United Green

Last week I gave the keynote speech at the United Green Symposium. The event was geared towards educating the public about how to go green at work, at home, and in life. The event was the first annual and while they had several attendees, I know next year should be even better. If you are interested in my speech "What Does Going Green Really Mean?" contact me at info@red-dotpr.com.

Earth Day 2009-Hampton Roads

Well one day and counting the hours until Earth Day 2009 in Hampton Roads. The Earth Day which is held the first Sunday in May at Mt. Trashmore park (the first landfill to park in Hampton Roads), is anticipating over 40,000 attendees this year. Slated as this being the largest event ever, we have over 93 exhibitors, 27 sponsors, 3 large events (including my personal push of plastic bag recycling), and tons of giveaways, music, fun and food. If you haven't checked out the website...it is full of activities and events - www.earthdayvb.com. Additionally, we will be hosting Congressman Nye, Del. Bouchard, and Mayor Sessoms. It should be a fun event. Hope you all come out and check out my booth - it will have the huge Go Green with Red signage.

Earth Day 2009

Hey all...I don't know if you know this, but we are a major sponsor/supporter of the Earth Day 2009 at Mt. Trashmore (not to mention that our fearless leader, Ms. Kimberly Pepper, is on the Board and is Chairwoman for Promotions & Marketing and Sponsorships). Check out the website at www.earthdayvb.com.

Green Speech

On Tuesday, March 24th, I was invited to give a speech to a number of women executives and business owners about going green. The group called HRNEW (Hampton Roads Network of Executive Women) was started by a couple of wonderful women at Troutman Sanders (an international law firm with offices all over the world). The topic of the speech was Going Green - What does it Mean to be Green. It was very well received and well attended. I love these types of programs because it gives us a chance to really educate folks on what it means to go green, tips to utilize in everyday life, and why it is important. If you want more information, please contact us at info@red-dotpr.com.

Earth Hour 2009

On Saturday, March 28 at 8:30pm - 9:30pm....cities around the world turned off their lights in an attempt to show unity and a stance on global warming issues. For 1-hour, those lights remained off. The goal was show government officials around the world that there is a pressing need to take action against global warming and come to an agreement that would replace the Kyoto Protocol Act of 2002/03. Major structures around the world such as the pyramids in Egypt, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Colosseum in Rome, the billboard in Times Square-NY, etc. turned their lights off for 1-hour. Check out some of the pictures at
http://www.earthhour.org/home/. So what did you do for Earth Hour?

Will Virginia Be a Green State?

Since the beginning of the year, we have seen a couple of press releases come out of the Governor's office talking about the Renew Virginia initiative (www.governor.virginia.gov/renewvirginia). However, out of the six releases, there seems to be a common theme - the Governor discussing strategies to attract "green companies" to relocate here and wanting Virginia to be a leader in alternative energy. My issue is that there is a lot of talking being done, but not a lot of action taking place. The most current release was a "meeting of the minds" between the Governor and the UK Ambassador to the US, Sir Nigel Sheinwald where they signed a bilateral "Climate Change Action Agreement." While I think this is great to "recommit" to combating the effects of climate change and developing a more climate-friendly economy - however, my criticism is that there is an action agreement that has already been circulating called the Climate Protection Act. This Act embodies the elements of the original Kyoto Act of 2001/02 and was established by City of Seattle's Mayor Greg Nichols challenging Mayors across the U.S. to sign, commit, and implement these principals into to their regions. So my questions to the Governor are - Do you know about this program? And why hasn’t Virginia be actively involved with this Act? (rather than reinvent a wheel that is already establish) And lastly - Why not push those Cities that have already signed the Act to get on the ball and implement true sustainable programs? It seems like common sense, right?

Additionally, it might behoove the Governor to start implementing green collar jobs right here in Virginia by expanding the DEQ team implementing the Virginia Green program beyond the current structure of one person. Also, expand the Virginia Green certification program beyond the tourism industry and the Governor may discover that there are several companies in Virginia that are already creating "green" collar jobs. Hence, develop meaningful stimulus programs that help sustain these companies and their growth potential while still attracting new companies. What a concept, aye?

Is Hampton Roads Environmentally-Friendly?

I've been contemplating this question for quite some time now. Being a power networker, I have been in one meeting after the next, and the overall theme of these "green" meetings seems to be – everyone wants to be involved, but to put some action in place and aggressively push this agenda is severely lagging behind. This might sound a little on the severe side, however, coming from the West Coast where actions were turned into words and things like recycling, use of reusable grocery sacks, and the support of good quality mass transit is common sense and common place – hence, my patience for folks that speak the words, but lack of actions has grown very thin. And these “folks” that I’m talking about are government entities and municipalities. Now granted, there are a small handful of cities that have taken going green very seriously such as Charlottesville...but other cities - especially the ones that have signed the U.S. Mayors' Climate Protection Act – four of which are in Hampton Roads alone – have done nothing in the two years that they originally signed the Act. Having been involved with a couple “sustainability teams” these entities seem to be more focused on trying to “fudge” numbers to win points on the Virginia Municipal League’s Green Challenge awards program, than developing and implementing programs that will actually make a difference in their communities. I know this may sound a little jaded, but you must understand that the Climate Protection Act was enacted in response to the U.S.' lack of signing the Kyoto Act back in 2001/02; in which the City of Seattle’s Mayor, Greg Nichols, took it upon himself to challenge other mayors around the U.S. to enact and implement a Climate Protection Act that has the same principles of the Kyoto Act, but more on a local/regional level. In response, Mayors who sign this Climate Protection Act attest to their seriousness to uphold the principles of the Kyoto Act and initiate programs that not only help the environment, but better their communities and their constituents’ lives. Nine cities in the Commonwealth signed this act - four of which are in the Hampton Roads area – however, not one of those four have actually started implementing a serious program. My question to them – why?