Green Corner - Making Everyday Choices
By Richard Byford, Byway Entertainment
I remember reading in a Reader’s Digest way back in the 1970s that the downfall of the 1990s would be the “proliferation of choice” and that most of us would not be well equipped or sufficiently educated to make the right choices.
Here we are in the 21st century and when I see the choices that are being made, in regards to sustainability and a green future, I know why we have arrived at the point in this planet’s life, where we have to make smart choices or there could be serious consequences.
Changing our everyday habits is the hardest thing to do; we are all guilty of it. This was driven home to me recently while producing a large gala where the entertainment’s rider called for bottled water in the dressing room and on the stage. The show was “The Music of ABBA” by Arrival from Sweden. As you all know,Sweden has one of the most aggressive national sustainability programs anywhere on the planet. The act was surprised when they discovered that I was not allowing plastic bottles of any kind at the event. However, they were even more surprised and pleased when they discovered they were given stainless steel drinking cups full of purified cold water, which could be refilled, used on stage and taken home with them at the end of the night.
Three years ago at this same event, which is only five hours long, guests used over 4,000 bottles of water. For the past two years, we have not used one plastic water bottle, thanks in great part to Culligan Water, who provides portable water purifiers, and The Desert Water Agency who provides a 500-gallon water tank (called a water buffalo). All staff were asked to bring their own drinking cups and guests were served from water pitchers.
This change alone will not make a dent in the alarming rate at which we are filling our landfills. However, as I said in last month’s column, go out and tell the world what you are doing and just maybe, someone else will do a little something. Before you know it, we are well on our way to a revolution. It may not happen in our lifetime but certainly your children and their children will thank you as they grow up in a world where living a sustainable lifestyle is the norm.
All of us who speak in public, no matter the subject, are flattered and honored when people take action on something we have said. Such was the honor when I received an e-mail from Rebecca Stoddard, who had been in the audience of a round table that I was a part of earlier this year. I had mentioned, as I always do, that there are various shades of green depending on where in the United Sates you live and depending on your budget. She said that my line had made such an impression on her that she was opening her own company in North Carolina and calling it “Shades of Green Events.” Is that cool or what?! Thank you, Rebecca, and we all wish you well in your new endeavor.
I would like to leave you with a thought that I’m sure will have some of you running to post a comment on my blog. I believe that this is the perfect time for businesses and organizations to start putting in place green, sustainable business practices because the majority of these practices will save money, not cost you more money! It simply is not true that going green will cost you more!
Next month I will explore how you can save money by going green. If you have come across a new idea or something worth sharing with the rest of us please drop me line on my blog.
Stay well! Think green!!!
not just saving money but making events better
Avoid the syndrome of hotels that just don't wash your towels, with no other actions -- people are getting better at smelling greenwashing. If you set out to be green to save the planet, in the end you wind up with an event that feels more real to your attendees, where they come away feeling like they were part of a community -- and "real" turns out to be overall less expensive than "plastic." Some of my favorites:
You don't have to set out to make your event cheaper -- set out to cut waste and toxins, get people involved, make it local: and in the end costs go down and participation goes up.