West Coast Green September 30, 2008

If you’re into green building, the place to be last weekend was West Coast Green, held this year in San Jose, Calif.  Architects, designers, planners, contractors, builders, environmentalists, design professionals, students and homeowners met for a few days of educational workshops and cutting-edge exhibits.

 

Parsons Public Relations has had a long involvement with West Coast Green. Kathleen Warren, from our office, attended this year and was inspired and energized by speakers including scientist and environmentalist David Suzuki and former Vice President Al Gore. 

 

Interesting information that she picked up along the way included advancements in LED lighting and the best ways to avoid risks in green building (such as not to overpromise on energy and water savings and building performance.

 

While they’ve been around for a long time LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) are just now emerging as a practical, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional lighting and compact fluorescent lightbulbs. They are extremely long-lasting—with a possible life span of more than 25 years in a residential function, and are recyclable and mercury free. And they are highly energy-efficient; Parsons is working with a client, currently experimenting with LED lights, that is seeing 70% energy savings with this technology.  While the efficiency and longevity differs between various types of LEDs, it is important to pay attention to the light measurement standard given by the Department of Energy. Look for LM-79 as it’s been the version proven to meet expectations in both energy savings and life span.

 

Another exciting part of the conference was the Harbinger House—a show house made from reused shipping containers. Built by SG Blocks and designed by The Lawrence Group, the Harbinger House is a model of fast, sustainable and stylish building. Check out the SG Blocks website to see more innovative projects. Who knew you could do such cool things with old shipping containers?

 

And as a final thought from West Coast Green, we’ll leave you with a quote from Al Gore’s speech: “Use your moral imagination to see a future that embraces the green revolution.”

 

Purposeful Vacations September 25, 2008

“Va-ca-tion, all I ever wanted…” Yeah, I like the Go-Gos. I also like this concept of doing something really purposeful while you’re on vacation. We’ve certainly heard the portmanteau term ”ecotourism,” as well as the more recent ”staycations” people are taking close to home because of skyrocketing fuel prices. Some others I ran into recently include ”voluntourism” and “vacations with a purpose.” Like how we eat and what we buy, the choices we make for time away from work has become yet another way to define ourselves and the values we hold most dear.

“Vacations with a purpose,” refers to short-term mission trips. A long-time church-group tradition, the concept now also includes a broad range of service organizations offering volunteer opportunities to individuals and families. These saw a huge surge in popularity after Hurricane Katrina. According to the Travel Industry Association, 2.1 million Americans will take “vacations with a purpose” this year, contributing the equivalent of $6 billion in labor.

Voluntourism, a nearly identical concept which has its own website, offers the following definition, “In the broader sense, voluntourism represents voluntary service experiences that include travel to a destination in order to realize one’s service intentions. In a more refined and balanced approach, voluntourism is the integrated combination of voluntary service to a destination with the traditional elements of travel and tourism — arts, culture, geography, history and recreation — while in the destination.” 

As readers may know, Parsons Public Relations’ long-time employee, Pam Perry, is currently on what would be termed a “voluntourism” trip. She is on a one-year-long sabbatical to a variety of countries beginning with Nepal, where she is working with Answer-Nepal, a U.S. based organization that sponsors “needy, bright kids with parental support” and pays for their private school tuition. She is keeping a blog of her experiences – check it out!

Readers may also be aware of Parsons Public Relations’ ongoing work with  Leatherback sea turtles, where we have partnered with ecotourism company EcoTeach to plan educational expeditions to Costa Rica and to raise awareness of the plight of these amazing animals.

Purposeful vacations offer a particularly enticing potential – a return to work even more invigorated and refreshed from an experience that opens the heart, mind and soul to the power of compassion.