Does Green Pizza Exist?

Check it out! When is one of these coming to the Upstate?

How Green Are You?

Take this quiz:

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/how-green-are-you


See where you stand on the "the daily green-o-meter"

Work Kitchen- Plastic Cup Problem!

Is this your company?

"We are buying plastic cups every month and we go through them so quickly! How do we cut down on our plastic cup consumption but still let our employees have portable water?"

Well, all of us cannot reuse our plastic cups to make something creative like this:

So there must be a solution. And there is one! Company Water Bottles. This is a great way to boost company morale and put your logo on something portable. Sure, your company might give out water bottles to prospective customers, but what about to it's employees? And then, stop buying plastic cups! If everyone is provided with a personalized company water bottle, you will have no excuse for buying plastic cups. Just think... in the long run, you will be saving money! Here are some examples:

Driving Green

Okay, so maybe you won't drive a car that looks exactly like this one, but this should get you brainstorming.

Go to http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/Index.do to find a green vehicle that fits your lifestyle. Choose car by year, model, type or simply the greenest vehicle out there!

Milliken in Spartanburg- Being Proactive!

The Milliken in Spartanburg is doing their part!

"Spartanburg-based Milliken & Company is using nanofiber technology, developed by Milliken Research, to assist with clean-up of the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Milliken hopes to fill a void in the high demand for oil absorbing materials created by the BP oil spill. The effort will assist in protecting the environment, capitalizing on one of Milliken’s core values. "

http://www2.wspa.com/news/2010/jun/04/spartanburg-based-milliken-helps-oil-spill-ar-305312/

LEED Success!

Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, LLP Office Upfit Awarded Prestigious LEED® Silver Green Building Certification

May 14, 2010 (Spartanburg, SC) -- The Mary Black Foundation announced today that its tenant office upfit for Cherry, Bekaert & Holland, LLP (CB&H) has been awarded LEED® Silver status as established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute. LEED® is the nation’s preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

The CB&H office is located in the Mary Black Foundation building, a LEED-Gold Certified facility. The office has access to bicycle storage and showers for those who opt to use alternative means of transportation to and from work. In comparison with other facilities of its size, the CB&H office uses 45% less energy, and 81% of the materials used in construction were locally manufactured. More than 55% of the office furniture is reused or refurbished, and total construction included 30% recycled materials.

“The Mary Black Foundation is pleased that CB&H’s office upfit received LEED® Silver designation, and we are delighted to have CB&H in our building,” said Philip Belcher, Mary Black Foundation president. “We hope this firm’s willingness to participate in the LEED® process will encourage other leaders in the business community to do the same.”

By using less energy and water, LEED® certified buildings save money for families, businesses and taxpayers; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and contribute to a healthier environment for residents, workers and the larger community.

“CB&H’s LEED® certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. “The urgency of USGBC’s mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before, and CB&H serves as a prime example of just how much we can accomplish.”

U.S. Green Building Council
The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Green Building Council is committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost-efficient and energy-saving green buildings.

With a community comprising 78 local affiliates, more than 20,000 member companies and organizations, and more than 100,000 LEED-Accredited Professionals, USGBC is the driving force of an industry that is projected to soar to $60 billion by 2010. The USGBC leads an unlikely diverse constituency of builders and environmentalists, corporations and nonprofit organizations, elected officials and concerned citizens, and teachers and students.

According to the U.S. Green Building Council, buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of CO2 emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% of water consumption, and 15% of GDP per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity. Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of the future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs.

35,000 projects are currently participating in the LEED® system, comprising over 5.6 billion square feet of construction space in all 50 states and 91 countries.

For more information, visit www.usgbc.org.

The Mary Black Foundation is an independent private foundation. Since 1996, it has awarded more than $30 million to improve the health and wellness of the people and communities of Spartanburg County. The Foundation works to achieve its mission primarily through its efforts to improve early childhood development and encourage physically active lifestyles. Additional information about the Foundation is available at www.maryblackfoundation.org.

Green Earth Party!

"Great local music, camping and eco-friendliness — the Green Earth Party is the perfect event to attend if you want all these in one location. "

Want to go?
What: Green Earth Party
Where: The Music Camp in Cowpens
When: Saturday, June 5, 2010
Prices: $10 to $30 depending on vehicle. It covers entrance fees, parking, the concerts and camping.Directions: Take Exit 80 off I-85. Take right onto Gossett Road. Make an immediate left onto Conway Black Road and then left onto Childress Road and follow the signs.

"Though the music is the key feature for attendance, the organizers' mantra became "Keep it clean. Keep it green." Their hope was to find better ways to keep a clean environment at the 19-acre Music Camp founded by John Featherstone.

Going off of the idea of environmental health, the Antibodies decided to make the main theme alternative health care and personal preservation. There will be information tables set up to explore the practices of alternative health and environmental friendliness."

www.goupstate.com

Green Construction

Want to learn more about Green Construction? Read about these comprehensive courses that can put you at the top of your industry.

The Certified Green Professional (CGP) is an exclusive designation offered by the National Association of Home Builders. It is designed to teach building industry professionals strategies for incorporating green building principles into homes using cost-effective and affordable options.

The following courses will be offered:

Green Building for Building Professionals

Wed. & Thursday, June 9-10, 2010 8am-5pm

Instructor(s): Andres Barber, McClellan-Templeton

The cost of the course is $300 for NAHB members and $400 for non-members

Business Management for Building Professionals

Tues., June 8, 2010 8am-5pm

Instructor(s): Andrew Barber, McClellan-Templeton

The cost of this course is $175 for NAHB members and $250 for non-members

Email jenniferbradey@hbaspartanburg.com for information on registration.

Theses courses will be held at Piedmont Natural Gas in the conference room.

Morrisette Paper

Read about an excellent tribute to Earth Day by Morrisette Paper:


"My name is Lisa Williams from Morrisette Paper and I am a Facility Supply Specialist. We are a distributor of Janitorial and Packaging Supplies, traditional products and Green products. I wanted to share with you a sales meeting I had for our company on April 23, 2010. We did a completely paperless meeting. I had 20 vendors with booths and had 75 Morrisette team members attend each booth for 15 minutes. All the information from literature, spreadsheets and prices sheets was preloaded onto flash drives and given to every MPC team member. We also did not have any bottles at the meeting. All water and drinks were in containers and we used paper cups. We also used compostable cutlery and plates made out of bamboo. We gave out reusable water bottles as gifts and touched on the amount of plastic that is thrown away each day and encouraged our team to filter their own water and stop buying water!! The meeting was a huge success and we definitely made our footprint smaller on that day as a company. It was the day after Earth Day and our sales meeting was a tribute to Earth Day."

If you would like to contact Lisa, here is her information:

Lisa Williams
Facility Supply Specialist
Morrisette Paper Company
Direct 704-659-8144
Cell 704-564-0386
www.morrisettepaper.com

What do you think about this! Comment Below!

Share! What's this blog all about?

After the success of the First Upstate Business Summit that was held at The Hangar in downtown Spartanburg on Friday, April 30, we didn't want the "green" momentum to end there. We wanted to create a central site where companies would have the opportunity to share anything "green" that might be inspiring to other readers. Anywhere from a sentence that states, "Since June of 2009 we have stopped ordering Styrofoam cups," to a full length story, we want to hear it. Don't be selfish and keep it to yourself!

Everyone is always looking for ideas, inspiration, success stories, and attempts being made at preserving our environment through the workplace. You can even share your struggles. In one of the workshops a gentleman requested ideas on how to inspire workers in his company to not only recycle and be environmentally conscientious because it is their job, but to really WANT to do it. Voice your concerns! People can read your concerns, and offer advice in the comment section.

This could be an advertising and networking opportunity for you as well. If you share anything with us, we will put your company logo on that blog entry and give out any other information of which you want readers to be informed.

If you are thinking, "I have too many other things to do than write a blog post," we understand. Simply call me and take 5 minutes of your day to tell me a story and I will write and post it for you. You giving that 5 minutes of your day may encourage a company to pursue a green initiative that they had not considered prior to your post!

We cannot do this alone. We need you to share. Simply send your post along with your company logo or any other pictures documenting your success, questions, suggestions, etc to ccarpenter@upstatewib.org

Can't wait to hear from you!