Archive for the ‘Green Policy’ Category

CONNECT to Greenbuild 2011 – Call for Speakers Closes Friday, January 14!

by l.lilienthal on January 10th, 2011

What does it take to write a winning Greenbuild Presentation submission?

With an average of 1,500 submissions to fill about 100 education tracks, the odds are good that your submission will need to shine to rise to the top.

Jeremy Benkin, LEED AP, at CB Richard Ellis chairs the Program Working Group for USGBC (a volunteer position). He’s here to demystify the process and offer a few tips.

First, the basics:

Submissions are due January 14 at 11:59 pm PST, no exceptions.

It’s an online submission. We recommend that you prepare your submission ahead of time in a Word doc and then cut and paste it into the required fields, paying attention to the word/character count for each section ahead of time.

The 2011 theme for Greenbuild is NEXT, and the event is in TORONTO this year (have those passports handy!) and it’s OCTOBER 4-7th.

Here’s what’s different this year, per Jeremy:

• The 2011 Call for Speakers now includes the Residential Summit, the International Summit as well as Greenbuild and the Government Summit (renamed from “Federal Summit”) The Federal Summit was renamed to acknowledge that much of the innovation, progress and experiences to share are coming from the state and local levels as well as our Federal Government.
• Pay attention to the new Topics Areas in the Call for Proposals – you’ll need to choose one for your submission.
• You also need to identify a Session Framework for your proposal – choosing from: Proven Performance, Projects with 12 months of Performance Data, Challenges and Failures in Green Building, Human Impact, Costs/Benefit Analysis, and Forward Thinking & Visionary Concepts. These were based upon the feedback from the Greenbuild audience. The goal is to ensure proposals be educational and relevant.

• Finally, there is a new Thought Leadership & Research track that will follow a new review process including a peer review of published papers prior to inclusion in the Greenbuild program.

Speaker proposals are PEER REVIEWED and you’re invited to be a part of that process!

USGBC uses a three‐tiered review process to review all submitted and complete proposals. In other words, you really have to grab the reviewers on the first round to make the cut and continue in the process.

Stay on top of the 2011 Calendar with CONNECT. CONNECT is a user friendly and intuitive database of key B2B events. With a simple but effective list building mechanism, CONNECT can, within an hour or so of time, connect you to the relevant details you need to build client plans, create speaking calendars and consider travel and other budget items for 2011.

Friends of Green Earth PR Network qualify for a $495 annual subscription rate (discounted from the published $995 rate). If you’d like a demonstration, we’ll be glad to set one up – it takes about 15 minutes by phone — just send a note to lisa@greenearthpr.net. And if you have friends or colleagues who would benefit from knowing about CONNECT, please spread the word — we’ll honor the discount with your networks, too.

Tags: 2011, Call for Speakers, green building conference, Greenbuild, Toronto
Posted in Green Building, Green Policy, GreenEarth PR Products
1 Comment »

Are you showing up in 2011?

by l.lilienthal on November 30th, 2010

I show up; it’s part of my personal brand. Get married, have a baby, have a party – heck, just invite me over! – and I’m there. I’m at my best at a meeting, in a crowd, at a trade show, or even just out to dinner. I get a lot of great energy from being with other people, especially those that I like or have something in common with, and I always learn something.

My enthusiasm for the power of personal connection extends to my professional life and also to the counsel I provide to my clients. In this era of budget cutting and travel restrictions, I understand that “showing up” is more complicated and expensive than ever, but I still think that travel to conferences and trade shows is worth consideration – maybe now more than ever.

A couple of years ago when the Green Earth PR Network was meeting in Atlanta, we were talking about assets we could share with one another. I was offering what was, at the time, an enormous spreadsheet – a great big Excel document where my colleague Christine and I housed all of the details for all of the speaking and networking events we were facilitating with our clients. Judith Webb took one look at it and said, you should offer your database as a service! Practically overnight, the CONNECT database was born.

Now in its third year, CONNECT is more robust than ever, with nearly 150 key business to business events in the sustainability space. We offer details like the date, location, contacts, deadlines, and fees, with a link back to every event’s website if you require a deeper dive into a particular listing. The search function that allows you to build and maintain multiple lists is straight-forward and intuitive. In fact, I can build a full year’s speaking and networking calendar for a client in just under two hours!

We’re just putting the final touches on the most major update we’ll do for 2011, and we’ll continue to monitor for events that haven’t yet posted their plans for this year. Already you can see that new events have come online, some events have faded from the scene, and a number of conference have moved around on the calendar or chosen new geography this year.

We’re offering a special rate of $495 for an annual subscription for those who subscribe in 2010, and we’re always happy to walk you through a demonstration of the database during a 15-minute phone demo. Email lisa@greenearthp.net for more information. And while we’re on the subject of getting together, when are you having me over for dinner?

Tags: 2011, CONNECT, event database, sustainability events
Posted in Green Policy
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Rahway High School Water Champions and Green Earth PR Network Client Team Up for Water Conservation

by Nora DePalma on July 20th, 2010

From last Sunday’s New Jersey Star-Ledger: Teens at Rahway High School audited their school’s water consumption, with a little help from Rutgers, and figured out a way to save 1.6 million gallons of water a year.

After a presentation last Tuesday to executives from American Standard, the historic plumbing company agreed to donate more than $60,000 after the Rahway Water Champions demonstrated that the school could save an estimated $6,500 or more a year by upgrading to the newest water-saving toilets, faucets and urinals.

Post-installation water usage reports will be monitored by the students and reported by American Standard Brands, as well as The New Jersey Water Savers Program, a partnership between the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Water Resources Program, the NJDEP and the EPA.

Can today’s outrage bring tomorrow’s change?

by Louise Mulherin on June 14th, 2010

We’re all outraged over the oil spill in the Gulf and that’s about where the agreement ends. This past weekend my husband and I took a quick trip to New Orleans as much to support the Gulf community as to selfishly enjoy their incredible local seafood while it’s still available. Just as Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was calling to lift the moratorium on drilling because jobs could be lost, New Orleans’ oldest oyster processor announced it was idling due to lack of reliable, local supply. The economic hit to Louisiana’s seafood industry alone could top $2.5 billion, according to early estimates.

We want to do something. The easy out is to punish the company you feel is responsible, or blame the government because they can’t come in with a quick fix. Some are calling for a boycott of BP, when the only people who would be hurt are their neighbors who work in the station or supply goods and services to it. Boycotting one fuel brand for another is not the answer as noted in Newsweek.

How about looking inward for the solution? Take this as a wake up call. Channel that anger into change and take permanent steps to reduce our reliance on oil. Take simple steps: drive less, cut back on use of plastics, recycle more of the plastics you do use. Make these changes habits, forever. Don’t go back to bad habits once the spill is out of the headlines.

The David Suzuki Foundation has lots of ideas on how to reduce your individual footprint. On a broader scale, Grist has some ideas for business and government that could send us in a better direction.

And just think, what if everybody did it?

Tags: carbon footprint, energy, oil spill
Posted in Green Policy
1 Comment »

Observing Earth Day

by Nancy Rogers on April 21st, 2010

Those who work even in the periphery of sustainability are inundated from Earth Hour to Earth Day and beyond with pointers on living green, saving energy and planting trees. However, if we step out of our green circle, it is surprising that many business associates are not aware of water, solar and planet holidays.

As with New Year’s there is a lot of hype to use this benchmark for improvement. Instead of weight loss and financial stability, the focus is on reducing footprints and considering the next generation. For me deadlines are always helpful. Earth Day is a reminder to reflect on what else I can do and how I can be a better change agent.

Like the holiday cards from my insurance agent, I try to ignore the avalanche of corporate boasts and be pleased that the occasion was noted. Like adding 15 more minutes of exercise, a percentage may think about modifying behavior for the environment. In Atlanta and around the globe, community activities for individuals and business abound: tree planting; socials and challenges to celebrate this 40^th observation. The options let you choose what matters to you among flora, fauna, water, air, energy, and future generations.

Did someone you know become a supporter this year? Did you gather with friends who remember their first Earth Day? Let the day launch another year of considering the planet.

Posted in Green Business, Green Policy
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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words … but this one word says it all

by l.lilienthal on April 12th, 2010

When I was sorting my disposables during a recent visit to the David Brower Center in Berkeley, Ca., I stopped short. I was used to sorting paper and plastic, maybe even compost, but LANDFILL? That’s a choice I’ve never seen. In place of the word TRASH, some enterprising environmentalist decided to tell it like it is: If you put it here, it’s going to the LANDFILL, and it’s all on you.

Posted in Grammar of Green, Green Building, Green Policy
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Earth Hour is March 27 at 8:30 pm, local time

by Nancy Rogers on March 26th, 2010

Earth Hour is not just about 1 hour. Here are my thoughts from Atlanta posted at http://www.likethedew.com and more from HuffingtonPost: http://huff.to/aa5MNW.
Please pledge at www.earthhour.org.

Tags: Earth Hour, Green biz
Posted in Green Business, Green Policy
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World Water Day Events in Washington D.C.

by Nora DePalma on March 24th, 2010

Mandy Moore and Alexandra Cousteau lead the World's Longest Toilet Queue in front of Capitol Hill.

John Kerry with Mandy Moore and Alexandra Cousteau on World Water Day © Tony Powell. World's Longest Toilet Queue. March 23, 2010

Preparing the toilets for the World's Longest Toilet Queue. Toilet cleaning is unavoidable.

Links to more coverage on World Water Day events in Washington D.C.

Hillary Clinton at National Geographics headquarters, Monday, March 22: “For the United States, water represents one of the great diplomatic and development opportunities of our time. It’s not every day you find an issue where effective diplomacy and development will allow you to save millions of lives, feed the hungry, empower women, advance our national security interests, protect the environment, and demonstrate to billions of people that the United States cares” (Source: Inter Press News Service)

More from Clinton on water and the Obama administration view on global water and sanitation issues from the Inter Press News Service.

More on World Water Day at National Geographic, with special guest speaker Hillary Clinton

More on the global clean advocacy and water activism of Mandy Moore and Alexandra Cousteau from The Hill

The power of celebrity: One Green Earth PR Network consultant got her client’s toilets in the Gossip Girls blog.

More coverage for World Water Day activities of Moore and Cousteau.

More information on global clean water and sanitation issues:

More Deaths from Unsafe Water than War Source: AFP

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-your-water.html

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/guestvoices/2010/03/we_dont_honor_god_when_4500_children_die_every_day.html

Tags: alexandra cousteau, mandy moore, world water day
Posted in Green Policy
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Green Earth PR Consultant Invited to Share Communications Expertise on World Water Day Roundable

by Nancy Rogers on March 17th, 2010

Nora DePalma

It’s reason to celebrate. Our Green Earth PR consultant was asked to join the conversation at the Big Table, in recognition of what she knows and has to offer.

The table is an international roundtable discussion on water issues for World Water Day in Washington D.C. on March 22. The consultant is Nora DePalma, principal with O’Reilly/DePalma, and founding consultant with Green Earth PR Network.

The Global Water Futures Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) will host the Paths Forward for the Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH). The goal of the roundtables is to generate strategies on how to improve the outcomes of WASH programs and increase the capacity of the U.S.-based public and private sectors to address the global WASH challenge of clean fresh safe drinking around the world.

DePalma was invited to participate in the high level roundtable discussion Building the Momentum for WASH Awareness, moderated by Ambassador Hattie Babbitt. This session will call upon DePalma and approximately 30 other attendees to share their communications expertise on the challenge of keeping WASH initiatives front and center in the media and how to develop a visible, collaborative movement within U.S. civil society to support global WASH initiatives.

DePalma’s 20 years expertise in plumbing products gives her a unique appreciation for how plumbers, the “butt” of so many jokes, are so critical to our use of–and access to–safe clean water in developed countries. “What we use mindlessly everyday, flushing and turning faucets on and off is a basic human comfort denied to 2.6 billion people around the world who still lack basic sanitation,” DePalma says.

Two Days of World Water Advocacy

Earlier in the day, DePalma will join representatives from her client, American Standard Brands, at an invitation-only Americans Doing Our Part event at the National Geographic Society. Expected to be attended by Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, the event highlights new commitments in water and sanitation by the US government, philanthropic foundations, corporations, NGOs, civic organizations, faith-based organizations, universities and others. Americans Doing Our Part is co-hosted by Water Advocates and the National Geographic Society.

The following day, DePalma will be bringing toilets to Capitol Hill to take a humorous stand for the serious subject addressed by WASH. Learn more about the World’s Longest Toilet Queue at ProfessorToilet or download the World’s Longest Toilet Queue .pdf.

Learn more about the WASH collaborative via .pdf.

Download information on the Paths Forward for the Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) roundtable via .pdf.

Green Earth PR consultants are informed and authentic when we join a conversation. The rest of the team is thrilled that our go-to on plumbing and water consumption has the chance to share what she knows on bringing this critical issue to a broader audience. Follow DePalma’s reports next week on Twitter or via the O’Reilly/DePalma Facebook page.

Tags: american standard, nora depalma, world water day
Posted in Green Policy
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New Bill Makes Georgia a National Leader in Water Efficiency | CommonDreams.org

by Nora DePalma on March 12th, 2010

New Bill Makes Georgia a National Leader in Water Efficiency | CommonDreams.org.

The GA legislature has passed the nation’s leading water efficiency bill, surpassing even the standards set in California. Read more from American Rivers.

Tags: water conservation
Posted in Green Policy
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