GIC places emphasis on sustainability
1 Sep, 2009 By: Daniel G. Jacobs Landscape ManagementThe president and president-elect of PLANET offer insight on how next month's Green Industry Conference will help professionals truly 'go green.'
English is a living language, and words have a tendency to shift meaning over time. Different groups claim them — some might argue hijack them — to serve their purposes.
 Bill Hildebolt |
"Green" and "sustainability" are two terms whose meanings essentially have been lost to the Green Industry because other groups have finagled their way into the "green" discussion.
Landscape Management spoke with Bill Hildebolt, president of the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET), and David Snodgrass, the president-elect, about those words and about the upcoming Green Industry Conference (GIC), which runs along side the GIE+EXPO in Louisville, KY, next month.
"It's all about emphasizing professional in the Professional Landcare Network," says Hildebolt, owner of Nature's Select Premium Turf Services, Winston Salem, NC.
The problem, he adds, is that outside the landscaping world, the concept of what constitutes a "green industry" has been co-opted by other interests.
 David Snodgrass |
"We want to advance and take the lead in sustainable practices, and show the world we are the original Green Industry," says Snodgrass, president of Dennis' Seven Dees, Portland, OR.
That will require retaking control of the "green" message and teaching contractors to embrace sustainable business practices and lifestyles. Neither task will be easy.
"If you ask a group of 100 people what 'sustainability' means, you'll get 100 different perceptions — 90 of them negative," Hildebolt says. "The term has been co-opted by activists and used against us so many times.
"But we are the professionals, the true stewards of the environment," Hildebolt adds. "What we're working toward is: How do we integrate sustainability into PLANET so we can be known as the true leaders in this increasingly key area?"
Learning from one another
Much of that begins with the educational programs at this year's GIC.
"Some are well ahead of others in adopting sustainable practices," Snodgrass says. "We're going to share their best practices at GIC — elevating the industry as a whole and changing and greening how we think and operate.
"This whole sustainability movement started out all about the ecology of the planet," he continues. "Now it's much broader — encompassing the necessary people and profit parts."
At GIC, top professionals in the industry will share ideas and strategies regarding sustainability and lean management, Hildebolt says. And those messages will continue through other PLANET-sponsored events in 2009 and beyond.
"We are developing a continual sustainability learning experience that will follow us from venue to venue," he says. "Last November, we had an outstanding Crystal Ball meeting on sustainability. We had a really healthy, frank discussion on what sustainability means to regulators, the public, the service sector and opinion formers."
Naturally, that discussion led to new educational opportunities at GIC.
 PLANET's Breakfast With Champions roundtables again will be held each morning. |
"We're looking at how you can sustain your personnel, as well as your personal health and well-being and that of your family," Hildebolt says. "We're also looking at educating members on the many paths to increased profitability through sustainability."
Embracing sustainable business practices and lifestyles also will help the Green Industry manage the message and public perceptions.
"If you're not taking care of yourself and you don't have a profitable business model, you won't be sustaining much of anything," Hildebolt says. "At PLANET, we're taking a holistic approach."
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