Posts filed under 'Green business'
November 19th, 2008
These days when you hear the word “cobbler,” you’re more likely to think of dessert than Dr. Scholl’s.
Apparently, the economic downturn has led to a boom for the shoe repair shops across the country.
As one newspaper put it, people are fixin’ to save.
I’ve taken my pumps to Heel Sew Quick and Palace, mostly because I love the shoes (I fixed a pair very similar to those below). But paying five or 15 bucks beats buying a new pair for much more.
November 18th, 2008
On Monday I told you about the Waste-to-Profit Network briefly. Here’s more.
The network is mostly recruiting right now.
There are two levels:
1. The community network, which is free and meets infrequently for the purpose connecting folks with waste “wants” and “haves.”
2. The innovation network, which charges $500 to $5,000 per year on a sliding scale basis. Members attend quarterly meetings, connect on projects that benefit their businesses, share best practices and receive technical assistance. p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –>
Mary Hallock, who directs this effort, said the community network meeting attracted about 50 companies last month, leading about half of them to sign up. Naturally, the struggle is more on the innovation end, getting companies to commit to projects; a meeting is still in the works.
A little on Hallock, by the way:
She has worked for IMEC for 2 ½ years, based in the Rockford area. “I tell my kids the reason I’m doing this is so that we don’t have to create WALL-Es.”
Before this position, the chemical engineer with an MBA worked in the chemical and food businesses as a chemical engineer for more than two decades.
She got interested in the field because she was good at math and science and lived near Georgia Tech.
So what’s next? There are similar efforts across Illinios, with a meeting in Peoria this week and another downstate in January.
For more information, contact Hallock at 815-721-4474 or mhallock@imec.org.
November 17th, 2008
No, I’m not talking about dating. I’m talking about business, started by one business in particular.
The IMEC, or Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center, has started the nonprofit Waste-to-Profit Network in the Rockford area.
IMEC’s mission is to assist manufacturers in taking waste out of their processes, including inefficiencies.
So it makes sense that it has created a way to connect companies with byproduct synergies. Translation: One person’s waste is another person’s raw material.
Mary Hallock, IMEC’s manager of sustainable development and this program’s manager, said the network is mostly in recruiting phase right now.
For example, a glass manufacturer makes a special glass for appliance ovens that is coated to prevent melting. It was more cost-effective to dump leftover glass in a landfill than use the one recycler of that product in Pennsylvannia. But a countertop company now uses its broken glass for a product of its own.
Hallock said “several good things happened with this” beyond the eco-benefit of recycling 900 tons of tempered glass. For one, the glass company, Engineered Glass Products, is getting paid. For another, the countertop maker, Gilasi/Innerglow Surfaces, has a new product and meets green building requirements it hadn’t before.
“This is just a really exciting thing for us,” Hallock said. “It has a lot of potential.”
One less visible but tangible result could be attracting the next generation of workers, which resonates in the Rock River Valley. “Plus, it’s just the right thing to do. Someone has to address the problem that we’re pulling more out of the Earth than we can possibly replace.”
This is getting long for a blog post. Wait for part 2 until Tuesday …
P.S. We wrote an editorial about this initiative in September.
P.P.S. I wrote about a different green network here.
November 12th, 2008
While auto workers and steel guys are being dumped out of formerly lucrative and lifelong jobs, the question is: Can the green energy boom (aka, wind turbine construction) fill the void? Depends on whom you ask, according to this NPR story. Even though it’s based in Ohio, I think the same issues are at play in the Rock River Valley. It all comes down to skills and salaries.
November 11th, 2008
Two times in the last month, I have received e-mails from people that have little taglines underneath their signatures like this.
“Please consider the environment before printing.”
“Save Trees. Print only when necessary.”
According to this article, this phenomenon is about a year old, which makes sense, because often things take a while before they get to Rockford.
From a Google search, it appears many think this is a silly thing to do. That was my first reaction. Like, “Well, duh!” But I know a few people in my office who print out just about everything. And there the poor printer sits, with piles of unclaimed printouts each day, waiting to be recycled on the other side.
Do you think putting “Please don’t print” notes is a waste of time?
October 21st, 2008
Yes, I’m already thinking about Christmas shopping: I’ve gotten two gifts already. Though I’ll probably lapse until early December like usual for the rest.
Anyway, last year, I volunteered — VOLUNTEERED! — to cover Black Friday shoppers starting at 3 in the morning in line at Best Buy and later at Kohl’s. My photo package is still online. And someone the other day remembered seeing me on TV that morning at Target, which I did for WREX.
While I usually work the day after Thanksgiving, I don’t think I want to cover the madness again this year.
If I do get up that early, I’ll shop online for the super deals.
I thought about this green angle to shopping because I got a press release about making a Green Friday from a Chicago fair trade store.
The Greenheart shop offers holiday shoppers an alternative to the madness by allowing its guests the option of hand making their own gifts this season or offering eco-friendly or fairly traded gifts as an option this holiday season. Throughout the day, the Greenheart Shop will offer free workshops such as knitting, refashioning sweaters into mittens, re-styling old T-shirts, jewelry making, and more. Snacks and refreshments will be provided to add to the relaxed experience.
Rockford has a fair trade store, too, called Just Goods, 201 Seventh St., Rockford, 815-965-8903.
October 15th, 2008
One of my fellow blogs, ADwire, shares this.
I still stand by my assertion that I see so many “green” ads.
October 15th, 2008
In the last week, I’ve written about how the economy and foreclosures are bad for the environment.
This story on NPR reminds us that tough times also can call for innovation, like the 1970s energy crisis led to better windows. Yep, windows.
Reminds me: Does anyone know of any good used or green windows? And does anyone else love this song?
October 9th, 2008
One of the newer business networking tools is LinkedIn, basically the Facebook of your 9-to-5 life.
I noticed that one of my connections, Ron Clewer, joined the Sustainable Energy Group on the site, which has nearly 300 members.
So I asked Clewer, Director of Residential Real Estate Development/Broker at William Charles Investments, why, since my previous dealings with him had been limited and related to a different subject area, the arts.
He obliged and credited the company’s philosophy. Below is part of his response:
As a development company, we have been looking for as many ideas to create green developments as possible. The purpose of joining the group is to keep my eye what options are open to us.
We are currently looking at options that go from soil usage and plantings for site ideas up to the actual construction materials and operations systems in residential and commercial structures, i.e. insulation material, geothermal, roofing, lighting, etc.
While we have a history of being environmentally friendly, the reality is we can all do more. (For example) we created Westlake Village in Winnebago. It was required to have about 10 acres in set aside wetlands; instead we set aside about 42 acres as a nature preserve and wetland protection area. At Westlake we also host the annual tree recycling program. Resident recycling is mandatory.
We also did the rain garden at Hudson Place Condos (the first in Rockford) on the North Main former Kmart site. Resident recycling also mandatory.
At our apartments and office spaces, years back we invested the additional monies into fluorescent replacement bulbs and fixtures vs. incandescent as a means to control common-area electrical uses. We also have preventative maintenance programs in place for all HVAC and plumbing equipment to keep them operating at peak performance.
October 1st, 2008
If you didn’t read to the bottom of the Winnebago County winter salt story, you might have missed an interesting tidbit about spreading beet juice on the roads to prime them for better de-icing, which in turn reduces the amount of salt needed in the winter.
Other places have tried this, of course.
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