Go Green Expo NYC is coming up next week. See below to get the $10 special rate. I went last year and it was ok. It is really a subsection of Architectural Digest Home Design Show, although I’m sure it will be bigger this year.
Go Green Expo NYC in my opinion is profit based. Green makes money now so it is a business driven enterprise. I’m sure many people see nothing wrong with that. But whenever the reason for doing it is primarily profit driven and not ecologically driven I see problems with it.
Profit will always take precedence over ecology with their business model. So although I am glad they are doing the event, I still see their paradigm as old school capitalism, the very same model that ruined the earth in the first place.
Go Green Expo isn’t alone. Most businesses are going green for profit reasons. If the profit fades so will their interest in saving the planet. Of course most people will say, “Uh, Gennaro, it’s a business and its sole reason for existing is to make a profit. Otherwise why have a business.”
My answer is, “Change the definition of ‘business'”.
I think the mentality that business is solely here to make money, although still dominant, will destroy us. In my eyes business is a tool for furthering our morality, so the drive for corporate growth exists to make a larger impact in restoring our earth.
And the end does not justify the means. The business activities themselves must improve the planet. Having a company that clear cuts forests and donates some profits to the environment doesn’t cut it (pun). In the new business paradigm the actions of the business are what restore the planet, not part of the business’ profit.
Right now there are very few corporations whose activities restore the environment. Many corporations donate money and they are very happy to advertise that but then they turn around and continue to destroy the planet.
Most of the time their activities are completely legal and socially acceptable. Take for example the durth of “high end” condos that up and coming professionals strive to buy. For me this means we have a real crisis. If corporations don’t become active participants in restoring the world through their actual day to day profit making activities we will destroy ourselves.
Obviously as a Brooklyn green contractor our daily activities improve the planet. Our goal of a zero brownstone (zero landfill, zero materials, zero energy use) really makes the world a better place. And the more we do it the richer we become.
As a green builder I set up the company this way so it is easy. How other corporations set this up is not so easy. I think many just have to cease existing. How could a diamond company become green for example? I’m not talking green washing. How do you turn a corporation whose job it is to tear up the earth using slave labor into a company whose activities heal the planet. I don’t think it is possible. Tell them that. I’m sure they will close up shop and give away their money in embarrassment.
No easy solutions here. I think the only way is to form more and more truly green corporations (i.e. their profit is derived from making the world greener, their purpose is to make the world greenert, not to make profit. The profit is just a tool. As we create more new economy businesses like this the non-green companies will slowly grow old and die. Hopefully they die before the planet does.
Anyway, see below for the invite I got to attend the Go Green Expo NYC next week:
You’re invited to NYC’s premier eco-friendly event, Go Green Expo, coming to Pier 92 next weekend March 19-21!
Sponsored by CBS Television and co-located with the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, this year’s Go Green Expo is not to be missed! Go Green Expo invites business leaders, eco-minded consumers and their families to explore the latest in every aspect of green living and sustainable business practices including energy, home and building, transportation, electronics, food, and health & beauty.
For more information and a full schedule of event, visit http://www.gogreenexpo.com and use promo code GGENYC for discounted tickets – only $10 for the weekend and it includes complimentary access to the Architectural Digest Home Design Show! (normally $25)
Joining the lineup of keynote speakers this year are actress Mariel Hemingway, award-winning actor / director Ed Begley Jr. (presented by Enviro-Energies & Water for Life) and award-winning actor / political activist Matthew Modine. Additional eco-celebrity speakers include nationally-renowned eco-friendly interior designer Robin Wilson, nutritional expert and world-class athlete Bobby Williams, Eco-Sex author Stefanie Iris Weiss, award-winning environmental journalist Dan Shapley, eco-author and -blogger Mindy Pennybacker, eco-fashion designer Linda Loudermilk, and more.
Go Green Expo offers a multitude of interactive seminars and speaker panels led by industry-leading experts including Watershed Program Director Craig Michaels, Senior V.P. Worldwide of Rainforest Alliance Ana Paula Tavares, eco-business leader David Kistner of Green Apple Cleaners and founder / CEO of Go Green Expo, Bradford Rand. NYSERDA will be hosting a panel discussion discussing Workforce Development Initiatives, Green Jobs Green New York, Green Multifamily Buildings and Photovoltaic (PV) Systems. Other topics will include Success Stories of Eco-Entrepreneurs, Creating an Eco-Logical Home, Younger Generations Going Green, The State of Our Environment, and Eco-Fashion and Lifestyle.
Key exhibitors include The Home Depot, which will showcase the array of Eco-Options available in its stores, automakers Volkswagen and General Motors, earth-friendly paper goods company Marcal, eco-responsible dental care company Aquafree, sustainable printers Print Responsibly and Linda Loudermilk’s eco-fashion line.
For more information and a full schedule of the show’s events, please visit
http://www.gogreenexpo.com
WHERE AND WHEN:
Pier 92
12th Avenue and West 55th Street – on the Hudson River
www.piers9294.com
Trade Day:
Friday, March 19 from 10am – 7pm
Tickets are complimentary to trade professionals, the press and corporate buyers (please bring business card for admission).
Open to Public:
Saturday, March 20 from 10 am – 6 pm
Sunday, March 21 from 10 am – 5 pm
$25 for a full-weekend pass–open to both business buyers and consumers–includes complimentary admission to the Architectural Digest Home Design Show located next to Go Green Expo. Use promo code GGENYC for discounted tickets.
Tickets allow access to the entire exhibit floor as well as all panel and speaker discussions. Go Green Expo tickets at the door or online at http://www.gogreenexpo.com
Looking forward to seeing you at the event!