<font color=blue>INDUSTRY BUZZ</font> We are the Environmental Stewards

The only constant in today's green industry is change.  Global changes, rooftop landscapes, carbon sequestration, rising sea levels and the comeback of artificial turf -- are these challenges or opportunities?

A Quick Science Lesson

All living green plants absorb carbon dioxide (the gas blamed for global warming), store it in the soil and release oxygen back into the atmosphere.  It is estimated that four trees or 10,000 square feet of lawn produce enough oxygen for a family of four.  We Green Industry professionals have a unique opportunity because we work with plants that sequester carbon. By maintaining or installing these living plants, we are doing our part to mitigate global warming. 

It has been calculated that we in the United States have built on or paved over an area roughly the size of Ohio. This green space can never be reclaimed.  The burning of fossil fuels worldwide has created a carbon dioxide imbalance that cannot be easily corrected.  Most small industrialized nations, such as Japan and Iceland, do not have the real estate opportunities that we enjoy here in the United States.  There is much discussion world-wide about carbon sequestration, carbon credits and even injecting carbon dioxide-charged water back into the earth.

Increasing Awareness

Michael Dell, of Dell computers, calculated that a $2 investment in part of a tree will sequester enough carbon to offset the manufacture of a computer.  A $6 investment will pay for a desktop!  If you are going to spend $800 to $1,000 on a computer, why not spend another $2 to $6 to be carbon neutral?

Even Sports Illustrated has jumped on the green bandwagon.  In the March 12, 2007 issue, Sports Illustrated painted a gloomy picture of the future of sports if global change becomes a reality.  Oceans are warming, fields are drying up, snow is melting, more rain is falling and sea levels are rising.  As oceans get warmer and ice caps melt, the seas will rise and coastal areas, including parts of Florida, could eventually be under water.  One positive change is that many golf course superintendents who once wasted water and destroyed wetlands are cleaning up their act and doing their part for the planet.

Major corporations, such as T.X.U., Texas¡¦ largest energy producer, has taken the lead in reducing carbon emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020. They have scrapped plans for eight new coal-fired plants in an effort to reduce carbon emissions countrywide.  T.X.U. plans to join DuPont, Alcoa, General Electric and seven other firms in pushing Congress for a nationwide cap-and-trade program that would give companies credits for carbon emissions to use or sell at a profit.

The Solution

There is no easy, quick or inexpensive solution.  Human beings have been burning fossil fuels since the mid 1800s and the world is not getting any smaller.  More and more consumers rely on products and services that produce carbon dioxide and COƒ¢ emissions.  The world now agrees that greenhouse gasses are being trapped in the atmosphere, and therefore, global change is a reality. I contend that Green Industry professionals facing global change have unique challenges and opportunities.

Educate and Communicate

Lawn and landscape service providers have responsibilities beyond caring for the environment.  We are the professionals covering the earth with turf, installing landscapes that shade buildings and maintaining green spaces where humans live, work and play.  We must make every effort to spread the word - one person at a time. 

Become an ambassador for the green industry by getting involved with your local, statewide and national Green Industry associations, as well as spreading the word through your company newsletters, local newspapers and Green Industry trade journals. If nothing else, e-mail or write your State Representatives and let them know the benefits the green industry brings to their constituents.  PLANET can provide you with all of the tools and information you need to educate and communicate the message to your clients and staff. 

I challenge you to continue planting, protecting and promoting the benefits of the green industry as we move through these changing times. You are the environmental steward in your community, and therefore, part of the solution to global change. 

The author is the owner of Buckeye EcoCare in Dayton, Ohio.