Who's the greenest of them all? Ranking of US cities at MNN
Here at TRT we like to keep an eye on who's doing what in the world of sustainability. We think this list of top green cities in the US from one of our favorite green communities - Mother Nature Network – is a fascinating insight into how communities are transforming themselves to embrace sustainability and reduce their carbon footprint.
Cities were judged on air and water quality, efficient recycling and management of waste, percentage of LEED certified buildings, acres of land devoted to greenspace, use of renewable energy sources, and easy access to products and services that make a green life style choice easy.
Austin, Texas comes in at number ten. Austin aims to be carbon neutral by 2020 and with Austin Energy being the nation's largest provider of renewable energy this goal looks set to be achieved. At number nine is Chicago, with its historical focus on sustainability since 1909, when a pioneering planner named Daniel Hudson Burnham created a long term plan and a permanent green belt around the city.
Seattle comes in at number eight with 20 LEED-certified public buildings and incentives to encourage residents to install solar panels. Berkeley, California ranks seventh as a recognized leader in the incubation of clean technology for power including wind, solar, bio-fuels and hydro.
At number six is Cambridge, Massachusetts, which implemented a climate protection plan in 2002. Today almost all city vehicles are fuelled by biodiesel or electricity, and all new constructions must meet LEED standards. Number five, Eugene, Oregon, lives up to its image of natural green beauty by offering 30 miles of off street bike paths and 29 bike routes.
Oakland, California is at number four with the nation's cleanest tap water, hydrogen powered public transit and plans to have zero waste and oil-independence by 2020. Massachusetts scores again with Boston at number three with a green deadline set for 2015 complete with hybrid taxi cabs, solar panel and electric motorbikes.
The second greenest city is San Francisco; it boasts an impressive recycling program, which has an artist present to inspire individuals. It was also the first US city to ban plastic grocery bags which aims to reduce 75% of landfill waste by 2010.
But at number one is Portland, Oregon, which was voted the top green city for many reasons – including its claim as the most bike-able city in the US with more than 200 miles of bike lanes, and a focus on sustainable living with residents encouraged to take DIY classes in gardening, cheese making, beekeeping and chicken keeping.
Although it's not an exhaustive list, this is a great snapshot of how communities across America are working to protect the environment. Promoting good practices in this way is a great way to inspire individuals and community leaders.
There's a great deal of media commentary and interest in tomorrow's energy bill vote. It's being backed by President Obama, who called the bill 'extraordinarily important' at a White House news conference earlier this week. Weighing in at a hefty 1,201 pages, the document obviously covers a huge range of ideas and implications - though in a nutshell it focuses on limiting emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases that have been blamed for global warming.
It's being sponsored by Representatives Henry A. Waxman (D-CA) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and also includes a number of provisions to offset carbon emissions created by agriculture.
With a bill as far reaching as this, there are obvious wrangling about costs, winners and losers – and how different markets, industries and regions will be affected. For example, there are concerns that if the bill is passed it may act as national energy tax that could destroy jobs in the manufacturing sector, or impact states such as Indiana, which currently gets 94% of its energy from coal, an obvious high-carbon fuel. The list is seemingly endless, and hard to generalize or prioritize.
In a difficult economy, there are also concerns about increasing fuel costs. The Congressional Budget Office and the E.P.A. have responded to reassure the American public that the rise in utility bills for households and companies wouldn't leap up by an extortionate amount. The E.P.A. has also been quick to point out that because of the efficiency provisions in the bill, by 2020 utility bills would be on average 7% lower than if there was no change in the law at all.
It's easy to see both sides of the argument. At The Refinishing Touch, we're in the enviable position of saving businesses and organizations money while promoting sustainability and protecting the environment. The bill needs support but with it going to have an impact on 306 million Americans, its uncertain what effect the bill will have in the end and understandable there is debate. But regardless of the outcome, it’s an important bill that facilitates dialog on energy and the environment and we believe that it is an important step in advancing the discussion. The energy bill is turning on light bulbs for both sides.
Digital Fallout: Cathode ray tubes, lead, and where to take that bulky TV set…
Last week, we drafted a post about the switchover to the digital signal and the impact on America's estimated 219 million television sets, of which 2.8 million households are completely unready for the transition.
As a business, we know from the number of armoire conversions we've completed for hospitality clients in the past 3 years and the thousands of units we've transformed and saved from the landfill, that this is much broader than a consumer problem – with every guest room in America's hotels, casinos and motels housing a television set, this is a real challenge for the hospitality industry.
Although the challenge to prepare for the switchover may have been different for these groups, there is one common problem now for those that have decided to invest in new digital sets – just how to disperse of old television sets easily, cost-effectively and of course in an environmentally-friendly way. It's no surprise to learn that television sets are not built with the environment in mind: even just the cathode ray tubes contain several pounds of highly toxic lead. Recycling is essential to prevent this from entering the environment.
TV manufacturers are making moves in the right direction. From Sony and LG which have recycling programs managed by recycling firm Waste Management, to group efforts supported by the likes of Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba, there is a consensus in the industry that there need to be recycling programs in place. It's estimated that at present around 20 percent of televisions are recycled – the rest heading to landfills. So with the switchover, there could be a wave of abandoned TVs.
We're going to be conducting a survey among consumers and the hospitality industry to see if they are disposing of analog television sets, and just where they think the responsibility should lie: with them as the owners - or with manufacturers, local government, federal government or retailers. Or even the commercial TV networks.
We'll be linking this survey to our website over the next few weeks, so if you'd like to participate please keep reading. We'll be sharing our results in the next month or so.
Meanwhile, if you are getting rid of your old set, make sure you are recycling it and that you do so through a socially-responsive organization.
California universities educate themselves on sustainability
Because we have our roots in the government, hospitality and education sectors, we like to keep an eye on any news that comes from each of those industries.
This week, the LA Times recognized a meeting of the minds in education that is set to begin on June 21st in Santa Barbara and will bring together 70 universities within the state of California at the 8th annual California Campus Sustainability Conference. The four day conference will be packed with workshops and speeches covering topics including energy efficiency and ways to achieve carbon neutrality. It is sure to be a productive and innovative event for universities, an area which we have seen a tremendous willingness to explore going green, and in California, the state that perhaps more than any other supports environmentalism.
In the recent past, we've talked a lot about President Obama's green agenda, and think it is a tremendous movement to see organized events like the Sustainability Conference continue to gain momentum across various sectors in our nation. Though many of us have been out fighting for environmental reform for many years, as we continue to see an increase in visibility for these issues, we are inspired and encouraged to continue in our efforts.
The universities we have had the pleasure to work with have recognized tremendous benefits from going green and we know intimately how much they care about furthering these initiatives. We look forward to sustainability becoming one of the cornerstones of organizations in all sectors, and to it bringing continual vitality and feelings of purpose across all industries.
Millions of Americans had blank television screens on Friday after US television broadcast stations switched from analogue to digital programming.
Here at the Refinishing Touch we have a strong interest in the switchover and have blogged about it in the past. So we've kept a close eye on how America has reacted to the big switchover. It's not been smooth everywhere, despite US authorities spending around two billion dollars on TV ads and other communications to get people prepared.
Consumers were given three options to ensure their TVs still worked after the transition. They could (1) Buy a digital to analogue converter box and connect it to their analogue television; (2) Buy a digital television or (3) Subscribe to a paid TV service.
It would seem the most popular solution has been the cheapest, with people buying a new converter box for a one-off fee of around $60. To help with the cost of the box, the government offered (and is still offering) two $40 coupons to each US household towards the cost.
The government has also been promoting the benefits of the digital TV transition in the hope that people will accept the change much quicker. Unfortunately, many people did not listen to the government's advice, failed to claim their free coupons, and were left without a working television: if you're one of these and are staring at a blank TV screen then we'd suggest you check out www.dtv.gov.
There's an interesting element here as although 'technically' there's no need for people to buy new televisions - analogue sets will work for years with devices such as DVD players, VCRs and video games consoles - digital TV offers a range of benefits including improved picture and sound quality, multiple programming choices and interactive video and data services.
Well, we just returned from the GSA Expo 2009, and we are very pleased with how it went.
The show started with a blur of people coming by our booth to talk with us and express interest in what we do. But more than that, as we watched the show unfold, we began to realize how much is changing for the better this year.
Across government agencies there were days when the mere suggestion of reusing furniture rather than buying new would elicit sneers of disapproval. There are potentially large budgets available and government buyers would automatically first turn towards how to spend these on buying new. That's all changed. In the last few days while walking through the hallways of the GSA and talking toattendees, it's obvious that buyers and users are starting to truly understand why reusing furniture is a better solution.
Across the show itself there seemed to be a greater discussion and focus on best practices to be environmentally friendly. The show featured a brand new range of classes on sustainability and it felt to us that across the convention center, people were all taking the ideals of being environmentally friendly very seriously. It could be due to the changing economic environment we're in, the new administration, the growing focus on the environment or all of the above, but the show definitely felt different this year.
We are proud to have been there to see the change.
The TRT team is getting ready to attend this year's GSA Expo – the Federal government's source for quality products and services. As we hold a contract with the GSA, we will be one of the 750 vendors attending this year's event.
This year the expo will be held at the HenryB.GonzalezConvention Center in the beautiful city of San Antonio, Texas. You will be able to find us at Booth 2538. As a free expo and training event for Federal, state, military and local government members and employees, it's a very collaborative event with networking and meetings for attendees that have a thirst for knowledge and innovation.
With our commitment to sustainable and green initiatives in the Federal government (have you read our whitepaper: "Furnishing Government Employees with a Sustainable Future" yet? If not, download it here), we're excited to attend: it's a great chance to demonstrate the simplicity, cost-effectiveness and the sustainability of our solution. It will also give us a chance to talk to a huge number of agency experts about how these relate to Executive Order 13423, the EPA Pollution Prevention Act and to USC Title 40.
And, due to our compliance with Executive Order 13423, we will be one of the vendors displaying "Green Products" during the Expo. It is a new labeling introduced for this year, and a definite signal we think of government agencies' awareness of the needs for environmentally sound and sustainable products and services.
We'll be posting up an update later in the week highlighting some of our thoughts from San Antonio. If you’re attending, be sure to drop by and say hello!
A lack of access to investment capital continues to hold back a lodging industry desperate for a foothold towards economic recovery. More than ever before, operational cost savings can have a significant positive effect on hoteliers abilities to maintain adequate staffing levels and positive guest experiences.
One overriding theme reported at this year's conference was the concern that hotel guests would begin to notice an impact on service and hospitality as lodging groups cut staff in an effort to weather the downturn.
Lollis quoted Charles Henry of Hotel Capital Advisers as saying: 'We're all slashing costs like mad. Hopefully we’re not slashing so much that they affect the customer.'
Maintaining customer experience levels during tough economic conditions isn’t a challenge unique to the lodging industry, but the hospitality business is arguably one of the more transparent working environments. It's vital then, that when cost savings need to be made out of financial necessity, that these cuts are entirely invisible to guests wherever possible.
Hospitable people are by far the greatest asset of the lodging industry. Yet cuts are being made to staff while many organizations continue to dispose of and replace high quality furniture assets simply because they appear to be in poor condition. This is clearly a false economy when advanced refurbishment techniques are readily available that could make such an immediate impact on any business's bottom line.
At The Refinishing Touch, we strongly believe that the cost implications of refurbishment over replacement can play a significant role in reducing the human cost of the recession, as well as helping lodging groups come out of the economic gloom in the strongest possible financial position.
There are areas where you can easily understand it's more difficult to plan and take action to cut costs, and others that would seem easy and simple to cut back. So we were amazed to see this survey that calculated that the federal government spends $1.3 billion on printing every year, and that $440 million of this is wasted and unnecessary printing.
The researchers, working on behalf of printer vendor Lexmark and O'Keeffe and Co., surprisingly found no differences between generations when it comes to thinking about the environment.
Generation Y employees stated they printed 29 pages a day, and threw or recycled less than a third (31%) on that day, while the baby boomers surveyed gave similar figures, saying they printed 31 pages a day on average, and threw or recycled 34% on the same day.
The study also found that 89% of respondents said their agencies don't have formal printing policies to cut back on printing. This figure didn't surprise us every much as our findings from our own research into policies and procurement processes within government (link to TRT download site) found that agencies can save up to eighty percent of current expenditure on furniture assets from a commitment to sustainability initiatives and a more innovative use of funds and resources.
Sustainability needs to be considered at every level: from the acquisition of hundreds of desks, to the printing of a single piece of paper. It all makes a difference.
