If you are anywhere near Denver in early March (skiing, soaking in the hot springs, etc.), our friends at CORE Colorado are putting on a sustainability summit that can’t be missed. We’ll be there. Visit us at our booth. 

Here’s all the info from Graham Russell, CORE’s Executive Director.   

2010 SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES SUMMIT + EXPO

March 2 – 4, 2010 | Colorado Convention Center, Denver, CO

Looking for new ways to turn your company’s sustainability challenges into business opportunities?

The Sustainable Opportunities Summit + Expo, held annually in Denver, Colorado, is consistently one of the most comprehensive, actionable conferences in the industry.

 Our 2010 program promises to be the best yet. Among the sessions you will enjoy are:

Sustainability in the Supply Chain – featuring a plenary panel discussion of the Sustainability Consortium initiated by major retailers and including speakers from Miller Coors, KPMG and Wal-Mart. 

Plenary presentations by Andrew Winston: co-author of the sustainability best-seller “Green to Gold” and Peter Fusaro: author of NY Times best-seller “What Went Wrong at Enron?” 

Sustainability in the World of Sports: a panel discussion of how the sports industry is addressing the demands for more environmentally responsible sporting events AND greener sporting venues. Speakers from the Pepsi Center, Dicks Sporting Goods Park and Icon Venues. 

MORE THAN 60 SPEAKERS, 100 EXHIBITORS + COUNTLESS BENEFITS 

   Gain a global perspective and apply it to constructive local action.

   Turn corporate responsibility into long-term competitive advantage.

   The latest technologies in water treatment & conservation, recycling, waste minimization, sustainable agriculture, responsible mining and more.

   Learn how innovative energy ideas will create a robust economic engine.

   Connect with the most powerful sustainability players, locally and nationwide.

   Get access to key decision-makers, including buyers and investors.

Join Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, our speakers, exhibitors and hundreds of your colleagues to learn how sustainability is fast becoming the key driver of innovation, improved financial performance and more robust economic development. 

To register or for more info: 2010 Sustainable Opportunties Summit & Expo.

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According to a recent Pew Research study, 75% of Americans think climate change is an important issue.  How important you ask?  Stunningly, it’s last on a list of 20 compelling issues, far behind terrorism and the economy. The reasons seem simple enough. Bombs exploding and banks imploding have immediate impact. Rising temperatures and shrinking icebergs do not. It will probably take Nevada becoming beachfront before climate change moves to the top of the list.

It seems these issues are not so far removed from other messages in the green world that we have written so much about. The issue of global scale and not personal scale.  In other words, if “What’s in it for me?” is not in the message as an immediate takeaway, most people won’t take away its importance. 

So much anti-reality messaging is flying around today, from Obama’s supposed death panels to the town hall fiascos of people screaming that they don’t want the government involved in their Medicare, that no one knows what to believe any more. 

Environmental Leader just reported on makers of artificial rayon clothing who are selling themselves as bamboo. Their headline read, ”FTC Charges Clothing Firms with ‘Bamboo-zling’ the Public.”  A line, by the way, I wish I had written. What’s so sad is that real change can’t take place when people think what’s really happening isn’t happening to them. It means that all of us in the green world had better do everything we can to tell the story and tell the truth, and make sure that the story gets told in ways that are meaningful and impactful to their audience.   

My advice: Make every word count. And if you can’t figure out how to do that then please hire someone who does. We cannot allow the words, green or eco-friendly or environmentally safe, to go the way of “low-carb” and “natural”.  We can’t allow the lack of information or misinformation to help glaze over the eyes of the public who will do what’s right if they know why and how. We need to make the green movement the road back to sanity, economic as well as environmental.  We need to tell the world that switching to energy efficient light bulbs not only saves energy but saves money. Wal-Mart saved more than $7 million last year alone with that one act.

If you’re a marketer of a green product, put the real and rational reasons on top of your list. We don’t only have to deal with climate change, we have to deal with mind change and priority change if we want to see real change, or pretty soon we’ll all be surfing in Las Vegas and that will be a wipe-out for all of us.

Irv

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