THE PENDULUM

by Rebecca Smith, November 3, 2009

Being green and making green are no longer separate practices.

Through presentations by several environmentally conscious business leaders, Elon's eighth annual Fall Environmental Forum attempted to inform attendees about the future of green-friendly industry.

"Sustainability in Business: The Green Economy is Coming" reinforced Elon's commitment to being an environmentally conscious school and was sponsored by the Elon Center for Environmental Studies, the Sustainability Office, Martha and Spencer Love School of Business and the Cape Fear River Assembly.

"As an institution of higher education, Elon is preparing students to be global citizens and the next generation of informed leaders," said Elaine Durr, Elon's sustainability coordinator. "The university recognizes that global environmental change is one of the most pressing issues facing citizens today."

Industry leaders like Dennis Quaintance, CEO and chief design officer of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels, spoke at the event. Quaintance-Weaver's Proximity Hotel, an AAA Four-Diamond hotel in Greensboro, is the only hotel in the nation to achieve platinum certification. Platinum certification is the highest grade attainable under the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Terry Stone, who has spent 25 years working on the research and development of agricultural products, including biotechnology-derived plants, was also a featured speaker. He works with Syngenta's customers to develop initiatives that enhance the sustainable production of food, feed, fiber and biofuels.

"For some companies, this is a time of real opportunity," said Susan Manring, associate professor of management. "Government stimulus money is available for new green businesses in the energy sector, as well as for manufacturing companies that are able to retool."
For example, luxury automaker Fisker Automotive is buying a closed General Motors assembly plant in Delaware to produce plug-in hybrid cars. Vice President Joe Biden was in attendance the resurrection of the GM plant.

"Many countries have very strict standards, which companies must comply with if they wish to do business in Western Europe, for example," Manring said. "If the United States companies want to compete globally, they must adopt the same strict standards."

The Love School of Business has committed to becoming a Principles of Responsible Management Education school, which is an AASCB and United Nations Global Compact Initiative. As a PRME school hopeful, the business school is encouraging faculty to engage in multiple teaching and research activities that focus on corporate, social and environmental responsibility.

The new management major will include an elective called Sustainable Enterprise Management. The Love School of Business is working with the Center for Environmental Studies to create opportunities for students to collaborate on senior seminar projects focusing on sustainability.
Field trips to the Proximity Hotel and Kathleen Clay Edwards Library were part of the forum, each was one meant to foster principles of sustainability.

The library is located in the 98-acre Price Park, which includes a bird and butterfly meadow, reading garden, walking trails, ponds and wetlands. The other field trip was to Cotton of the Carolinas, where participants visited a state-of–the-art cotton farm. Students who participated got a sustainably produced T-shirt.

The Saturday field trips were added so students could see the application of sustainable practices that were discussed Friday.

"Students are increasingly aware of the need to think about sustainability in the way that they live and the things they purchase," said Janet MacFall, the director of the Center for Environmental Studies. "Many students are very interested in reducing their impact, and we see this by the number of bikes filling the bike racks, the widespread interest in recycling and the interest in the use of organic and more local foods in our dining halls."