For
a green-themed event, the May 29 Green Drinks at the University of
Hartford was a black tie affair. The white tent on the West Hartford
university campus was laid out more like a college graduation party
than an environmental event, with several bottles of wine on ice and a
plate of cut cheese and crackers. Attendees wore business casual
attire, exchanged business cards and networked.
Describing the
dress and décor might sound dismissive or petty. But, arguably, it was
a sign of the evolution of environmentalism from fringe concern to
mainstream business goal
"If they had this event a couple of years ago, everyone would have come in Birkenstocks and Volvos," Nathan A. Nunez said.
Nunez,
the marketing director of Northeast Lamp Recycling, an East Windsor
company he said was "green before there was green." They recycle lamps
and light bulbs, offering ways to deal with potentially toxic materials
like the mercury in energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs.
He
said it was important for his company to attend events like this to
exchange information. Despite the interest in green products and
practices displayed both by consumers and by businesses, there are
still a lot of faulty assumptions out there.
"I remember
watching television when [television network] NBC 'went green' for a
week," Nunez said. "They planted a tree — because it was supposed to be
green, you know — and they poured bottled water on it."
The
Connecticut Business and Industry Association was one of the
co-sponsors of the Green Drinks event. The CBIA's involvement indicated
that the underlying spirit of the event was a sense of marketing and
business savvy, not moral high-mindedness.
"We're not doing
this out of any sense of obligation," CBIA spokesperson Nancy Andrews
said. "This is completely market-driven. We have customer surveys that
show that the market is demanding this."
United Technologies
Corporation also sponsored the event. Had the event been more
activist-based, UTC's environmental history might have kept them off
the roster: They paid $5.3 million to the Federal government for
environmental penalties in a 1993 settlement. The company rehabilitated
its reputation since then. They are founding members of the Pew Center
for Climate Study's Business Environmental Leadership Council and have
been at the forefront of research on fuel cell and other energy
efficient technologies.
The Green Drinks event was organized by
Heather Burns-DeMelo, the president of GreenScenes, a Connecticut-based
environmentally-themed event planning and marketing business.
This
was the second Green Drinks event coordinated by Burns-DeMelo, and like
the earlier event at Hartford's Real Art Ways, attracted dozens of
people. Previously, Green Drinks was organized by Connecticut Forest
& Park Association Executive Director Eric Hammerling. Burns-DeMelo
said Hammerling's background with non-profits brought in people from
the nonprofit world, and that her business and marketing background
attracted another group of people.
"We bring people from all different sectors into a common space," Burns-DeMelo said. ¦
Send comments to
abulger@hartfordadvocate.com
