From the Editor

April 22nd — two weeks from yesterday — is Earth Day, 2013. Since 1970, we ("we" meaning the entire planet) have celebrated Earth Day as a day to advocate for environmentalism and to remind ourselves we only have this one planet.

But it’s certainly not all just about a feel-good, no-brainer sentiment. Many facility managers use the occasion as an opportunity to show their building occupants the energy-saving and other environmental initiatives they’ve worked on throughout the year. Through the years, we’ve heard about all kinds of creative strategies — from getting a car dealership to come onsite to offer test drives of hybrid vehicles to handing out CFLs in the lobby in exchange for occupants’ commuting information (to fulfill a LEED-EBOM credit requirement). Bring in vendors to set up a table in the lobby to answer questions, or have your own people on hand to talk about a new recycling initiative. The options are endless.

As facility managers well know, if nobody tells your occupants what they're up to, no one else will either. And Earth Day is a great opportunity for communication and increasing visibility. But get creative, and have fun with it! If you need some starters, a few years ago, BOMA published a great list of 100 ways facility managers can go green on Earth Day.

Do you have anything planned for Earth Day 2013? What’s on the agenda? 

Cheers,

Greg Zimmerman, editor  

Green Strategies

Green Team Leader

Allan Skodowski uses sustainability to drive best practices in a 192 million-square-foot portfolio.

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