It's Easy Being Green: Wi3 Panel to Discuss How

Posted Thursday, Dec 13, 2007

Without a doubt, being green is in. And though booksellers have understood the importance of being environmentally conscious since the early 1960s, when Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published, the book industry as a whole has only recently begun looking for ways to become more enviro-friendly. At the "Green Retailing" session at ABA's Third Annual Winter Institute, a panel of experts from bookselling and beyond will discuss how independents can be smarter, cleaner, more efficient retailers, and how they can actually save money by going green.

The panel, moderated by ABA COO Oren Teicher, will feature Rep. Jay Inslee (D-WA), author of Apollo's Fire: Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy (Island Press); Sue Lynn, co-owner of Confluence Bookstore, Bistro, and Business Center in Bellevue, Nebraska; and Scott Sklar of the Stella Group in Washington, D.C.

Rep. Jay Inslee
(D-WA)

Since 1992, Congressman Inslee has worked at the federal level to protect the environment of Washington State and to address the problem of global warming. He fought to restore protections for roadless areas in national forests and led a successful campaign in the House to keep limits on oil tanker traffic in Puget Sound. A member of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee since 2005, he has used his seat to promote his vision for a clean energy future, the New Apollo Energy Act, and to advance other legislation that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In March 2007, he was appointed to the 15-member Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

Inslee recently told BTW that he plans to share with booksellers his vision, as explained in Apollo's Fire, that "we can do for energy what we did in space." In addition, he'll talk about "the possibility for the economic expansion of the clean energy revolution in the country. And that includes retailing."

Inslee noted that the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a comprehensive energy bill that increases fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks; repeals oil company tax breaks and earmarks that money for energy research; and requires utilities to produce 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020, among other things. "It's going over to the Senate," he said. "They won't pass all of it. But this legislation would save as much CO2 as that [produced by] the entire fleet of cars and trucks on the road today." Inslee said he would discuss the legislation and how it "will help increase efficiencies in business, in lighting, in heating, in the transportation of their inventory, and the like."

In developing and implementing business plans for Confluence Bookstore, Bistro, and Business Center, which opened last month, Sue Lynn has been very green: The store lighting is all compact florescent; wood for flooring came from an 1895 school house and a 1910 building; bags are recycled paper or plastic; wall hangings are all recycled material; bistro cups are all recycled paper; almost all trash, including wine corks, are recycled; and customers receive a discount if they bring in their own coffee mug or bag.

"I'm absolutely excited about the opportunities that businesses have to change things in terms of recycling," Lynn said. "We're one of the few businesses here that signed up for recycling, and we've made our bins available to other businesses."

Lynn's efforts aren't a reaction to the environmental movement sweeping the country; she has been at the forefront of the movement. "I've been recycling for years and years," she said. "It's just now, a lot of people are looking at our resources and realizing that they won't be around forever. We need to think about what we hand to our kids."

Scott Sklar

Sklar, co-author of Consumer Guide to Solar Energy, is the president of The Stella Group, Ltd., an environmental consulting firm with practical experience in blending available energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies for commercial applications. He also writes a Q&A column for www.renewableenergyaccess.com, the largest renewable energy web portal, and he served as executive director of the Solar Energy Industries Association, the national trade association for solar energy, for 15 years.

At the Winter Institute panel, Sklar hopes to broaden booksellers' understanding of how renewable energy technology can add up to cost savings and a cleaner environment.

Over the past two years, electricity, heating, and cooling costs have risen in the U.S. anywhere from 37 to 71 percent, with no abatement in sight, Sklar said via e-mail. At the Wi3 panel, he will provide information as to how "energy costs can be cut by 30 percent through buying several low-cost items regarding lighting, thermostats, water conservation, and ceiling and attic fans," he said. He will also discuss how energy costs can be lowered through "cost-effective smart battery banks, solar water heaters, and even small wind and solar photovoltaic electric systems and ductless or ground-coupled heat pumps."