Reinventing Green
Monday, October 22, 2007
By: Wendimere Reilly
Devastated by record-breaking tornados, living in FEMA trailers and just trying to figure out how to make it through the day....that should be enough, shouldn’t it??? But alas, a few courageous voices are leading this small farming community, situated in the middle of no-where-ville along a brave path of rebuilding with “green” intent.
It’s a story made for Hollywood, in fact, that’s probably the only reason why the town of Greensburg, Kansas ever came across my daily google search of what’s hot in the world of “Eco.” Scrolling through the headlines I came across a brief story about the Discovery Channel and a new Leonardo DiCaprio project, Eco-Town, that involved filming the story of rebuilding a small town, with an emphasis on going Green. Well, Green, is hot right now, some even call it the new Red, White & Blue. Everyone wants a piece of the action. Well, I wanted the story behind the lights and glitter, and that meant digging a little deeper.
Hours of advanced googling didn’t reveal much. It was the same press release, picked up by everyone- the story wasn’t about the town, it was about Leo of course. Another celebrity doing something wonderful, even I occasionally get caught up in the glamour of it all. And with enough Hollywood money behind them, maybe they could really pull it off. I wonder...
Well, I finally found the people behind the initiative and got the scoop. Turns out the Hollywood money has yet to start rolling in but there is a true grassroots movement and solid plan behind the whole project. It’s called Greensburg Greentown, and the approach is very unique. State and local officials wanted to rebuild green and they enlisted the help of sustainability guru Hunter Levin who put it out to MBA students at the Presidio School of Management.
In the middle of scholarly debate, a dissenting voice proclaimed, “this is all well and good from a group of California grad students, but is anyone in Kansas actually going to listen to us?”- It was a valid point- Enter, Sheila Samuelson, from Iowa, “They’ll listen to me” she said confidently and proceeded to create an internship position for herself that very summer. It was the perfect mix- an Iowa girl, with a passion for the environment and a balance of street smarts and book sense.
Sheila was perceptive enough to know that legislating “green” would never work in this situation. Taking another direction, she championed creating a bottoms up approach. As the Director of Information and Resources for the project her message was simple- show people that high performance building will save money on operating costs, keep money in the community and stimulate a thriving economy. Her goal was to create excitement and then help people find the resources that they needed to make a “green choice.” Ultimately, she told me, “it comes down to choice.”
Sheila is back at school, and Greensburg has just elected it’s first Board of Directors. It will be interesting to watch their project. The Hollywood gang rolls in early in 2008 and I will be curious to see if the new “Eco Lifestyle Network” embraces any “Eco Production” techniques. Stay tuned as we follow their progress. It’s 23 hrs, 6 mins from The Health Chic House to Greensburg, Kansas- it might be a good stop for the The Health Chic 2008 Tour.
