Dan Smolen, Author and Founder of The Green Suits, Appearing on Sustainability News and Entertainment Radio

Cross-posted from The Green Suits:

Radio Host Diana Dehm hosts Sustainability News and Entertainment Radio. Her show airs Saturdays at 10AM Eastern Time on WSMN Radio 1590 in Nashua, New Hampshire. Afterwards, show segments are available as podcasts.

At 10AM Eastern Time this Saturday April 14, I will be host Diana Dehm’s guest on her show, Sustainability News and Entertainment. The show airs on WSMN Radio in Nashua, New Hampshire and may be heard via the station’s website. In case you miss the Saturday airing, you may listen to the rebroadcast Sunday, April 15 at 10AM Eastern Time, or, listen to the podcast.

Diana and I discuss the current state of green business career development and how talented and purpose-driven executives may use their knowledge, skill, and experience to successfully pivot into “green” careers. We talk about “skill-based volunteerism”–a truly great and noble way to add greenness to a professional résumé–and much more.

To quote another radio host with a similar name, NPR’s Diane Rehm: “Do join us!”

The U.S. Military’s ‘Green’ Frame

Cross-posted from The Green Suits:

Greetings on 11.11.11–Veteran’s Day in the U.S.

U.S. armed forces recognize that "green" saves lives. Will U.S. businesses recognize their own "green" frame? We hope so.

On this day, we honor those who served our country as members of the armed forces.

Public schools are closed. So too are banks and state and federal government offices. Today, wreaths were laid at Arlington National Cemetery and other places to fully recognize the sacrifice so many men and women have given to country.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been very deadly affairs for U.S. troops; in Iraq alone, over 3,000 service men and women running supply convoys to our forward bases have lost their lives to roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

And as a result, the military recognizes that converting these bases to renewable energy (solar, wind, etc.) as quickly as possible will save lives. That’s the U.S. military’s ‘green’ frame.

This is an amazing transformation for an institution that only a few years ago framed greenness as the mindless drivel of so many hedonistic hippies. And yet, now–on 11.11.11–the U.S. Department of Defense demands increased resource sustainability and renewable energy, because they help defend our national security and save lives.

Will American business follow the military in establishing a useful green frame? Many Fortune 500 companies have active and growing sustainability practices, and yet most companies in the U.S.–small enterprises of 50 or few employees–have yet to follow suit. The ones that recognize that “green is good for business” will succeed, whereas, the ones don’t will be left in the dust.

Today, please take a moment to reflect on the sacrifices made by our military. Then, let us encourage our friends in business to recognize that green supports our national defense…and is good for business.

The Green Suits at Ithaca College: We’re in Very Good Hands

Cross-posted from The Green Suits:

Ithaca College is gaining a national reputation for leadership in sustainability and social responsibility. And the students I met were bright, funny, and totally upbeat. Not a single cynic among them. Photo h/t Ithaca College.

I just returned from a terrific trip to my alma mater, Ithaca College, where I presented Tailoring the Green Suit: Establishing a Bright Green Career in a Dull Gray Economy–ten strategies designed to help future Green Suits start and build successful careers in sustainability, corporate responsibility, and other “green” fields of work.

Ithaca College is gaining a national reputation for leadership in sustainability and social responsibility.

The students I met at the strategy presentation and in classroom settings were bright, funny, and totally upbeat. Not a single cynic among them. And I felt that our world–turned over to them–would be in very good hands, indeed.

Thirty years ago, that same campus reeked of cynicism. Many of us were hyper-competitive and often distrustful of our peers–fearful that we might tip-off others to job opportunities we wanted for ourselves.

Thankfully, today’s students are collaborating, sharing ideas, offering encouragement and good cheer to each other. They are well aware of sustainability and social responsibility, and they are eager to pursue job opportunities after graduation which embrace their practice.

And the Ithaca College campus, the institution, and the student body are all better for it.

Check out Ithaca College’s leadership in sustainability and social responsibility story, here.

Let That Green Lawn Turn Brown!

Cross-posted from The Green Suits:

In my book, Tailoring the Green Suit: Empowering Yourself for an Executive Career in the New Green Economy, I offer The Green Suit–the intrepid green business executive–suggestions for extending his or her “sphere of influence” well beyond the company gate.

And one meaningful, if not entirely provocative, way of showing your commitment to green is to let your lawn turn brown.

Here in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. we have two seasons: winter and August. And “climatological August” begins around the Memorial Day weekend, when suddenly, daytime temperatures often exceed 90 degrees.

The Washington D.C. suburbs are affluent, home to constellations of well-tended subdivisions. Mornings begin with the sound of irrigation heads spraying millions of gallons of water onto (our) rich green lawns. And those lawns are pretty; for sure, they remain an indelible symbol of The American Dream.

But, those green lawns sprout at the expense of reduced groundwater and watershed capacity. A sudden string of 90-plus degree days–and automatically-set irrigation systems–can severely deplete our water supplies.

That is why I urge The Green Suits to turn off the irrigation system, shut it down for the entire summer, and let their green lawns turn brown. Actually, brown lawns are not dead; during hot summer months lawns go into a resting phase when they extend their roots deeper into the soil to extract moisture. Irrigation might yield a pretty green lawn, but in summer months heavy watering actually weakens lawns, making them more susceptible to root stress, and insect damage from grubs and other nasties.

As The Green Suit with the brown lawn you may get some not-so-approving looks from your neighbors. But, you will be doing the planet a big favor by cutting down on your water usage. Furthermore, you will enjoy big reductions in your monthly water bills.

So this summer, go green by committing to a brown lawn. Get your household to buy in to a solid triple bottom line strategy: turn that green lawn brown to help the planet conserve water, aid people (by making water available to more residents of your community), and impact the pocket book with considerable utility cost-savings.

photo h/ts California Water Alert and Rutgers University.