word out about their green initiatives.

 

Sometimes controversial, always quotable and often progressive, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is somewhat of a legend on the local and national scene.  Under his stewardship, Las Vegas began to embrace green environmental policies before it became de rigeur.  Goodman was one of the first to sign the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, a pledge to green their city which now has over 1,000 mayoral signatures.  Currently, Las Vegas has one of America’s toughest consumer watering policies.  “Water cops” can fine you if they see runoff on your sidewalks.  Outdoor fountains at residential developments have come to a grinding halt.   Vegas was also an early adopter of hybrid fleet vehicles and even embarked on a recycled anti-freeze program in 2007 to help power the city fleet.  They also have a green building program, which rewards developers with tax breaks for building energy efficient, ecofriendly structures.
 

Tom Perrigo, Deputy Director of Las Vegas’ Planning and Development Center further enlightened me about how the city has been a pioneer in all things sustainable since 2005.  The city government and related buildings all have strict, sustainability management guidelines for power and water usage as well as recycling.  They are setting a great example here, and many of the major casinos in town have followed suit with state-of-the-art technology for saving power on laundry, lighting, climate control and water consumption.   City Center, the largest real estate development project in the country, is being built to varying degrees of LEED standards with help from prominent consultant John Picard and other leading green architects and designers.  Another noteworthy Las Vegas program is Green Chips, which provides free home energy audits for residents of low income housing and loans to consumers and businesses that will use the funds to improve energy efficiency.
 

Things are not perfect in Las Vegas, for sure.  To the average homeowner, recycling is not commonplace.  There are several neighborhoods that pick up recycling, but for a city of this size and scope the recycling efforts have a long way to go.   Some people have the false notion that the trash companies separate out the recyclables at their facilities.  I could not find any proof that this is accurate.   And most obviously, sun, sun, sun everywhere, but where are all the solar panels?  It is disturbing to think about how much solar power could be generated for residential and commercial applications here, yet solar panels are almost non-existent on the residential side.  Hopefully continuing advances in solar panel technology, additional governmental subsidies, and cost reductions will change this.  Perrigo also mentioned Nevada’s terrain is primed for generating Geothermal power; he has high hopes that the state will embrace this renewable source in the future.
 

Sierra Club Green Home.com has staffers from UNLV’s environmental studies program who are committed and enthusiastic about spreading the word on sustainability.  These young people are Las Vegas residents who inspire me with their dedication and willingness to help America go green.

The point here is that if an inherently non-green city like Las Vegas can embrace sustainability, so should all municipalities.  I urge you to look into what your city is doing to improve the environment.  Sierra Club’s Cool Cities program outlines sustainability agendas  across the nation.  Please take a moment to see what your city is doing at Cool Cities.  Let us hear your comments, and if they aren’t doing enough, be sure to urge your mayor and council members to do more.


 

I recently received a call from a radio station in Manhattan, wanting me to comment about Mayor Michael Bloomberg using a chopper for the 12 minute hop to see U2 at The Meadowlands. How un-green of him!? What an assault on the environment!? After thinking about it for a moment, I decided to give a rare “no comment” and avoid piling on the Mayor for this egregious mistake.

After the dust settled, there were many detractors and supporters -- and overall, I am in the latter category. It seems that Mayor Bloomberg, who is pals with U2 front man Bono, as they have worked together on charitable endeavors, had committed to attending the concert and visiting with Bono in person before the show. As he was busy meeting with the President of the Dominican Republic (maybe about importing some Little League prodigies to help the Mets?) he didn’t have time to limo the 12 miles to reach The Meadowlands, in New Jersey. Let’s face it, a 12 mile bridge and tunnel journey in New York rush hour can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half. Thus the chopper, a guaranteed 10 minute ride.
 

The green critics called foul: hey, how dare the Mayor use a helicopter, which admittedly is a smoke-belching, air polluting machine, to attend a concert, not a matter of state or city but a personal entertainment event? To which I say, on some level, and sorry about this: all men are not created equal when it comes to personal transportation. Should President Obama not fly Air Force One since it emits more carbon on one cross country flight than thousands of automobiles do over a whole year? Let’s remember that Bloomberg works for no salary, and has contributed hugely to the green movement by tackling many environmental issues in New York. 
 

Indeed, here are just a few of Mayor Bloomberg’s recent green environmental milestones:  creating a law mandating a fully green taxi fleet by 2010 throughout New York;  designing a major water infrastructure  plan that will conserve New York’s water usage;  a program to reduce city carbon emissions a full 30 percent by 2030; an initiative to repopulate the city with fuel efficient, low emissions trash trucks; and the ill-fated Congestion Tax he proposed, one not unlike London’s, which would have charged citizens for driving into Manhattan.
 

Bloomberg is a proven leader in the green world and his time – let’s bear in mind that he is personally a billionaire – is very valuable.  If I were a Manhattan-based taxpayer, I’d want him working on green energy efficiency programs and not sitting in the back seat of a limo wasting over an hour of that precious time.  A helicopter makes sense for the Bloombergs of the world, especially for short hops around Manhattan and the immediate surrounding area.  Efficient, fast and relatively safe travel for a really, really important guy to whom every second counts.
 

This should not be a political issue.  Perhaps it’s about a Wall Street titan vs. the average man?  Wall Street titans are no longer in vogue.  Bloomberg himself quipped, maybe he should have biked and swum his way over to the Meadowlands? 
 

We can all learn from this.  Whenever going on personal errands, to work, or to entertainment and recreational activities, we should try to travel as efficiently as possible.  Walk, ride a bike or take public transportation if we can.  And if circumstances make those choices a no-go, maybe we stay home instead?  However, if Bono is waiting, I’d say go ahead and drive, or even helicopter.  The good that Mayor Bloomberg has done for New York and the long term viability of our planet, and the additional green initiatives that he will launch, have earned him plenty of chits.  I for one say let’s applaud him for his commitment to stopping climate change and working for free in a job that is surely exciting but does infringe on one’s privacy.
 

Your comments, as always, are encouraged.  For as in most of the issues we raise in My Inner Green, there is no real right or wrong answer…

Facts of global warming
80% of our energy is dependent on fossil fuels.
50% of our fossil fuel consumption is wasted through heat, processing or other areas of inefficiencies.
7 gigatons  (7 billion tons) of carbon are annually emitted by the U.S.  The atmosphere holds about 750 gigatons of carbon in the form of carbon dioxide. Humanity currently emits about 22 gigatons of carbon dioxide, about seven gigatons of which is carbon (excluding traditional biomass burning of one gigaton). That 22-gigaton annual output of carbon dioxide comes from burning about seven gigatons of the current mix of hydrocarbon.  
To stop global warming we will need to eliminate 350 gigatons from the atmosphere. Lane stressed the concept of technological "wedges" which, when fully deployed in 2050, will result in one gigaton per year of carbon emissions reductions.

Those are some big numbers. So what are our options?

Solar – Solar energy is energy directly from the sun. This energy drives the climate and weather and supports virtually all life on Earth. Heat and light from the sun, along with solar-based resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available flow of renewable energy. The sun emits 100,000 terrawatts (if you don’t know what that is – it is A LOT) constantly. Lane stated that it is estimated that in 2050 the world will use 15 terrawatts per year.

Challenges - storage and capacity issues as well as costs. If we are able to develop better ways to store large amounts of solar produced energy we can then get it closer to the cost of energy provided by coal.

Opportunities - We are a few product generations away from producing solar in an efficient and cheap way that can be affordable for power companies and consumers to utilize solar on a mass scale. A grid 92 x 92 miles could power the U.S. needs. More information on solar options can be found here. http://www.ases.org/

Wind – In 2005, wind machines in the United States generated a total of 17.8 billion kWh per year of electricity, enough to serve more than 1.6 million households. This is enough electricity to power a city the size of Chicago, but it is only a small fraction of the nation's total electricity production, about 0.4 percent. The amount of electricity generated from wind has been growing fast in recent years, tripling since 1998.

Challenges – transmission lines from wind farms to communities is expensive. Reliant on wind blowing and may be intermittent.

Opportunities – This is one of the fastest growing sector of alternative energy. The U.S. leads the world in wind installations. More information on wind energy can be found here.

Bio-fuels – Biofuels are produced from living organisms or from metabolic by-products (organic or food waste products). In order to be considered a biofuel the fuel must contain over 80 percent renewable materials. 

Challenges – competition of crops for fuel vs. food.

Opportunities –  1.4 trillion gallons currently produced. The U.S. consumes 6 trillion.
Cellulostic crops produce fuels competitive to those of last years high fuel prices. For more info on bio Fuels here is a good resource.

Geo Thermal – is energy generated by heat stored beneath the Earth's surface or the collection of absorbed heat in the atmosphere and oceans. It offers a number of advantages over traditional fossil fuel based sources. From an environmental standpoint, the energy harnessed is clean and safe for the surrounding environment.

Challenges – not everyone lives in Iceland and has hot pools outside their doorways. Environmental concerns with drilling and drilling expenses.

Opportunities – It was estimated that geo thermal power can provide 100 gigawatts of thermal power. Once accessed it can provide clean efficient energy and a competitive cost point.  For more info on geo thermal click here

Product Energy Efficiency – The next generation of vehicles need to be more fuel efficient. If car fuel efficiency increased to 60 mpg would reduce emissions by 25%.

Challenges – people are incentive based.

Opportunities – build in technologies to manage efficiencies. Sleep modes, etc. Learn what cars are the most and least fuel efficient here.

Other – The consumption habits of modern consumer lifestyles are causing a huge worldwide waste problem. 15 billion megawatts of energy is lost to waste. Some alternative energy companies are developing new ways to recycle waste by generating electricity from landfill waste and pollution.

Pricing Carbon – Experts believe this will occur between $20-$50 per metric ton. Others disagree.