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EarthSmart, EarthAware
The Edge Life interview with Kim Carlson
by Tim Miejan
"EarthSmart shopping choices combine elements of beauty, value and health for
our families and the planet," writes Minnesota entrepreneur Kim Carlson on her
website. Contributor of The EarthSmart Life column in Edge Life magazine and The
EarthSmart Consumer segment on the Today Show at KARE11, the Minneapolis television
affiliate of NBC, Carlson seeks to not only educate the public about how daily choices
can protect the environment, but she shows us how such a practice is cool.
 She tells us about recycling, about mold in the home, about pest control,
about interior paints that do not produce toxic fumes and much more. She lectures
on sustainability -- consuming resources in a way that limits the effect on the environment
while at the same time supporting personal or business objectives -- in schools and
to community and business groups. And meanwhile, she has implemented progressive
environmental practices in the housing industry as CEO of Cities Management Inc.,
the largest residential property manager in the state, and SenEarthCo.com, a streamlined
system that solves problems for property managers.
In 1994, Carlson launched The Green Earth Initiative, an innovative environmental
program for property management, leading the industry toward greater ecological awareness,
health and conservation. Cities Management has received the Environmental Initiative
Award, which honors the state's most innovative, environmentally progressive and
ecologically minded businesses and individuals, and the Business for Social Responsibility
Earth Day Award. In 1996, Carlson and business partner Tim Broms developed the first
"green" building in Minnesota, instituting a model of sustainable building
design for the Cities Management corporate headquarters using environmentally friendly
building supplies, deconstruction, natural fibers, air purification systems and recycled
materials.
She served on the Minnesota Round Table on Sustainable Development and has chaired
the Minnesota Environmental Initiative, which brings government, business and non-profit
groups together to create innovative solutions.
She spoke with Edge Life about her motivation to protect the planet.
When did you become EarthSmart yourself?
Kim Carlson: I had several kind of green revelations, kind of "a-ha"
moments along the way. One was back in fifth grade, believe it or not. I had to do
a book report on Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, the book that started the environmental
movement.
As a 10-year-old kid, I became just angry that adults were doing something that was
affecting wildlife and us and I kept nagging my parents, who used every chemical
known to man, about it. And they said, "Well, do something about it." And
so I said I'd write a letter to the president, who was Nixon at the time. I did,
and within a couple months I got a letter in the mail from the White House noting
that they had banned DDT. So I've always taken the credit for that! [laughing.] It
was an early victory, but I got a taste for what a person could do.
I worked in the Boundary Waters in high school and I think that was another kind
of "a-ha." I was an assistant guide at a place called Wilderness Canoe
Base at the end of the Gunflint Trail. I really developed a connection to nature
and really felt up there that you're a part of nature. In the city, you don't have
that connection. You don't notice the weather and you don't feel threatened by nature.
But up there, you notice everything.
I really noticed how much a part of nature we are as human beings, a part of the
system -- and such a small part of the system, rather than this dominant force that's
trying to control nature. That was the dominant philosophy in the '70s, and I think
it still is, in America anyway.
I didn't interject my desire to protect the environment into my business until the
1990s, after I had been in business for about 10 years. My favorite grandmother died.
She had been a protector and influence in my life in a really good way. She had had
a stroke and couldn't speak. She was speaking volumes of gibberish, and before she
died she said something to me in English, which just pierced my heart with, "Oh,
my God, I've got to do something."
She said to me, "Kim, your life is five minutes." What I took from that
was that I've been making money and I've been doing things, but they were all been
pretty self-centered things. And if I want to do something, really do something,
and give my life some meaning and purpose, I better get going, because I was in my
early thirties. That's when I decided to interject as much, or infuse as much, green
into my business as I possibly could.
As a successful business person in the industry of residential property management,
how have you instituted EarthSmart practices?
Carlson: We've tried a lot of things since 1992. We used to do rental management,
where we would manage whole buildings and rent them. It was a little bit easier to
make Earth-friendly changes, because we had more control over the buildings. Now
we manage exclusively townhome and condominium complexes where homeowners have control
over everything inside the buildings, and the homeowner boards control what's outside.
So, instead of being able to use non-toxic paints and maintenance practices on the
inside of the homes, because we don't control that area now, what we've done is started
a newsletter for homeowners that shares articles, in an EarthSmart way and a positive
approach, that help educate them what they can do inside their properties.
As far as the outside the homes, we have partnered with Great River Greening [www.greatrivergreening.org],
a non-profit organization that does natural landscaping. They have partnered with
us on certain properties as demonstration projects, and we encourage the homeowners
to get their hands dirty and do the actual planning. We've been doing native plantings
around holding ponds.
Many suburban properties have holding ponds with grass that grows right up to the
edge of the water. We're instituting programs to plant native plants around to help
filter out the fertilizers and herbicides and the bad things that are in the run-off
flowing into the ponds. We're also doing this in other areas of the property to help
cut down on the mowable amount of turf. That helps with air pollution. We recently
had three days of air pollution alerts, and that's happening more and more frequently.
Lawn mowers produce a pretty good percentage of the air pollution that we have, because
those motors are so filthy.
How awake are the builders of homes to environmental concerns today?
Carlson: I would say unaware. We get a property from a builder and in most cases,
it is not at all developed with green building principles. We're just starting to
see the beginning of that. There are a couple of local builders that are using green
building designs. We got a big client in Milwaukee, Wisc., because we're the only
management company in the country they could find that knew about green buildings
and how to manage them. So, we're just starting to see the beginning of that. This
builder in Wisconsin goes around the country to the building shows and talks about
their method of green building. We've got a local builder here, Harold Teasdale,
who is aware of the issues we're talking about.
Home builders are just starting to think about this, and I think we're going to see
more and more of that. There's not enough right now. The American Institute of Architects
is getting quite progressive on that. They have a green building committee and there
are several architecture firms that specialize in that kind of thing in the Twin
Cities, and they're very good. Some of them are nationally known for it, such as
LHB Architects and the Cunningham Group.
Others in the Twin Cities are utilizing such elements as a green roof on our buildings,
including the downtown public library in Minneapolis. Instead of just putting tar
and gravel on top of the roof, they put a layer consisting of a medium of turf, of
plants. It's not a green roof like you'd see in New York City, which is a big garden,
but one that is a green roof. This is specifically is used so you don't have so much
water run off.
The green roof consists of various prairie plants that grow on bluffs in this area.
It's not trees or big tropical plants or anything, but ground cover that sops up
all the water that ends up on the roof. It keeps the building cooler in the summer
and warmer in the winter, because you have that extra layer of insulation. It's the
coolest darn thing.
And wouldn't it be cool, in the future, to look down on this from an airplane? You
wouldn't be able to tell what's city and what isn't, because you would see all this
green. They've been doing this in Europe for a very long time and the technology
is finally catching on here.
So we're going back to the thatched roofs. It's all coming back again.
Carlson: [Laughing] It's coming back, but with new technology, lighter.
You are the outgoing chair of the Minnesota Environmental Initiative. What is
it and what effect is it having on environmental protection in the state?
Carlson: I love that organization. It's basically business, government and non-profits
that all come to the table to collaborate on an environmental issue. One great example
of that is Clean Air Minnesota, a voluntary program that businesses get involved
in. They promise to do certain things, like have less-mowable turf, or convert a
fleet of vehicles to a more energy efficient, less polluting kind of vehicle. That's
just a couple examples of the different directions they're going in with this. The
idea is to reduce our pollution in this area -- and doing that is becoming more and
more important. Most people think the biggest contributor to air pollution in Minnesota,
or in any place, are factories with smokestacks. Actually, it is vehicles. And, how
the heck can we ever deal with that as the city gets bigger and there are more cars.
People are driving further and emitting more pollution.
This is a voluntary effort and companies like Flint Hills, which makes Blue Planet
gasoline, are involved, and government entities are involved. But instead of everybody
waiting for the pollution levels to get so high, forcing the government to come in
and say, "OK, now you must do these things and it's going to cost a hundred
million dollars," the idea is to not let it get to that point. We're encouraging
businesses and individuals to buy into this and keep the levels down by making changes
voluntarily. And nobody else is doing it in the country. It's amazing. Again, a Minnesota
thing.
It's something that was started two years ago and the level of awareness is raising.
It's a very new program with very lofty goals, but undoubtedly it already has had
some measurable effects. It certainly will not cure the problem, but it will go a
long way in getting businesses and individuals to understand what they can do.
What's the state's greatest environmental challenge at this point?
Carlson: Minnesota is known for its water. I'm also on the Fresh Water Society's
board of directors. I think the greatest challenge is the promise of keeping Minnesota's
lakes, and rivers, all of its waterways, clean. The Pollution Control Agency did
a study a year or two ago and found that the number one concern of most Minnesotans
is clean water. Think about it. We not only drink it, but we also play in it and
fish in it. It's a recreational vehicle for us. Because all of the lakes, rivers
and streams, we have more coastline -- not ocean obviously -- but water coastline
in the state of Minnesota than any other state in our country. So, water is the biggest
challenge and it's something that we can do something about.
What is your estimation of the level of environmental awareness among the public
today?
Carlson: Minnesota is much better than most states. We are second highest in
the country as far as recycling. There is a much more widespread awareness here,
whether it be rural or urban. Farmers are pretty good with conservation. In the city
there is some awareness as far as being environmentally friendly, whether that's
recycling or having some awareness of what we drive. There's not enough of that.
And some people will say that Minnesota is ground zero for the environmental movement.
Really? Why is that?
Carlson: Just the nature of the business that is coming out of here. Horst [Rechelbacher]
is a good example of that with Aveda, and the Utne Reader is based here. Many of
the larger companies are even trying to do things in a socially responsible or environmentally
friendly way. Some of it might have some kind of a new-agey aspect to it, something
to do with the amount of energy or the frequency of energy in this part of the country
or on this part of the planet. I don't know much about that. I think it also has
to do with the Scandinavian influence here. The northern Europeans are very good
about dealing with their resources. They take care of their people, and they take
care of the planet. There are a lot of Scandinavians who relocated here in the early
1900s, so I think those ethics have come here with them.
Having lived in California and Oregon and now here, Minnesota has some of the
mentality, environmentally and socially, of the West Coast.
Carlson: The West Coast is interesting. They have lots of laws that are geared
toward environmental issues, but I don't think it's as pervasive in the general public's
mind. There are very conservative factions in California, and then you have the cities.
In Minnesota, I think it's a little bit more pervasive throughout the state, rural
and urban, as far as taking care to not ruin your nest, I guess you could say.
Do you think there's still a difference in terms of people being aware environmentally
and actually taking action environmentally? We have a long way to go in that area?
Carlson: I think we have a long way to go. What's happened since the beginning
of the environmental movement until now is that the environmental movement has said
"Don't, don't, don't, don't...don't cut these trees down."
Save the owls.
Carlson: Save the owls. It's been an activist effort rather than a proactive
approach that it will make your life more enriched and it will be more beautiful.
I think the way we are learning in this decade is by seeing how other people are
doing things in a positive way. I mean, there are so many negative things in the
world right now. If it's too negative, we just shut it out. We just can't take one
more "Don't."
What I'm trying to do with EarthSmart is show people in a positive way what they
can do. It's not, "Don't stop shopping, don't stop buying stuff," because
we have to. That's part of our way of life. It's not the "go live in the woods"
theory, but do it in a smart way. Do it in a wise way so that you're not degrading
the planet in the process -- or as little as possible.
As a promoter of EarthSmart consumerism, where do think we stand in terms of companies
producing sustainable products and the public wanting to buy them?
Carlson: Right now according to LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability),
one in three adult Americans are into "green." By "green," that
means using alternative medicine, organic groceries, green practices in your home,
consuming energy efficiently. All those things, or any of those things. So there
is one in three people now in the marketplace, and they say it's growing. I believe
that. Another study indicates that 50 percent of Americans would do something for
the environment if they only knew how, if they had more information.
Industry and retailers and makers of products are starting to see this, so you're
starting to see a much broader array of products. They're not just appealing to a
very fringe '60s, '70s kind of old hippie kind of part of the population, but really
appealing to mainstream America at this point.
So the market is driving the change toward green products?
Carlson: I really think so. Just like organic foods have just grown astronomically.
A lot of people have gotten into that for health reasons, or because their neighbor
does it, or they have a child and they're concerned about the pesticides and chemicals
in foods. Once you start down that road, whether it's with organics or getting acupuncture,
it's just natural that you look for the next thing. It might be buying less-toxic
cleaning products or it might be buying a pair of hemp jeans that your teenager thinks
are really cool, or it could be doing something in your home, decorating in a way
that uses only natural fabrics and not any polyester. It's like peeling away the
layers of an onion. Once you get started down that track, it's hard to turn back.
You're optimistic?
Carlson: I'm very optimistic. I get e-mails and requests from manufacturers and
sellers of products all the time for me to try their product and talk about it, and
I am amazed at what is out there. In the last five or 10 years since I've been watching
this, the technologies and even the materials that are being used in clothing are
more sustainable. It seems like in every segment of the economy and every segment
of consumer products there is a green alternative now. We didn't used to see that,
and it used to be much more expensive. Now, it's at about the same price as anything
else. You're not paying a premium.
It's becoming a trend, part of the fabric of the culture. What I hope to do with
EarthSmart is to make it appealing and fun and hip and cool, rather than being your
mother.
Visit Kim Carlson's website at www.earthsmartconsumer.com and look for her EarthSmart
Life column each month in Edge Life magazine.
Tim Miejan is editor of Edge Life magazine. Contact him at (651) 578-8969, toll-free
1 (888) 776-5687 or e-mail editor@edgelife.net
Copyright © 2005 Tim Miejan, all rights reserved. |
| March 2005 |
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