Sustainability. How much is enough?

Have I taken my employment at APTech Group and Sustainability too far?   I know Mother’s Day was last Sunday but all week I thought about this question.  I guess a blog is a great place to have a reality check.  

My daughters and I celebrated a Green Mother’s Day, Sustainable Mothers Day, Eco Friendly Mother’s Day whatever you would like to call it.  We wrapped up 20 LED light bulbs in recycled newspaper and gave them to my wife first thing in the morning on Sunday.  Of course I am kidding.  But kids -- if you are reading this that would be a great Father’s Day gift.

Here is what we actually did for Mother’s Day:

• We gave Mom a live plant from a local nursery that she could plant.
• The girls made a memo pad from leftover birthday wrapping paper that had a thought on each piece of paper that made them smile about their Mom.
• We took some pictures but did not print them out. We just sent them to her work computer as screen savers.
• The girls made several homemade gift cards: 20 minute massage; Help plant new flowers; Free car wash -- and my least favorite gift that was slipped in without my approval:  Will make Dad clean the bathroom for a month.
• My daughter who researched the “Green” event said we could not travel anywhere or turn on an electronic device for the day.
• The traditional Mother’s Day gift -- breakfast in bed.  No paper products were used except for a homemade card. 

Although, the lack of computer and other electronics was very hard on my wife and I, we both agreed it was a very rewarding Mother’s Day 2012.  In fact, both kids have become “Greener” through this process. They turn off lights and are aware that Dad saying he does not want to air condition the neighborhood really means something now.

Again, I will ask: Do I take sustainability too far?   A worse condition would be to suffer from a “Green Fatigue" – which would result in tuning out the Green messages due to their ubiquity. The truth is that every single thing we do every day has an impact on the planet -- good or bad. The good news is that as an individual you have the power to control most of your choices and, therefore, the impact you create: from where you live to what you buy, eat, and use to light your home to where and how you celebrate Mother’s Day, to how you shop and how you run your business, you can have global impact.

The good news is: I do not suffer from Green Fatigue. In fact, I want to spread the word to the water treatment world that APTech Group has the technology and products to help companies and organizations reach Sustainability goals that will only get tougher. If you are using Solids water treatment products now, go to the carbon footprint reduction calculator on our EnduroSolv website and enter the required information then go tell someone! Post it on your company website, tell your sustainability office or Environmental person. 

For example, a 1000 ton system can generate this kind of Carbon Dioxide savings:

Transport fuel savings:  826 lbs of CO2 per year

Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) savings: 1,776 lbs of CO2 per year

Plastic used reduced: 1,084 lbs of CO2 per year

Total Savings: 3,686 lbs of CO2 per year

These savings are comparable to leaving your car in the garage for 173 days and walking or taking public transportation. 

Too much sustainability? Too much is never enough!

Posted on behalf of Marc Beller