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9 Comments
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Best Practices Resources for Residential Consumption Reduction
2008-11-06 11:42:01 UTC
Hi:
I am compiling information on best practices for programs or strategies that help home owners reduce the following:
- water usage
- waste (i.e. garbage)
I am also looking for information on the best practices for the following initiatives:
- home composting
- successful recycling programs (e.g. pay as you throw programs)
- local food sourcing
- telework/telecommute programs
Any insights and resources are greatly appreciated.
Best Regards,
Jim Conlon
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Re: another PR problem for supporters of sustainability
2008-10-23 16:35:24 UTC
To whom it may concern:
I noticed a few months ago a forwarded article from Mel Tremper regarding a British program directed at raising environmental awareness in children that had a "eco-cop" motif. If I recall correctly, the notion that this program was fascistic was declared. No fewer than two people responded in support of the program, and I was confused by the intent behind sharing such an email with this list. I decided to look more closely at this email sent by Mel, and I would like to share a few notes that speak to the quality and relevance of the initial post regarding
"Jolly green giant hypocrites: Tree huggers leave the biggest carbon footprint"
1. I could not read the report, which I did try to find two ways. I went to the douglassreport website after no results popped up from googling the title.
2. Access to the archive required a login for which I didn't feel compelled to register.
3. I question the motives and veracity of the website as the articles seemed dubious (***Men: You can extend your lovemaking and shift your sex life into overdrive. * is one of the titles on the home page).
Moreover, Stuart Barr's departmental biography pageon The University of Exeter's web site suggests his interest is in contributing or providing value to the environmental movement - not, as the article states, as being "the leader of this hilarious research." I speculate that one aspect of the mission of such a research project would be to assess baselines from which changes can be measured. That some people who self-identify as interested in sustainability are called hypocrites is not shocking - not because they are "greenies" but because they are human. Furthermore, could it be that this segment represents progress nevertheless? That is, perhaps the other people on those flights with whom the "greenies" go skiing twice a year have yet to implement some of the measures cited which may mean that these "hypocrites" provide trending evidence more towards sustainability. How does sharing this bit of editorial further the mission of "fostering sustainable behavior?" How does this report give others an "excuse to ignore acting responsibly?" My understanding of this list is that is intended to support sustainability. I, for one, have found the "eco-cop" = fascistic and the "jolly green hypocrites" to be antagonistic to this cause. My sincere apologies to anyone who considers this email a waste. As to avoid cluttering everyone's inbox, I can be reached directly at [email protected] for anyone who cares to share their two cents on this. That may help me decide if I am on the right list or not.
Jim Conlon -
Re: student job searching
2008-07-09 09:12:16 UTC
Mickey:
I have a triple bottom line company, and I recently hired 5 people. They found me through craigslist and greendreamjobs.
Best of luck.
Jim Conlon
President
Elysian Energy, LLC
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Re: Green Jobs?
2007-05-11 18:24:43 UTC
Allison:
Here is a list of some the sites that I've found or had recommended:
www.idealist.org www.greenjobs.com www.sustainablebusiness.com
www.solaraccess.com www.greenbiz.com/jobs www.ecojobs.com
www.environmentalcareer.info www.cyber-sierra.com/nrjobs/index.html www.eco.org
http://www.webdirectory.com/Employment/
Jim -
Re: What are your country's top ten sustianability issues?
2007-04-12 20:02:31 UTC
What a great question! As a US citizen, owner of an energy auditing company and as a pragmatist I think that the following are sustainability challenges:
1. Maintaining a cohesive political base -- too much fragmentation, difficulty in common-cause agreement
2. The tax code -- particularly for huge corporations. (eg GE doesn't pay corporate tax)
3. Freshwater water management
4. Clearly defined goals and priorities of/for sustainability (see #1)
5. Public land usage
6. Prudent natural resource consumption
7. Addiction to automobiles (I'm guilty of this)
8. Incorporating best practices/bucking the status quo (as a home rater, I can assure you that there are design and labor practices in the US housing market that are older than Madonna)
9. Deploying renewable energy
10. Developing messaging that isn't condescending or antagonistic
Jim -
Re: Eco audit
2007-02-22 17:36:34 UTC
Micheline: Check out this link for analyzing homes www.bpi.org
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Re: Greenpower or renewable energy uptake
2007-02-14 14:23:57 UTC
Regarding Green House Gases: My name is James Conlon, and I interned at the American Council On Renewable Energy and now work as an energy consultant focused on green house gases at WindCurrent - a company that markets clean energy (mostly wind). I am using clean energy to mean renewable energy projects (renewables) that displace base load fossil fuel-generated electricity, and while I am in the US, the protocol is global. As someone who consults daily to people/companies looking to get lean, clean and green, I am happy to share the basics: conservationefficiency*team building*renewables. - Step 1 is conservation. Speaking on behalf of an American energy consultancy, there are staggering amounts of energy to be conserved (and by extension $ to be saved or reallocated - more below). I feel comfortable stating that every entity (yes, absolutely every entity from a kid in a dorm room to the leanest manufacturing company and every homeowner, biz, congregation, org, etc... in between) is wasting power and money due to superfluous energy usage. - Step 2 is efficiency. Once necessary power consuming devices (lights, computers, HVAC equipment, whatever) are identified, the next step is to quantify the amount of usage and to look critically (and often creatively) at having that power consumed more efficiently. ie less $/usage. CFLs are an easy and powerful icon of a simple efficiency improvement. Surprisingly, new equipment often makes economic sense. - Step 3 is the creative part of the process. It changes depending on scale of the entity, but in general it amounts to bringing together vested interests. For a commercial example, witnessing the managers of operations, marketing, and accounting all leaving a meeting happy is a rare and rewarding victory. In short, step 3 amounts to bridging knowledge silos to create positive, cost effective solutions. - Step 4 is choosing clean power. For organizations (public or private) with a few thousand square feet of real estate, you might be in a position to deploy on-site renewables on the cheap. Contact me offline for the details, but many states have incentives in place to stimulate renewables, and there are companies that want to help you meet corporate or municipal mandates that will lower your costs (ie save you $) or create a competitive hedge against electricity price increases. For everyone else, supporting green power programs basically means you're electing to funnel your $ towards clean energy projects. Much of what I do is consulting on conservation and efficiency to mobilize the capital to support clean energy without affecting the bottom line. That's right, transfer your dollars from inefficiency to clean energy in one motion. This is something about which I am very familiar, and will gladly share my knowledge to whomever inquires. We have also put our attentions towards carbon impact and carbon balancing/offsetting for electricity, transportation and shipping. Don't forget that reusing and recycling are also necessary parts of a sustainable future, and I hope this isn't too elementary. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] for any inquiries.
Best,
James Conlon -
Re: Trees for Cars
2006-12-07 12:25:21 UTC
Debra et alia:
My name is James Conlon, and I work for a clean energy company in the states called WindCurrent. We're based near DC, and we partner with renewable energy projects throughout the country. Carbon balancing programs I have seen come in two forms: sinks and offsets. Most of the sink programs I've seen are reforestation programs, and the offset programs come in a few forms -- to grossly generalize in the transportation sector it's reducing/replacing petrochemical calories and in the power sector it's renewable energy. At the Renewable Energy Marketers Conference this week in San Francisco, we discussed how carbon needs to be addressed. The result? Lots and lots of informing. So please feel free to email me directly at [email protected] or call me [mobile: 312.217.2121]. I am happy to share my insights. In short, carbon programs amount to purchasing (read supporting) renewable energy or supporting a reforestation project. TerraPass, CarbonFund, etc... use this model. One clever idea might include school outreach to educate including a local planting initiative. In lieu of grassroots action, what one can expect to balance carbon is transferring money to an organization that uses various multipliers and equations to reach a tonnage. It can be esoteric... and it's what we have right now. On the upside the math errs on the side of caution (often by a lot).
Best,
James -
Clean Energy: Early Adapters?
2006-10-30 17:31:37 UTC
I've recently moved from Chicago to DC and changed careers from marketing real estate to marketing Renewable Energy Certificates (aka Green Tags), and as we all know, the priorities are not necessarily the same. (although NIMBYism concerns both) Much of the market research I've found focuses on a type of person in very general, qualitative terms (ie. innovators vs. early adapters vs. "middle of the bell curve" vs. laggards). What would be of great use in this new endeavor is to have more specific information about these "early adapters": where they work; where they live; what businesses they support/patronize, etc... Are there any recommendations for beginning research to determine where these early adapters live/play/work? I certainly consider myself an environmentalist, so I can put myself in those shoes a bit, but the more info the better.
Thank You,
Jim Conlon
[email protected]
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