It seems everywhere you turn these days more businesses are going “green” or at least trying to.
But not every business leader knows exactly what that means or how it might affect the bottom line. So earlier this week, the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce set out on a quest to make sure businesses realize the smallest step can make a huge difference.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports.
Inside the convention hall in Manchester’s Radisson hotel, business owners and employees peruse exhibits of eco-friendly products and services.
1059 (I like this, that’s seed paper that grows plants when you plant it in the ground – so you actually choose the seeds you want in the paper)
At this booth, a company called, Logo Loc, sells a recycled paper that you can plant in the ground when you’re done with it.
And in the right conditions, it’ll bloom into flowers--what better use for say -an annual report.
This is just one example of what organizers were hoping attendees would learn from the event.
Manchester Chamber of Commerce’s Green Committee nicknamed the event “That Green Thing”…. instead of the first of its kind symposium-slash-trade show-slash conference focused on making businesses more eco-friendly.
That Green Thing Chair Colleen Cowette says it’s easy for companies to be green -- or at least be greener.
(1035 we set this up so that anybody in any level of any company can come to this event, get some information and take it back that’s not going to break the budget for them)
Cowette says her hope was that business leaders could learn just three simple things they could do to make their business greener.
So we decided to give it the test.… and who better than a newly elected selectman who has to be cautious of spending taxpayer money.
Cheryl Killam is from Raymond.
1056 :44 I think it was the state of NH that just put out a challenge of preserving and being energy efficient to the communities and so forth, so we had talked about it, so this was a good opportunity to learn more about it.
All attendees could go to concurrent sessions on eco-friendly cleaning and maintenance, recycling, carbon offsets, green building, and energy conservation.
Killam headed to the energy conservation session first.
There, Tom Belair who leads energy efficiency services at Public Service of New Hampshire provided two simple messages.
1037 :21 (you can always upgrade to a more efficient technology to use less energy and the second thing is probably easier to do is you can control when you use that technology if no one is in the room, you don’t need to have the lights on, so you can put up occupancy sensors on the light, or just shut them off when you leave the room )
During the session, attendees got information about new energy efficient lighting technologies, diagrams of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and graphs of cost savings through conservation.
After listening, Raymond Selectman Killam had these thoughts.
1:24 you look at the bulb and you say oh my god, it’s ten dollars to buy a bulb but you don’t realize you’re going to get a higher payback or a higher savings over a longer time frame, that was good, I wanted to see some statistics.
Killam says the session will help her take that first step.
1056 :26 I found this one very interesting because it’s probably something that can be utilized in the town buildings and so forth, to change the lightbulbs, and obviously at home as well.
Killam went on to other sessions, on recycling and on building through LEED, a certification program for green buildings.
She says she didn’t find the green building session so helpful - remarking that it was too general.
But by the end of the day, here’s what she says she will take back to town government.
1072 2:16 I might encourage them to go use recycled paper, or get them to use energy saver copy machines, something like that, see if we can get them to find more efficient desk lamps.
All the information at That Green Thing may have been too elementary for some business owners.
But even Sarandis Karathanasis, owner of the Red Blazer restaurant in Concord says the event was important.
And he’s already taking huge green steps – like converting his waste vegetable oil into energy to heat the hot water in his restaurant.
1046 6:04 “A lot of people I don’t think are ready to just save the environment with destroying their bottom line but if you can educate people and show them they can do both, it’s kind of slam dunk, it’s like selling a candy bar to a fat man it’s a no brainer so what’s happening here is just a greater awareness.”
For NHPR news, I’m Amy Quinton.
