Welcome to the First Richmond Blog Entry
Welcome to my first blog ever. I have been thinking about where to start and what to talk about so where better than how and why I decided to green my venue. In January 2007 I met Sheena, an incredibly creative, forward thinking woman. In the course of getting to know each other and our businesses Sheena asked me if I did green events. Well, I really didn’t understand what green events were or who would hold them…and yet the question nagged at me.
Three months later I went to the first Toronto Green Living Show. As I walked onto the show floor it was if someone had hit me with a two by four. In front of me were so many options and now I was in a race to find what I needed before I went to hear Darryl Hannah speak. I was almost running up and down the aisles looking at light bulbs, cleaning products, filters for water and A/C units, paint products, etc. And then I saw a rather large booth with the name Enjo on its sign. I stood there listening while the sales person talked about cleaning without any cleaning products. Although I was intrigued I didn’t have time to hear the whole spiel. I took her card and brochure, and went off to hear Darryl. She gave an excellent talk, relaxed and passionate and inspiring. I went home that day knowing what I had to do but not really knowing what to do.
So the next day I sat on the bamboo floor of my venue with the brochures that I had collected at the show, and a notepad and pencil in hand. I wrote Hope’s Plan to Green The Richmond. Of course, with David Suzuki in the back of my brain, I started with light bulbs. Where could I get CFLs? Funny thing, although that was the first thing and the most obvious it has turned out to be the most daunting task. At this time I still can’t find CFLs that work properly with dimmer switches. I found that out after ordering three sets of CFLs and all of them burnt out within hours…not exactly energy efficient. What about the paint on the walls? What about recycling? Paper products? Bottled water? Air filters? Office paper? Cleaning products?
Oh yeah, I dug out that brochure about no cleaning products and called the number to set up an appointment. Later that week I met with Judy and challenged her to show me how water and cleaning cloths could clean a painted cement floor…the bane of my existence. Up until that time the only product that cleaned the floor was a product called Simple Green…sounds environmentally friendly but the large skull and crossbones should have been a tip off. She sprayed cold water on my floor, took the floor mop with a Teflon-like feel to it and ran it over the surface, almost in a gentle way. Then she switched mop heads and dried it off. It was clean and has been ever since. In fact I got rid of all of my toxic cleaners, you know them, for the windows, floor, toilets, mirrors, sinks, walls, and stainless steel counters; in fact they filled the top of an eight-foot table. My venue has been chemical-free for a year and a half…cleaner and healthier.
In the past year and a half I have implemented an extensive recycling program, which includes our caterers composting the organic waste. The goal is to have ZERO landfill after each event. At the present our events produce less than a small countertop-composting bin.
The list of green initiatives grows each month as I explore how to reduce our environmental footprint. And to think that this all started with that simple question, “did I do green events?”
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