WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE?

Besides the air we breathe, water is probably the most taken for granted aspect of our lives on the Planet. I grew up on a property with two ponds. We also had a well. I can remember that my mother was the first person I saw drinking water from a bottle. She was doing that because we were traveling in the car. In those days, everybody drank water from the tap—unless you were European. In fact, the Evian source in France is one of the few unpolluted wells in the French Alps that doesn’t contain heavy metals, so Europeans have been drinking bottled water for a long time.

Today, bottled water is a multi-billion dollar global business. Quite often, bottled water is just produced from municipal sources using filter, osmosis, and reverse osmosis. Nothing fancy about it. Then, of course, there are many of the designer waters from exotic ports of call like Polynesian island aquifers and Nordic glaciers, and usually available for your convenience in the average hotel room for just $14.00 a bottle.

It’s against the law throughout much of the United States to recycle grey water, which comes from showers, sinks, and roofs at home and to turn it into potable, drinkable water. Maybe we should learn something from NASA, which has been converting grey and black water for years and to reclaim it for the drinking purposes of astronauts. Many islands in the Caribbean and countries in the Middle East use desalinization for drinking water, but usually using expensive, polluted petroleum power to make it. There are now promising solar powered techniques for doing the same thing. Recycling products for rainwater and bringing grey water back into the home are also promising as are changes in laws in such metropolitan areas as Los Angeles.

Fresh water is a limited resource that we continue to take for granted. A number of futurists predict that wars in the future will be fought over rights to fresh water. The melting of glaciers in the Himalayas has created such a flash point for the enormous populations of India and China. The shared river water of the Middle East is a similar area for growing concern.

Water conservation and effective use of water should start with each individual striving to treat it like gold. That’s why we chose to offer water conservation products as the premiere category at the Evergreen Marketplace for Earth Day 2010. The amount of rain in North America this past year has given many people a false sense of security. If we don’t begin now to conserve, we may be living in a future world where like the Ancient Mariner in Coleridge's famous poem, we will be saying, “Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.”

THE TRADE SHOW OF THE FUTURE

Ever since I attended the Greenbuild Conference last November, I’ve been wondering: what is the 21st century trade show? While there were thousands of people in attendance and thousands of companies represented there, on the sold-out floor spece, two things struck me. The first was the lack of young people in attendance. The other thing is that there was little use of media or technology in evidence at the booths.

There were lots of education programs and workshops, but the subjects seemed to be largely devoted to construction and architectural interests. That may be what LEED and Greenbuild are all about, but there is certainly room to expand the audience to young people through programs that educate the next generation. Discount student admissions were offered, but the core group of attendees was workers in the various industries associated with the USGBC. To be sure, it’s a social event where companies get to meet their clients and vice versa. Also, the average person doesn’t understand the intricacies of LEED certification. There was very little evidence of video demos or more generalized content that would attract college and high school students to the show. There actually seems to be several shows—the educational seminars, the trade show floor, and LEED education.

I know that the purpose of conferences and trade shows is focused on commerce. But the future of sales is based on growing new segments instead of always preaching to the converted. Sales always has had a component of education to it. And if we’re not educating young people about sustainability, then we are assuming that the market will grow by itself.

The show is naturally a magnet for people who are getting into construction and architectural fields. People also like to touch and see things operate and you can’t do that through a computer screen. Even though it would be possible to present some of the same product information online, I don’t see how you get around the inherent human desire to touch and feel products. At least, there’s got to be another way to present using media that does no produce so much paper to say nothing of the carbon footprint of people coming from different points on the compass to Phoenix for the show. I applaud Greenbuild in achieving a zero carbon footprint by buying credits. It’s a great start and a model that should be emulated as well by non-sustainability themed conferences and shows.

The trade show of the future should be more interactive. New bar code, product, and image scanning applications on mobile phones, for example, would allow visitors to find out more about product information, specifications as well as prices. A virtual trade show using immersive environments would not satisfy the look and feel part, but it would allow people who couldn’t afford the trip to take advantage of the show. Less company personnel would be necessary at the actual show. Discounts could be also offered to attendees traveling together. Perhaps the idea of having only one national show could be offset by offering regional shows. As more LEED buildings become certified, you will be able to see products, services, and technologies in context and in use, hopefully somewhere near you soon. Mentor programs and job fairs would also be an additional draw for younger attendees.