FORTUNE.com Honors Green within the Red

In the FORTUNE.com article, 6 green leaders in red states, author Shelley DuBois honors individuals who stepped forward in their respective "red" communities as leaders for green action.  A common thread through the six profiles is environmental stewardship is fast becoming the earmark of successful businesses and communities, no matter the political affiliation.

Holly Elmore

Zero Waste Zones Director Holly Elmore is #6 with her Trash to Cash profile.  The  profile emphasizes Elemental Impact's commitment to developing environmentally sound programs that make good business sense, for participants and the community as a whole.

Always the optimist, Holly is quoted "Once you plant the seed, the zero waste mentality becomes addictive.  You get people on board with you and it gets in their blood." ZWZ Participants prove Holly's statement accurate with their enthusiasm to further fine-tune their recycling practices and embark on other sustainable initiatives.  For examples peruse the ZWZ Blog for many tales from the zero waste journey.

Daniel Rickenmann, W2E Organic Power COO, is profile #3 in Hunter's orange is new green.  In his  profile, Daniel explains how many Southern active environmentalists are also hunters, fishermen and sportsmen, who understand respecting nature is integral to enjoying its bounty.

Daniel Rickenmann

W2E Organic Power holds one of the first, if not the first, anaerobic digester for food residual intake permits in the nation.  With groundbreaking scheduled for this fall, the Columbia, SC facility gives the city another option for food waste disposal generated by foodservice operations, industrial food production, retail grocery and consumers .  

The current food waste destination is landfill, where methane gas (a potent Green House Gas 20-25% more potent than carbon) is produced.  It takes ingenuity and courage to make the bold move of introducing new technology to the current waste disposal systems.

Daniel @ POWER

According to Daniel, businesses respond favorably to this kind of waste-reduction effort, regardless of political affiliation.  "It doesn't matter what side of the spectrum it is, everybody's moving that way," says Daniel.

A close friend of Elemental Impact, Daniel was the keynote speaker at the spring POWER -Perishable Organics Waste to Energy Recycling - meeting.  Refer to the ZWZ Blog post, Spring POWER Meeting is Stellar, for the meeting details and the POWER 2011 Meeting Page to download Daniel's PPT presentation.

In the FORTUNE.com article, Shelley profiles four additional green leaders:

• Eco-oil country? - Laura Spanijan, Houston, TX
• Bringing Green gospel to the South - Rebecca Dunn Bryant of Fairhope, AL
• Rebuilding a greener Big Easy - Kenneth Schwartz, New Orleans, LA
• Growing biofuels in the heartland - Kenneth Frahm, Colby, KS

Thank you Shelley for taking the time to research, interview and write about the important green happenings and pioneers in the "red" states.  Hmmm.... were seeds for future articles planted?!.  Stay Tuned!