Speaking of "Hope"

This brings a tear to our eye. A tear of joy and hope.

Media Coverage

To a certain extent, our prayers have been answered. At ELS we inundate ourselves with news on all things green from niche media channels around the globe, and are attuned to the how rapidly these information sources have grown recently. So we sometimes get confused as to how prevalent this info is in the mainstream press.

Well this announcement makes it rather obvious. The extent to which a greener consciousness can be didactically illuminated in a sitcom remains to be seen, and we are optimistic that the portrayal won't be too "greenwashed." However, this has got to be good news, right? Let's just hope this isn't a string of puff pieces, but rather a serious look into changes that are happening and what individuals and companies can to do make a difference.

NPR's Marketplace

Anselm Doering, Founder of EcoLogic Solutions was recently interviewed by NPR’s Marketplace. He shared his point of view about carbon emission offsets, a hot & contentious topic. Click here for the link to the mp3.

The carbon emission offset market creates a tradable permit scheme for carbon credits. A credit gives the owner the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide, and these credits are generated through carbon saving projects in companies and other institutions. They provide a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by giving them monetary value, namely, a cost to polluters and a revenue source for those cutting back.

Anselm briefly explained how organizations could today be reducing their carbon imprint without having to purchase credits (if they can afford them) to feel better possibly about polluting as much as they were before.

There are too many other loose ends for the success of such a trading scheme, such as shifty accounting practices, or lack of adequate pressure to further reduce their imprint for the companies that can afford to sell the credits.

Anselm Doering, President & CEO, represented ELS as a panel speaker for Manhattan’s Chamber of Commerce Green Dining event at Peter Calico’s building. The panel also included the Green Restaurant Association, Tru Foods Systems/Burritoville, & Lucid Catering.

Over 100 attendees included top executives from BR Guest restaurant group, Le Pain Quotidien group, Tru Foods & Action Carting, among a dozen exhibitors.

Anselm presented his position and the impact EcoLogic Solutions has on his version of the Triple Bottom Line: sustainability, health & safety and improving the bottom line.

Greening the Greens

ELS was invited to be the sole sponsor of a Greening the Golf Course event hosted by Mashantucket Pequot tribe & Foxwoods Resort at the request of Senator & Presidential candidate, Chris Dodd.

ELS shared its voice with the senator and other dignified attendees about options golf courses and other operations have to become more sustainable. Information was available on sustainable business practices, organic fertilizers, alternative pesticides and water treatment applications to everyday cleaning and maintenance chemicals.

ELS was proud to be a part of this event at the world’s top grossing casino/resort that houses 5 golf courses themselves.

Sustainability

In picking up our local NYC GreenMap the other day, I came across a succinct definition of sustainability, one that nicely articulates some of our principal values:

Sustainability - a balance of environmental integrity, social equity and economic vitality

Here's our take:
- Environmental Integrity: The "leave this campsite cleaner than the way you found it" mentality
- Social Equity: Great synergy can be found in fostering and embracing diversity
- Economic Vitality: This is capitalism. That which does not break even, does not last.

An espousal of these concepts gets to our core. We wish you a sustainable weekend.

"Green is the new Red, White, and Blue"

While the American media has the seemingly limitless capacity to beat a story to death, we would like to see the thesis posited by Thomas Friedman a few weeks ago in the NY Times magazine bear some of that aggression. He argues that America's addiction to oil has financed the world's jihadi terrorism, and that the solution to that conflict therefore lies in dedicating itself to becoming the greenest nation in the world. How poignantly this assertion resonates among those of us who aren't the die-hard treehuggers that we are here at ELS remains to be seen (c'mon American media, do your thing...), but for our part we are green anew. Cheers to paradigm shifts!

Read the full article

here

P.S. Apologies for falling off the face of the blogosphere; business has been booming!